Thread: Pure Direct

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Post by teac4010 June 20, 2012 (1 of 19)
My Denon 1940 has a switch on the front panel that says "Pure Direct". A look in the manual says it is there to be used when the best analog audio is desired, something to do with HDMI being turned off. ..... and maybe the Denon engineers had a poor HDMI design.

Is the HDMI output really disturbing the analog audio? ..... and if it is why have HDMI circuits in an SACD player? .. other than for DVD ... and why would you want video if your interest is superior audio?

Does anyone build a pure SACD player? Maybe Videophiles should switch to Blue Ray and let the luddite audiophiles plod along in the analog world. GRIN. Regards.

Post by DSD June 20, 2012 (2 of 19)
Ivan is you moniker named after this reel-to-reel? Looks nice.

"Pure Direct" or "Audio Direct" in an SACD/DVD player means the video circuitry is bypassed and the display lights are turned off. Since HDMI is an Audio/Video connection it's turned off as well, think of a fork in the road one way goes audio+video and the other audio-only. Audio outputs in the direct mode include the standard audio ones: analog RCA, coaxial and optical digital. SACDs cannot output to coaxial or optical digital thus the popularity of HDMI.

There are no SACD-only players, however there are many SACD/CD players, most are stereo and many are quite expensive.

Post by teac4010 June 20, 2012 (3 of 19)
Hi DSD, I have a couple of those without the glass heads, several more different tapedecks sitting around and some old turntables. I like vinyl and reel to reel, never caring for RBCD. Multitrack SBCD (Scarlet Book CD) is a different story. Regards.

Post by yakman June 20, 2012 (4 of 19)
teac4010 said:

My Denon 1940 has a switch on the front panel that says "Pure Direct". A look in the manual says it is there to be used when the best analog audio is desired, something to do with HDMI being turned off. ..... and maybe the Denon engineers had a poor HDMI design.

Is the HDMI output really disturbing the analog audio? ..... and if it is why have HDMI circuits in an SACD player? .. other than for DVD ... and why would you want video if your interest is superior audio?

Does anyone build a pure SACD player? Maybe Videophiles should switch to Blue Ray and let the luddite audiophiles plod along in the analog world. GRIN. Regards.

If you have a castle isolated from the noisy road, a big hall acoustically treated, or you only listen through headphone, then pure direct makes since, if not, set the non-pure direct HDMI, room correction, decoding correctly, listen yourself and decide.
I have a dedicated SACD/CD player with pure direct no HDMI and a Blu-ray/SACD player with HDMI Mch. The former one has been collecting dust for half a year since I setup my second system with multichannel speakers.

Post by Iain June 20, 2012 (5 of 19)
teac4010 said:

My Denon 1940 has a switch on the front panel that says "Pure Direct". A look in the manual says it is there to be used when the best analog audio is desired, something to do with HDMI being turned off. ..... and maybe the Denon engineers had a poor HDMI design.

..........

....... Maybe Videophiles should switch to Blue Ray and let the luddite audiophiles plod along in the analog world. GRIN. Regards.

What DSD said.

I use "Pure Direct" mode on my Denon AVR-3310 on ALL 5.1 SA-CD that's played on my Sony BD player. It's great.

I programme my Harmony One remote for SA-CD activity, which actually means display is off for SA-CD playback. That way, there is no video activity on HDMI for any audio-only media.

BTW, no one ever said you can't be passionate of audio AND video concurrently. LOL! : )

Post by The Seventh Taylor June 21, 2012 (6 of 19)
DSD said:

Ivan is you moniker named after this reel-to-reel? Looks nice.

"Pure Direct" or "Audio Direct" in an SACD/DVD player means the video circuitry is bypassed and the display lights are turned off. Since HDMI is an Audio/Video connection it's turned off as well, think of a fork in the road one way goes audio+video and the other audio-only. Audio outputs in the direct mode include the standard audio ones: analog RCA, coaxial and optical digital. SACDs cannot output to coaxial or optical digital thus the popularity of HDMI.

Sorry, doesn't "Pure Direct" mean in most SACD equipment that any audio circuitry that involves PCM conversion or processing is bypassed? Your explanation seems to preclude DSD bitstreaming, since HDMI (with i.LINK and maybe Denon Link) is the only carrier for that.

Post by DSD June 21, 2012 (7 of 19)
The Seventh Taylor said:

Sorry, doesn't "Pure Direct" mean in most SACD equipment that any audio circuitry that involves PCM conversion or processing is bypassed? Your explanation seems to preclude DSD bitstreaming, since HDMI (with i.LINK and maybe Denon Link) is the only carrier for that.

With "Pure Direct" or "Audio Direct" on SACD/DVD players everything except the audio signal is bypassed, it's a straight unaltered signal with video circuitry removed from the signal path and LED readout displays turned off. If the SACD/DVD player doesn't internally convert DSD to PCM on the chip, such as the inexpensive Pioneers do, it will output a DSD to analog signal on the analog outs. For CDs and unprotected DVD-Audios one can use coaxial or optical to output PCM to a DAC or receiver.

However since HDMI is an audio/video connection you would have to turn off Pure/Audio Direct for it to work.

On my stereo preamp "Audio Direct" bypasses everything except the volume control and selector switch.

Post by Epsilon June 21, 2012 (8 of 19)
Quote from my MARANTZ SR7001 AV receiver manual

SOURCE DIRECT - the tone control circuit Acoustic EQ and bass management configuration are bypassed for full range frequency response and the purist audio reproduction.

PURE DIRECT mode further reduces sources of noise in addition to effect of the Source Direct mode, by blocking output from the video jacks (video, s-video, component video and HDMI) and turning the FL display off.

Post by teac4010 June 22, 2012 (9 of 19)
Epsilon said:

Quote from my MARANTZ SR7001 AV receiver manual

SOURCE DIRECT - the tone control circuit Acoustic EQ and bass management configuration are bypassed for full range frequency response and the purist audio reproduction.

PURE DIRECT mode further reduces sources of noise in addition to effect of the Source Direct mode, by blocking output from the video jacks (video, s-video, component video and HDMI) and turning the FL display off.

Well, if they turn it off in the AV Receiver for improved audio it must work in the player for the same reason, right? Video is great in it's place, not required in my listening experience.

There are a couple of other threads discussing connectivity and audio quality going on now. Some of the reasoning is based on the need for PCM processing beyond Dolby decoding, all in the interest of "effects".

I'm trying to understand some basics, like what else needs to be done to a DSD stream other than time shifting the stream for adjusting loudspeaker placement.

It seems to me, and suggested by Marantz and my Dolby manual, that the PCM elves should be resting for the best audio. Regards.

Post by Iain June 22, 2012 (10 of 19)
DSD said:

With "Pure Direct" or "Audio Direct" on SACD/DVD players everything except the audio signal is bypassed, it's a straight unaltered signal with video circuitry removed from the signal path and LED readout displays turned off. If the SACD/DVD player doesn't internally convert DSD to PCM on the chip, such as the inexpensive Pioneers do, it will output a DSD to analog signal on the analog outs. For CDs and unprotected DVD-Audios one can use coaxial or optical to output PCM to a DAC or receiver.

However since HDMI is an audio/video connection you would have to turn off Pure/Audio Direct for it to work.

On my stereo preamp "Audio Direct" bypasses everything except the volume control and selector switch.

Slightly OT but relevant to this thread, the new Sony BDP-S790 has two HDMI outputs, First output is a standard HDMI output and second output is audio only. If second output is turned on, first HDMI output will send video only IIRC.

Just my 2p. : )

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