I was thoroughly impressed with the video performance of the DVD-S2300 MK2. Now it was time to put the discreet DVD-Audio and SACD circuitry to the test. I put in two of my standard evaluation discs, each of which I am intimately familiar with, helping me to recognize any significant or otherwise noticeable differences in sound due to transport colorization or performance.

Toy Matinee's self-titled DVD-A Disc and Norah Jones' Come Away With Me SACD consistently appear in my listening tests because they have a myriad of elements that allow me to compare various devices to see how they affect the sound. With Toy Matinee, I am listening for the clean reproduction of reverb, without the loss of decay or smoothness, as well as the clean reproduction of Kevin Gilbert's vocals across all three front channels (he is generally isolated in the center with doubling, background vocals and reverb on the mains and surrounds). Norah Jones, while a simple mix and containing none of the complexity and layering of the Toy Matinee disc, provides some of the cleanest vocal and bass sounds you could ask for. By not attempting to overproduce the material, the disc emphasizes style and talent in lieu of over-produced content. As an aside, Norah Jones is playing on a Yamaha grand piano on the recording. I recommend both of these discs if you want some solid performers in your collection.

I configured the Integra DTC-9.4 for Pure Direct mode, and disabled all video circuitry in the DVD-S2300 MK2, allowing analogue only input from the player to be routed directly through to the Sherbourn 7/2100 amplifier with no DSP. Levels were calibrated prior to the listening session and the subwoofer was set to a level with which I am familiar and comfortable. Since bass management is handled by the DVD player when utilizing the multi-channel analogue inputs, I configured the speakers for small , except the front Left and Right. The only confusing thing about the DVD setup was in the manual, where it states that for DVD-Audio large speakers are defined as those capable of handling frequencies "under 100 Hz" and for SACD large speakers are defined as those capable of handling frequencies "under 90 Hz". Unless you are using a cube system, most bookshelf speakers (let alone floorstanding speakers) can handle frequencies below 90-100Hz. Combine this with the lack of a crossover setting for the subwoofer and you can see that the player may present some interesting issues for multi-channel output. From listening to the unit, my perception was that the crossover point was rather lenient, maybe 6db/octave or at most 12dB/octave. In either case, I supplemented the crossover slope by setting the subwoofer crossover at 90Hz during SACD sessions and 100Hz during DVD-Audio playback.

During both listening sessions, reverb was clean and compression-free. Vocals were strong and clear with no audible distortion. In my opinion, the DVD-S2300 MK2 was fairly transparent and didn't seem to colorize or hamper the sound in any way - something I look for and appreciate in a good universal player. Yamaha has provided an excellent transport that handled everything I threw at it with precision-like detail and reproducible reliability. Not once did the player exhibit any signs of compression, colorization or make any additions to the expected music tracks.

I spent quite a bit of time listening to CDs via a digital coax S/PDIF connection to the excellent performing Integra DTC-9.4 processor. I A/B'd CDs using the DACs in the DVD-S2300 MK2 and those in the DTC-9.4 and found that both performed equally well - or at least close enough that I didn't have a clear preference. Someday I look forward to being able to compare digital DSD and DVD-Audio with bass management provided via a high-end receiver or processor, but until then the Yamaha provided excellent analogue multi-channel output.