2. misc-audio
  3. 140407-117896

Delay in DAC receiving signal from CD player

This has probably been covered here at Agon forums, but I have not been able to find anything in searches.

I have a Denon DCM-520 connected to an Outlaw Audio Model 976 AV surround processor.  When playing a CD, there is a slight but noticeable delay in audio kicking in.  I know part of this is how some CD's were produced, and varying amounts of "empty" recording ahead of a track, but this is not the whole reason since I never experienced this prior to connecting the Denon to the OA 976.

I spoke with Outlaw support about this, and Ben there explained both of the above.  Specifically, he said that the Denon actually stops sending signal between songs so the connection has to re-establish - causing that slight cut-off of the beginning of a track.  His suggestion to avoid it is revert to connecting the Denon via RCA connections.

My Denon is 25 years old, so my questions are these:

- Do you agree with what Ben is telling me

- Are newer CD players (or specific brands) designed so that this does not happen?  In other words - designed so that there is a continuous feed of signal to the pre/DAC even if the CD is between tracks?


Thanks,


Craíg

craig16229
5 responses Add your response
theo's avatar
theo
2,684 posts
 
Si had the same issue years ago with a Rega Jupiter and a McIntosh MSD4. I contacted McIntosh and was told the issue is that the DAC has to first analyze the signal and will start conversion. He also told me the matter had been resolved with a software update, which I had to send it back to McIntosh and they did the update and it worked flawlessly after that. I suspect you have a similar issue in the two units not “handshaking” with the same (I hope the right word) baudrate so the translation takes a moment with each song.
I can’t say what you can do as I am unfamiliar with the equipment in question. But my crosshairs are on the Outlaw.
craig16229 OP
15 posts
 

I left out a detail I meant to include. Specifically, I have the Denon DCM-520 connected to the Outlaw 976 via a digital coaxial cable.  This is the first time I have connected the Denon to anything in any way other than RCA/analog. This is why Ben from Outlaw told me reverting from connecting via digital coaxial (or from digital optical cable with some other players) back to analog connection would resolve it. I will be testing this suggestion this weekend.

jond's avatar
jond
5,798 posts
 
Craig of course using the analog outputs and inputs will work fine but it's not really resolving your problem. If you want to be able to use the DAC in the Outlaw receiver you need to figure it out. Do you have an alternative transport you can connect to the Outlaw to see if the issue is just with the Denon? 
craig16229 OP
15 posts
 

I only have a lower end Panasonic Blue Ray player.  Since I searched hard and could not find any discussions that matched my problem, I wondered if this is characteristic of some (but not all) older transports.

I'll have to do a lot more testing to see how much of the issue is with a source versus the Outlaw 976 DAC versus the way certain CD's were recorded.  At least the Blue Ray will give me a 2nd source to compare.



craig16229 OP
15 posts
 

Now I see that there is actually a whole discussion in the Outlaw Audio forum about this.  Somehow I missed that before:  http://saloon.outlawaudio.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=97819#Post97819

There is a good deal of variance in user experience on this issue.

Log in to respond
More to discover
80x80
Simaudio Moon Evolution 740P
80x80
Naim Audio NDX 2
80x80
HighEnd Novum PMR Premium Mk.II
- Room Acoustic Resonator Extraordinaire