Please help explain the audio section of my DVD player.

[AKAI]

It listed as
Frequency Response
Sampling Frequency 44.1 kHz, CD 4Hz-20kHz
48 kHz, DVD Video 4Hz-20kHz
96 kHz, DVD Video 4Hz-44kHz
192 kHz, DVD Video 4Hz-88kHz

Singal to noise ratio, IHF "A" weighted
CD 110 dB

Dynamic range
16/20/24 bit - More than 99/108/108dB

Total harmonic distortion, 1kHz
CD - Less than 0.03

I was looking at the Dacman, but if my DVD player can already do the DAC at the same level then how can I benefit from DACMAN ?

I can just connect my DVD player to an integrated amp and enjoy the same quality of DAC as the DACMAN?

Thanks,

mP

[dvenardos]

You can't compare DACs by looking at the specs. There is a lot more that goes into the conversion than just the numbers. I am no expert, but signal isolation, opamps used, etc. Basically it is kind of like trying to compare speakers by looking at the specs, it really doesn't tell you much...

[Mep]

The digital part you can actually compare by numbers as they work in nothing more than 0s and 1s. Its the tail end analog part which can vary quite a bit. Signal to noise ratio is a big one to look at. Problem is, most manufactures lie about their stats or "sort of lie" by giving the best value they got during many tests. This is why the numbers can't be trusted. With honest numbers you could go just by the numbers and pick the dac which handles your needed data stream and outputs a signal with the least noise.

There are also silly numbers out there, like 192KHz sample rate (no sources) or output of 4Hz (no subs get that low) and 88kHz (your dog can't even hear that). It's like selling snowmoblies in the desert.