[Welwynnick]

Has anyone compared two players with i-Link audio outputs to see if there is any difference in audio quality?

Many people say that CD transports all sound the same, and SQ is all down to the performance of the DAC. I'm still a little sceptical about that at the moment, but I take the gist of it.

And more recently, I've heard consistent suggestions that the Sony NS9100ES "universal" DVD player sounds as good as the no-holds-barred SCD-XA9000ES player, when connected by i-Link. (That doesn't apply using analogue connection of course, as the more expensive player has better DACs).

That is starting to suggest to me that my lowly Pioneer 757Ai player, connected by i-Link to my all-digital Sony DA9000ES amp, is as good as I will get. Certainly it sounds great, but could this be so? Does all i-Link sound the same?

Nick

[gandley]

well, i think yes and no. my 3910 sounded exactly the same as my 868 via i-link, but there is no doubt the 989 had added clarity, pioneer had claimed they improved the pioneer 989 players PQLS, but all i know is it did sound better.
My Denon dosent sound any better than the 989 in fact again its not quite as good but then it does not engage the PQLS as its a denon product., so on the whole you get the quality of the internals of your amp, so if its a high end job with i-link i guess thats good and if thats an entry level amp with lower quality dacs then it might be good but there is a chance the player could do better.

but pioneer to pioneer with PQLS, is better than mixing makes like denon with my pioneer AX10i amp