I'm not sure, but I assume you're talking about using the Sony or another transport to play CDs, not DADs with 24/96 resolution. The Sony can only output a 16 bit/44khz digital signal from its digital output. It could not give you a true 24/96 signal for the dac, and wouldn't play a 24/96 disc. With a dvd player or a cd player with a 24/96 dac, playing a CD and running it from the digital out will also only feed a 16/44 signal to the dac. Therefore, I don't see an advantage, per se, in replacing the Sony with another unit to play CDs, other than the differences between the Sony and the other unit acting as a transport, which do exist. If the dac has an upsampling capability it would be able to take the same 16/44 signal from a CD that either the Sony or a dvd player could send to the dac and probably give you something better than you might be able to get from a straight 16/44 dac (I leave it to Bel Canto and MSB owners with upsampling capabilities to comment on that). The advantage of a dvd player THAT HAS A 24/96 DIGITAL OUTPUT (not all of them do) over the Sony would be the ability to read a 24/96 dad and send a 24/96 signal from a 24/96 disc to a dac that could handle that signal. Hope this helps.
Sony transport 24/ 96 dac compatability
I have an older Sony cd player, the x77es. I was wondering if I would get the same performance from a dac that has 24/96 capability using the sony as a transport, or would you need to use the newer concept such as the dvd players or a cd player with the 24/96 converter already built in to gain the additional performance. Any comments? Chip