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Beware of SACD Transports -- they probably will not work with your favorite DAC

Hello, I just learned a painful lesson. I'm guessing that not many people will know this so I'm going to put it in here.

The audio on a SACD is encrypted.
If I were to purchase a SACD / CD player I have nothing to worry about. The Audio is un-encrypted inside the player.
However if I were to purchase a SACD / CD Transport made my brand Z, I would have to purchase a brand Z DAC???
Apparently Sony who owns the SACD format mandated that the audio on the SACD itself is encrypted and
the digital output from a SACD transport is ALSO encrypted. It looks like the actual un-encryption is done in the DAC.
There is no standard for doing the un-encryption so every manufacturer has their own proprietary way of doing this.
So I cant use a Esoteric SACD transport and an Auralic DAC which is what I tried to do?
londontk
glupson
1,794 posts
 
What Esoteric model do you have?
dobnbav
30 posts
 
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THIS??? You are only degrading the source, converting and interpolating. You spent many thousands on you Esoteric which makes the concept even nuttier. Have your player modded if you want.  Of course SACD is encrypted, that’s the whole idea, just like HDCP for video. The SACD is made from the DSD. Exact same source unless a different mastering. The idea that some other DAC will improve your SACD sound (all dependent on the quality of the recording and mastering) is sadly a complete misunderstanding of the technology.  Use your external DAC for streaming and in place of an inferior internal DAC.
mahler123
633 posts
 
I’m wondering if the OP bought the Grandioso.  It’s a two chassis transport that feeds a two chassis separate DAC via HDMI cables.  The transport is 33K Euros and the two DACs together are the same.  It’s reviewed in the January issue of Hi Fi News.
  If so the OP perhaps thought he didn’t need the DAC and wasn’t prepared to be shelling out 66K Euros.  If this is the case, two observations:
1) His Esoteric dealer did him a major disservice, and
2) consider getting the Bryston DAC3 that I referenced earlier.  It’s a heck of a DAC, will accept the HDMI from the Esoteric, and only cost him about 3K Euros
tweak1
870 posts
 
SACD is a proprietary format. It must be played using an SACD player or a transport with SACD outputs. Not many player/transports have that, if they do they are $$$$$.

I have a Oppo 105, which I can use as a transport(bypassing the internal dacs) BUT it will NOT output SACD signal UNLESS the signal receiving dac has a SACD input, and even then not always will they sink up. And while the 105 has a volume control to play SACDs, it is average at best, meaning the resultant SACD signal is highly compromised

hth
itsjustme
91 posts
 
OK, i have not researched this specifically.  but here is my logic and belief.  If your transport outputs S/PDIF as the digital signal to the DCA, that is a standard. I know of no encryption on S/PDIF since it must be backwards compatible.

This makes me believe that there is no problem so long as your transport decrypts the SACD. SACD is basically DSD.
G
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