I'm planning on purchasing a new receiver and CD/DVD-player. After doing some research I've realized that what I would really like is the opportunity to transfer the digital output from the CD-player directly to the receiver without going through the D/A-converter in the CD-player but rather let the D/A-converter in the receiver do the job. I know Denon has something they call DenonLink but I guess that's all proprietary. Is there a standard out there that supports this scenario? If so are there any products?
A fiber optic or coaxial connection does what you describe, the signal is sent through the digital connection to the receiver where the receiver decodes the signal into analog. This is the mainstream.
Direct mode refers to having the DACs in the DVD player decode off the disc and then sending the signals through 6 analog cables to the receiver, where the receiver amplifies that signal directly.
On the receiver end you have to make sure it has 6 channel direct inputs. On the DVD side 6 channel outputs. Also for DVD it should support both DVD-A and SACD playback.