Typical of most receivers is to convert all analog input signals to digital, thus, D/A. If you use the digital input, then no D/A conversion is done, and all the signals are now merrily in the digital domain until they get pass the DAC.
But that's not the point of my question. I was asking if the conversions being discussed to alter the characteristics of the player's after-DAC analog stages would matter if you used the digital out. And even if you've achieved a perfect analog signal out of the digital player, by tweaking the digital clock, I/V conversion, the op amp chips, the voltage reference, etc, what benefit would that do when the receiver just converts it back to digital when playing through a typical receiver? Wouldn't you be back to square one? Now for you to restore the perfect analog signal you got from a tweaked CD player, wouldn't you have to do the same tweaks to the receiver's DAC and associated circuits?