The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

MikeH said:
I got a marantz UD5007 that I quite like but not sure what the used price on them is these days. But it plays SACD and bluray so gives you some options. Before that, I found a $20 5 SACD changer for $20 at a local thrift store.

Certain models of Sony I think allow you to rip SACDs too with a little hack if you want that functionality.
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Only the blu ray players and the original ps3 do that. The actual dedicated SACD players don’t. It’s some kind of glitch using a usb pen drive with a protocol and it transfers the files over WiFi to your computer.
 
Joe Mac said:
Only the blu ray players and the original ps3 do that. The actual dedicated SACD players don’t. It’s some kind of glitch using a usb pen drive with a protocol and it transfers the files over WiFi to your computer.
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Some of the marantz do it too. A guy made an entire list of the SACD players that are able to use that exploit
 
MikeH said:
Some of the marantz do it too. A guy made an entire list of the SACD players that are able to use that exploit
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I know I’ve checked out. If you look closely they’re all blu ray players that happen to play SACDs as well. A dedicated SACD player generally lacks the computing power or network functionality to do that kinda thing.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Totally. I don't do CDs. With hi res PCM so readily available, I just don't have an interest. If a conventional computer could play a DSD file, I definitely wouldn't be enertaining this!
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I’ve never had an issue playing DSD files on my MacBook and passing it to my DAC via usb. I think you do need to download a player that supports dsd from what I remember.
 
Joe Mac said:
I’ve never had an issue playing DSD files on my MacBook and passing it to my DAC via usb. I think you do need to download a player that supports dsd from what I remember.
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It's still going to be DSD over PCM, though, as far as I'm aware. Is there a sonic difference? I have no idea, but I figure if I'm going through the trouble....

And you know I think I'm going back on my previous statement. Since there are relatively so few titles, I think I'd probably want some tactile liner notes. Maybe? I dunno, still hashing it out!
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
It's still going to be DSD over PCM, though, as far as I'm aware. Is there a sonic difference? I have no idea, but I figure if I'm going through the trouble....

And you know I think I'm going back on my previous statement. Since there are relatively so few titles, I think I'd probably want some tactile liner notes. Maybe? I dunno, still hashing it out!
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If you are going usb out to a DAC it can be native DSD using the right software and provided the DAC you are using supports native DSD as well.

There are a lot of modern blu ray players that will play SACDs for relative peanuts but their DACs are usually a bit shit. I think your best bet is to just hunt for a well regarded old Sony or Marantz. I really liked my old Sony and will hopefully get it mended down the line to keep for a potential future second system. It was the SCD-XB790 but I’m not sure if it was a European only model.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
It's still going to be DSD over PCM, though, as far as I'm aware. Is there a sonic difference? I have no idea, but I figure if I'm going through the trouble....

And you know I think I'm going back on my previous statement. Since there are relatively so few titles, I think I'd probably want some tactile liner notes. Maybe? I dunno, still hashing it out!
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Both my DACs can do DSD over USB. I have roon but I’m sure other software will play the native DSD.

I’ll say, as someone who doesn’t own a ton of SACDs or CDs, I haven’t used my SACD player a ton. SACDs of titles I want are usually around $20-30 and for that price I’d rather buy a record. I don’t think I’d use a regular CD transport since I’d rather just stream for similar sound quality. But the marantz does let me try out some SACD and DVD-audio. I found a copy of Beck’s Sea Change on DVD-audio which sounds awesome and some of my Talk Talk records came with DVD-Audio
 
Joe Mac said:
The very first PS3 does…

There is this for just over budget if you fancy an entire CD/SACD collection in one player…

www.ebay.com

Awesome Sony DVP-CX777es 400 Disc Explorer DVD/ SACD/ CD/ VCD Mega Changer | eBay

SACD discs can be played back on dedicated SACD players or combination SACD/DVD-Video players. Certain SACD discs feature a conventional audio CD layer (hybrid SACDs) which can be played back by any CD player or computer with a CD-ROM drive.
www.ebay.com
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I have no idea if mine does… now the question is are any of my hybrid discs sacs or are they all hdcd?

Also, how would I really know through my pos soundbar?
 
Lee Newman said:
I have no idea if mine does… now the question is are any of my hybrid discs sacs or are they all hdcd?

Also, how would I really know through my pos soundbar?
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It was the very very first run of the original 60GB PS3. On the front of the machine where it sets out the supported formats the SACD logo is there. From memory you could connect it directly to the RCA input on a hifi using the two audio cables from the S video out on it.
 
Joe Mac said:
It was the very very first run of the original 60GB PS3. On the front of the machine where it sets out the supported formats the SACD logo is there. From memory you could connect it directly to the RCA input on a hifi using the two audio cables from the S video out on it.
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I’ll give it a look. No idea what gen mine is. I got it to be a dvd player when my 2 putzed out. Probably not, but easy enough to check out. I haven’t played a video game in ten years or so.
 
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