MD & Denon 3700H DAC

[JohnyT]

Hello.
My parents are downsizing and have found a couple of boxes of my old stuff in the attic which includes a Sony MD Deck. I cant remember the model I guess I'll find out when I go to collect next month. I don't think it was the top of the line at the time (early 2000's ) maybe the next model or two down.

Looking at my Hifi rack I probably have enough space to squeeze it in but I'm all out of inputs on my Yamaha A-S1200.
I do however have a Denon 3700H which is pre-outing the front Stereo channels to the A-S1200 to save me some cable swapping.

So my question is am I likely to have a better sound quality connecting the Sony MD via optical to the Denon's DAC, or would I be better off using the analogue RCA from the Sony MD direct to the Yamaha? (I'd have to temporarily take out the cassette deck as I'm out of RCA inputs).

I guess it boils down to: is the DAC in the Denon likely to be better than the DAC built into the Sony MD?

 

[JohnyT]

Hello.
My parents are downsizing and have found a couple of boxes of my old stuff in the attic which includes a Sony MD Deck. I cant remember the model I guess I'll find out when I go to collect next month. I don't think it was the top of the line at the time (early 2000's ) maybe the next model or two down.

Looking at my Hifi rack I probably have enough space to squeeze it in but I'm all out of inputs on my Yamaha A-S1200.
I do however have a Denon 3700H which is pre-outing the front Stereo channels to the A-S1200 to save me some cable swapping.

So my question is am I likely to have a better sound quality connecting the Sony MD via optical to the Denon's DAC, or would I be better off using the analogue RCA from the Sony MD direct to the Yamaha? (I'd have to temporarily take out the cassette deck as I'm out of RCA inputs).

I guess it boils down to: is the DAC in the Denon likely to be better than the DAC built into the Sony MD?

Well bugger me sideways with a 6ft dowel rod (still social distancing), nobody answered.

Any way turns out I have two MD decks: Tascam 350 and a Sony JB940. Also a Sony K611 cassette.

So with only one spare RCA input left on my Yam AS1200 I looked to using the digi inputs on the Denon AVR. It works but with all the HDMI synchronization something in the chain randomly wakes up and retakes the Denon. Can't be bothered with that can of worms so thought bugger it I'll get some sort of DAC.

After a little deliberation and a lot of red wine I decided I'd do away with my Yam steamer and get a Camb CXN V2 in it's place. The app is bloody terrible but it gives me 2 digi inputs for the two MD decks and keeps that other RCA input free for the cassette.

Bit of an extravagance getting the CXN for the sake of two old MD decks but all sounds pretty good to me. The Tascam 350 has a balanced input which I've hooked up to the Nuvista phonostage. I'm going record some the lesser quality vinyl I still like to listen to, save some wear time on the Starling.