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Question about DSD DACs

Apologies if this has been asked before (it probably has), but I'm a little confused about how DSD is decoded in the newer DSD capable DACs. My current disc spinner is a Cambridge Audio 751BD universal player which, according to the owner's manual, can output native DSD only through its HDMI output. Since my DAC (Bryston BDA1) has no HDMI input, playing SACDs can only be done through an analog (RCA) connection to my integrated. With this connection, as I understand it, the signal is output as PCM, though what its resolution is I can't quite tell. What I CAN tell is that the resulting sound is rather shrill.

At some point I'm thinking that I'll want to upgrade my DAC to a DSD capable one, but I'm not sure how these newer DACs process SACDs. Will I hear the signal decoded as DSD without conversion to PCM? Some DACs (like the PS Audio PWD MK II or Bryston's BDA3) boast HDMI inputs but I couldn't tell from their literature whether it's even possible to use this connection to a disc spinner to play SACDs in 2-channel, or how the signal is processed through such a connection.

Thanks for your help with this--it will assist greatly in making choices when I decide to do this upgrade.
cooper52
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
I do all my DSD via USB. :)

I have a dozen or less DSD albums and 10 of them are downloads.

Best,

Erik
yage
63 posts
 
Normally HDMI is needed to output DSD from a transport to an outboard DAC since it has copy protection built into the protocol. If you use other means (such as coaxial SPDIF or Toslink), then DSD is usually downsampled to PCM. Unfortunately, I think your player outputs DSD data according to the HDMI spec whereas most DAC makers seem to favor the I2S protocol over the HDMI connection. So your choices for an outboard converter will be severely limited.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the analog outputs the player should be reading the SACD layer of a hybrid disc if you have SACD Priority set to Multichannel or Stereo in your setup menu. That may already be the case in your system.
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
There IS DSD over S/PDIF, commonly called DoP, but I dont' know who supports it.

It is not a downgrade, as the data is still DSD, but it is bandwidth limited. If you want to play super DSD files (whatever the current term is) you'll need USB.

Best,

Erik
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Here is a link from dCS regarding DoP

http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/support/what-is-dop-dsd-over-pcm/
gigi
19 posts
 
DSD capable DACs are able to decode DSD file formats (such as DSF, DFF or DSD ISO) to analog without conversion to PCM. One must feed these files to a DSD DAC using a computer running appropriate software (JRIVER, HQPLAYER…) thru USB, firewire or LAN connections. These music files can be obtained either by buying from music download sites or ripping from your own SACDs with a special version of a PS3 loaded with SACD ripping software.
Some who prefer their music decoded with a DSD DAC also upsample their PCM music library (wav, flac, ape…) to 2xDSD or even 4xDSD (if they have a 4xDSD capable DAC) although one would need a powerful computer to do the 4xDSD upsampling.
Personally, I have an 8 year old computer that can do PCM upsampling to 2xDSD without sweat.
Check out this article with lot more infomation: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-abcs-of-dsd-downloads/

Best, Gigi

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