Best way to connect an amp

Alkyogre

Alkyogre

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Oct 31, 2019
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The Netherlands
A noob question: but hardly everyone advises to use HDMI cables to connect an amp, and with the result using the amps DAC. however, I use for years an RCA cable between my cd player and amp, which means using the CD players DAC. Is HDMI prefered over RCA?

And secondly, when choosing to go for an external dac, what is the best cable to connect it between Source and DAC? HDMI, USB 2, digital COAX, or something else?
 
I assume you mean a surround sound receiver when you refer to an amp. The reason to use an HDMI cable when connecting to a receiver or processor (does not include an amplification section) is because the higher-quality surround sound codecs can only be transmitted over HDMI.

Choosing to use the CD player's DAC over the receiver's DAC will depend on which DAC you think sounds better. For 2-channel audio, a non-HDMI digital connection between your disc player and receiver is fine, but for surround sound you probably want HDMI as coaxial and optical connections have codec limitations.

The best digital connection to use with an external DAC may depend on the fidelity of the connection from your source, and the quality of the digital receiver in your DAC. In other words the best choice(s) for connection between a source and DAC can depend upon the source and DAC you use.
 
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