CD outputs and HDCD

you'll want to use the RCA analog preouts. To take advantage of the HDCD with digital; your receiver or processor would also need to be capable of decoding HDCD. I know of very few units that can.

The D/A in my NAD c541i sounds MUCH better than the D/A in my Denon reciever. I use the receiver's D/A for DVD use.

regards
-chris

The HDCD encoding must be decoded by the DAC. As a result, the DAC section of your preamp/intergrated/receiver must be able to decode HDCD signals asent to it from the digital output of the cdp for you to hear the benefits of HDCD decoding. As for which is "better", just listen both ways and pick your preference. Some people don't really have a preference for HDCD over standard redbook (though I personally prefer it). I like upsampled redbook better than HDCD redbook.

Thanks for the replies. So, if I understand correctly, using a receiver or amp that does not have a HDCD decoder, to use HDCD you must use the analog outs of the CDP (which may sound better anyway based on the likely superior DAC in the CDP).

Also, I have read somwhere else before that the HDCD processing also improve the sound of non-HDCD discs. I'm not sure I understand why. If the HDCD recording and decoder are 20 (or more?) bits, how can the 20 bit HDCD decoder make a 16 bit disc sound better when the extra information is not there to process?

TIA,
CD

At the time that HDCD came out, the PM oversampling filter used for it was superior to the other filters on the market. That was in the past.