Rotel 1098 HDCD decoding - what connection??

[JudgeBaxter]

Hi There,

I had a quick look through the search facility on this, but couldn't find exactly the answer I was after.

Could someone please enlighten me on the following

HDCD decoding - I have quite a few CDs that are encoded in this and would like to make the most of it.

I was about to pull the trigger on a very good 2nd hand Arcam CD player (CD23), when I noticed that magic little logo on the front of my 1098!!

So - my questions are as follows:-

1) My current CD player is connected via normal RCA twin phono analogue connectors - will I need to re-connect it with either a Digital Coax or Digital Optical connection in order for the RSP-1098 to pick-up and decode the HDCD signal?

2) If I do have to re-connect with a digital connection of some kind - can I still put the 1098 in "Pure Direct" 2 channel Analogue mode? - That is the way I currently run my 1098/CD set-up - will I have to use one of the processing modes if I end up using a digital connection? - e.g 2 channel PCM? Or can "Pure Direct" still be selected?

3) - If the above question is "no - you won't be able to use Pure Direct mode with a digital connection", am I right in thinking that the only answer would then be to go back to square 1 and buy another CD player that does do HDCD decoding??

Phew - sorry for so many questions - hope the above makes sense and someone can guide me.

My current CD spinner is quite good and I don't really want to buy a new one if I can get HDCD decoding done by the processor, and still keep it running in Pure Direct "Analogue" mode.

Out of interest, I am assuming that using analogue connections - the 1098 would only pick up an HDCD signal coming in via the CD connections? Or would it pick it up regardless of the connections used - e.g. if I were to plug an HDCD CD player into the Tuner or Tape connections on the 1098 - would the signal still be picked up??? Obscure one I know - just curious more than anything else.

Thanks and Best Regards,

David.

[Ron526]

Hi Judge,

I have an HK520 with coax (RCA) input. This gets me the HDCD light on the
receiver to come on. I guess you'll know if you have it wired properly if your HDCD indicator(?) comes on.
Good luck, enjoy.
ron526

[Blindamood]

David,

Like any other type of decoding, you have to decide whether to use the decoder in the CDP or in the processor. If your CDP decoded HDCD, then it would send that to the processor via analog outputs. Then, the processor will be able to use the Direct mode. If you want the processor to decode the HDCD (which it sounds like you need it to), then you must use a digital (coax or toslink) connection to the processor. In this case, the processor must decode the incoming signal; how it handles it is something you can control, but it is not really 'pure direct' anymore.

Hope this helps.

[PewterTA]

Since you like your CDP, I'd just let the few discs that are HDCD be processed by the 1098. No need to spend the extra money on a HDCDP unless you have to have the absolute best sound.

So best to set it up with both the analog connections and a digital one (coax or optical is up to you). Then have one of the CD setting on the 1098, set it to the analog connection with the by-pass on so that doesn't do anything to the signal (well as little as possible to it). Then set one of the Vx (v1, v2, v3, v4) if you have one open and set it to the digital source coming from your CDP ... so if you hooked up the coax connection from the CDP and set it to Coax 2 on the 1098, you'd set it to that connection.

Then when you know you're listening to a CD with HDCD you can set it to that Vx to get the 1098 to decode it. This will also allow you to switch back and forth to see how much of a difference the HDCD makes along with seeing how good the DAC in the 1098 and your CDP is.

[JudgeBaxter]

Thanks for the input guys - especially from PewterTA - that's a great idea and I will give it a try before shelling out on a new HDCD enabled player.

Many thanks,

David.