PROBLEM: CD Player Digital Output

Fault in the preamp, I'd wager. Do you have anything else with a digital output you could try?

You cannot lose "half " of a serial data stream. The problem must be in the preamp, somewhere between (and including) the D/A converter, and where its output joins the analogue circuitry.

Gareth.

Agreed that you need to try something else as an input. Problem could be at either end in that both channels may not be making it into one data stream at the CD (unlikely) or (more likely) that the Yammy is either failing to decode the missing channel, or failing to switch it. Do you have only a coaxial digital connection ? Is there an optical one that you could try ? Either coaxial or optical, you are correct in your assumption that it should all "just work" as soon as you make that one connection.

Arfa

This particular CD only has the coaxial output -- there is no optical output, although there are optical inputs on the preamp.

I have an Audio Alchemy CD player that also has a coaxial output, but that player is not working at the moment.

One other though occurred to me: I should try the CD player into some of the other digital inputs, just to see if maybe the CD input alone is at fault (not likely, I know).

The problem is a fault in the sending device, or the receiving device.

geoff

So which is it holmes? The Sending Device of the Receiving Device?

That narrows down the possibilities! At least he knows it's not the cable (obviously)

Could someone please explain how it could be possible to lose one channel of the digital stream out of the CD player, considering that the CD's audio output is perfectly OK.

Gareth.

Depends on the internal architecture, but I have to agree it is highly unlikely.

I would say close to Zero. I'll bet nobody here can cite a case where this has actually happened.

Gareth.

It is very unlikely, I agree, but then in these days of extremely complex internal architecture of most LSIs, there isn't much in the way of 'stock faults' any more, and strange ones happen every few weeks in my experience. That being the case, none of us could cite a case of a peculiar fault, until it actually happened :-)

Unlikely or not, there is the remote possibility that this could be the one for that fault ... I don't know if the PCM data stream coming off the disc is decoded and processed first, or whether it is directly transcoded into SPdif (or indeed, whether SPdif is just PCM under another name - I've never bothered to check because it's very rare to get *any* fault in this area). If there is any decoding going on, then just maybe, a channel *could* be lost. But yes, in practical terms, almost certainly a problem in the amp.

Arfa

The Lady from Philadelphia sez...

Why are you arguing about such an unlikely event when the OP hasn't tested the unit with another digital source?

Far too sensible an idea. How can we argue the sound of one hand clapping when someone says "try it and listen"?

Obviously you should have used a Monster STEREO cable instead of the cheap model you bought.

Graham

Don't tell the audiophools that ! Their entire religion will be destroyed.

Graham

Failure to sync to the second block of audio data ? Bad clocks ?

Graham

Try using a cheap one.

Graham

You mean I2S.

It is. Both are linear PCM. Simply mildly different data stream formatting.

Graham

Yes. In the digital output the left and right channels are combined into one digital stream, then sent over the coax cable to the receiver/preamp where they arer separated into the two analog channels. The problem here is in one of those stages. Either one of the channels is being lost before it is encoded into that digital stream to be sent out of the CD player, or a perfect digital stream is being sent to the preamp and sometime after it is decoded into the two seperate channels, one channel is lost due to a faulty component or a bad solder joint, loose connection, etc.