Behringer DEQ2496 - worth using in hi-end system?

The Behringer has two digital outs, one Toslink S/PDIF and the other XLR AES/EBU. If my DAC has only coax S/PDIF in, is there a solution? Can I use an XLR-RCA adapter out of the AES/EBU to a coax S/PDIF cable, or are those two things incompatible? A Toslink to coax adapter seems an unlikely thing.

Great, thank you very much Eldartford!

You might want to try using it between transport and DAC. Actually, I know you can't do that, Grant, so use it between transport and preamp.

Don't forget to order the microphone.

If I'm not mistaken, it's a digital EQ, so putting in the tape loop means it will have to perform AD and DA conversion. Placing it between transport and DAC avoids those extra conversions.

I understand. If the Denon has a digital out, you might want to try that at some point, just to see if it makes a difference.

It does and I might try it, but doing so would completely bypass the Exemplar tubed output stage...and what would be the point? Kind of like bypassing the APL circuitry.

Which is why separate DACs are making sense again, unfortunately.

Enjoying music is what the hobby is about to me. I no longer give a damn about refinement.

In fact, the more refined my system has become, the less I have enjoyed it.

That's quite a statement, Grant. Can you say a little more -- why do you suppose more refinement = less enjoyment? Come to think of it, what does refinement mean to you? It's a term I use frequently, but I wonder if we would all agree as to its meaning.

See my long-running thread, How does one get off the merry-go-round?