EMM LABS XDS1 V2 CD/SACD Player

[joey_v]

I hope they have some left over drives as I have a TSDx and it would be terrible if I was stuck without a drive

[doggiehowser]

The real reason SACD transports have stopped is because Sony stopped the manufacturing of one of their encryption chips needed for DSD transmission.

So Esoteric lost the ability to manufacture new drives.

As far as I can tell the XDS1 didn’t use the flagship Esoteric Transport (the one used in the K01) but the lower model. Maybe K05? The TSDX used the same transport.

Not sure what Transport is used in the matching Transport for the DA2 flagship DAC.

The flagship Esoteric Transport is also used by dCS in their Vivaldi range. Which I guess is why the newer dCS models only feature a CD Transport.

The loss of the Sony chip also affected Marantz. The successor to the SA8005 is the ND8006 with a CD Transport.

I know PS Audio went with an Oppo platform for the DirectStream Memory Transport which uses a Sony BluRay universal Transport. Not sure how long that Transport would remain in production either now that Oppo has called it quits.

For what it’s worth even if a product is being phased out, most companies will have a large final build to meet support and replacement requirements.

[Bar81]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

The real reason SACD transports have stopped is because Sony stopped the manufacturing of one of their encryption chips needed for DSD transmission.

So Esoteric lost the ability to manufacture new drives.

Yet Esoteric is still releasing plenty of new CDPs so I can't see how the above is accurate. Further, DCS is releasing a new SACD transport.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Bar81

Yet Esoteric is still releasing plenty of new CDPs so I can't see how the above is accurate. Further, DCS is releasing a new SACD transport.

Will that not be a Denon product?

[Bar81]

Originally Posted by bart

Will that not be a Denon product?

You're right in that it's a modified Denon transport but that's not really the point I was making which is that SACD transports are still being produced so it can't be a chip issue - at the very least there appears to be an alternative supplier of any such chip.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Bar81

You're right in that it's a modified Denon transport but that's not really the point I was making which is that SACD transports are still being produced so it can't be a chip issue - at the very least there appears to be an alternative supplier of any such chip.

Absolutely right.
For example also T+A produces their own SACD-transport, so does Marantz, Luxman.
SACD ain't dead yet!

[doggiehowser]

Originally Posted by Bar81

Yet Esoteric is still releasing plenty of new CDPs so I can't see how the above is accurate. Further, DCS is releasing a new SACD transport.

I am sure any production company would have forward orders - and the DSD encryption chip is being phased out but still available for purchasing. Much like the Oppo announcement.

But which DCS SACD transport has just been announced? The last new SACD transport that DCS released was the Vivaldi - the later Rossini doesn't play SACDs.

And as I said - the functionality to do DSD decryption isn't fully gone because there are still BluRay/Universal transports that still have that functionality - just that the ones that were dependent on the Sony chip would be phased out. So theoretically, they could redesign their existing transports to work with the new chip..

[GSOphile]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

I am sure any production company would have forward orders - and the DSD encryption chip is being phased out but still available for purchasing. Much like the Oppo announcement.

But which DCS SACD transport has just been announced? The last new SACD transport that DCS released was the Vivaldi - the later Rossini doesn't play SACDs.

And as I said - the functionality to do DSD decryption isn't fully gone because there are still BluRay/Universal transports that still have that functionality - just that the ones that were dependent on the Sony chip would be phased out. So theoretically, they could redesign their existing transports to work with the new chip..

DCS was using Esoteric supplied transport mechanisms, but Esoteric stopped OEMing these for competitive reasons. I don't think this is a chip issue. There are a number of new SACD players that have hit the market recently using new transports, e.g., the Marantz SA-10, which uses their own newly developed transport.

[doggiehowser]

It was actually in an old magazine review I read of dcs’ last player

Found another reference to the same article.


“In the most recent issue or HiFi+ (November 2015 Issue 129) I just read that the reason for this is that Esoteric has stopped OEM sales of SACD transport because Sony had stopped supply of the chip required to read the DSD data stream from the SACD disc. Based on what I read in HiFi+ the companies that make SACD players using the Esoteric transport have bought sufficient supplies to produce and repair existing models that they make, however, with no future supply dCS did not want to introduce new models requiring SACD transports from Esoteric.”

[Bar81]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

It was actually in an old magazine review I read of dcs’ last player

Found another reference to the same article.


“In the most recent issue or HiFi+ (November 2015 Issue 129) I just read that the reason for this is that Esoteric has stopped OEM sales of SACD transport because Sony had stopped supply of the chip required to read the DSD data stream from the SACD disc. Based on what I read in HiFi+ the companies that make SACD players using the Esoteric transport have bought sufficient supplies to produce and repair existing models that they make, however, with no future supply dCS did not want to introduce new models requiring SACD transports from Esoteric.”

That's a nice fairytale from dcs but they got cut off by Esoteric like everyone else as was posted above.