Quote:
Originally Posted by ps7256
I am curious about true Playback of what is actually on an SACD. Paul McGowan indicates that we really do not hear the musical layers of what is actually on an SACD unless there is a unique proprietary connection that does not contravene Sony Philips Digital Interface protocol, thus with PS Audio’s Direct Stream DAC there is the connection they use called ( I squared S Input) and for McIntosh it is the DIN connection. I understand from Paul’s comments that regular SPDIF, (Toslink) and AC3 (Coaxial) interconnects do not send the layers of information on an SACD that are supposed to be rendered on a typical SACD player to a Preamplifier...Or...? What am I missing or not understanding.
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Paul has a habit of stretching the truth.
But SACD players - even fairly affordable ones have always had a way of sending copy protected DSD bitstream across an external interconnect to a stand-alone DAC.
On the entry level stuff - Sony has the iLink (basically FireWire) which supports encryption between their SACD transports/players to a compatible amplifier/DAC. Pioneer used the same FireWire but branded it differently.
Denon used DenonLink which transmitted it over a shielded RJ45 cable.
On more esoteric gear, Esoteric transports always had their own proprietary connections. EMM Labs And Playback use an ST fiber cable - but labeled them differently to do the same thing.
McIntosh had a similar system too.
This all happened way before the DirectStream Memory Transport was released. And Paul seemed to be unaware of it.
To be fair these proprietary systems were ways to get around the copy protection requirements on SACD.
These days there are ways to encapsulate DSD inside a PCM stream (called DOP) which allows us to send DSD over coax AES optical to compatible DACs. The difference is that the DSD files aren’t copy protected.
So for a while I was using a LUMIN to send DSD over coax to my PS Audio DirectStream DAC. I believe the new iFi Pro iDSD will support DOP on its coax inputs as well.