I use mine to drive an external Accuphase DAC with excellent results. Although there are many better transports, having this double as a DVD player in my home theater is currently worth the trade-off.
Using the 9000 with the DAC is clearly superior than as a stand alone Redbook player. Less glare, less HF edge and a more musical presentation. I even use the DAC for DVD soundtrack, utilizing the 5.1 to two channel downmix option. This sends a 16/44.1 signal to the DAC, which is then re-clocked and upsampled.
When my budget allows, I will upgrade my DAC to an Accuphase DP-75V. Then I will have an outstanding Redbook transport and an upsampling DAC. My 9000 will then only be used for DVD video playback.
Using the 9000 with the DAC is clearly superior than as a stand alone Redbook player. Less glare, less HF edge and a more musical presentation. I even use the DAC for DVD soundtrack, utilizing the 5.1 to two channel downmix option. This sends a 16/44.1 signal to the DAC, which is then re-clocked and upsampled.
When my budget allows, I will upgrade my DAC to an Accuphase DP-75V. Then I will have an outstanding Redbook transport and an upsampling DAC. My 9000 will then only be used for DVD video playback.