Follow up on the Sony 350 Blu ray player as a transport to the DAC1. Looks like the 2 ch audio issue has been resolved.
The Sony 350 has a number of detailed Audio Settings which require the on screen menus to adjust. I've set all of the detailed Audio settings to 2ch, down-mix, no compression because I don't use 5.1. The digital output goes to my Benchmark Dac1 via a Cardas 15 digital cable. After setting all of the detailed Audio settings I usually turn OFF the TV to play a 2 ch music CD using the Sony 350 as a transport.
Here's where the problem was. In addition to the "detail Audio" settings there is also a "audio" button on the front of the remote that cycles the Blu ray player through 3 different audio settings. These audio settings do not show up on the "detailed Audio" settings and do not show up on the front display of the player. When I turned the TV back on during CD Music play I could see that the audio button on the remote had kicked the playback out of "Stereo" mode. Turning stereo mode back on fixed the problem.
I have not had any problems with the Sony 350 playing Blu ray or standard DVDs. The Blu ray DVDs dont take very long to load and the music CDs take just a little longer to load than a regular CD player. I would now recommend the Sony 350; paid under two fifty for it at the Sony store.
The Sony 350 has a number of detailed Audio Settings which require the on screen menus to adjust. I've set all of the detailed Audio settings to 2ch, down-mix, no compression because I don't use 5.1. The digital output goes to my Benchmark Dac1 via a Cardas 15 digital cable. After setting all of the detailed Audio settings I usually turn OFF the TV to play a 2 ch music CD using the Sony 350 as a transport.
Here's where the problem was. In addition to the "detail Audio" settings there is also a "audio" button on the front of the remote that cycles the Blu ray player through 3 different audio settings. These audio settings do not show up on the "detailed Audio" settings and do not show up on the front display of the player. When I turned the TV back on during CD Music play I could see that the audio button on the remote had kicked the playback out of "Stereo" mode. Turning stereo mode back on fixed the problem.
I have not had any problems with the Sony 350 playing Blu ray or standard DVDs. The Blu ray DVDs dont take very long to load and the music CDs take just a little longer to load than a regular CD player. I would now recommend the Sony 350; paid under two fifty for it at the Sony store.