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ChasnotRobert
@dbr
Remembered I had a second CCA knocking around so I could do an easy comparison - one analogue out into pre-amp, one optical out into Chas' very generously lent super-DAC. Matched the dB levels perfectly and was pleased to find I could group the two CCAs to play the same source with no delay / offset between them.
My source is just Spotify at the highest setting (256kbps AAC for Spotify Connect to CCA) and I'm delighted to say I couldn't tell the difference.
This forum guy has a good breakdown:
The unit itself has a very capable DAC built in and it can directly convert every single digital format it is designed to encounter and convert it to analog, music. Done.
If using the Toslink digital out the incoming signal can again be anything under the sun which it is designed for however the Chromecast device will then have to CONVERT it to a digital signal which Toslink can then carry such as S/PDIF PCM. The signal now travels to the outboard DAC and gets converted to analog.
Here's an example . Using an incoming Hi-Res signal such as 24-bit/96 kHz you then have to downgrade the signal, because Toslink can't carry it, to say SD [standard resolution] 16-bit/44 or 48 kHz PCM. So rather than taking the best signal possible and converting it to analog directly with [the internal] AKM AK4430 DAC, instead there is a [potential] loss of quality because of:
A. - the conversion process from one digital format to another
B. - the forced use of a lower resolution format to transfer the signal via optical.
C. - an outboard DAC with inferior performance to an AKM AK4430 DAC, true of many even very expensive outboard DACs
It's a shame the internet worries so much about digital stuff when it hardly matters. What matters is the speakers used, their position and aiming, and the room.
So for me, in my use case, it doesn't make a difference or could even sound worse. He makes a good point at the end about real world acoustic changes. I'm happy to keep fiddling with things that are more my bag, building speakers, placement etc and leave the digital realm to someone else.