Playing SACD audio on old equipment

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

That would change the way you play music.

Ripping is the term for extracting the digital audio that’s stored in the disc and saving it as a file on a computer. With CDs it is pretty straightforward. Most computer drives can read CDs and then you just run a program to extract that digital 1s and 0s.

With SACDs there are copy protection systems to circumvent. There is a process (which can be daunting to a beginner) that involves copying some “boot files” to a USB drive that you plug into a compatible Oppo 10x or player using the same chipset (some Pioneer and Sony older models worked too), with those players connected to the home internet network. You then load an SACD disc but not auto play. Next you run a java script program on your computer and tell it the network address for the Oppo(et al) player. And let it do the rest.

Once the files are extracted, they can be copied to a network drive (NAS) which makes them available even when the computer is off. NAS systems often also have multiple drives installed for redundancy so a single drive failure won’t cause all your precious data to be lost.

You would then need a playback device (like the BDA3 with the 3.14 streamer for instance) to read the file (from the NAS or computer) and play it back instead of playing from the disc.

Your mileage may vary but I find that spinning discs often still sound better.

Good post!

[70sMac]

Considering that the Oppo UDP-203 has Red & White RCA female plugs on its rear panel, I must assume that they can be configured to be unbalanced 2-channel stereo outputs. -- Response: No need to configure. That is what they are.

I read an old article about the Oppo UDP-203 in which the author was comparing the -203 to the -205 and, apparently, he was trying to convey that using the 2-channel stereo output (Red & White) wasn't exactly straight forward. Although this will change by the end of this week, I've never used a -203, so I was basing this thought on my reading. Needless to say, I hope that the author was wrong.

As most of you probably already know, the Mac MX130 Control Center has a perfectly good pair of Balanced (XLR) outputs on its rear panel. We have never used them, but, seeing that our old Mac MC300 Amplifier has a pair of [unused] Balanced XLR inputs on its rear panel, I'd like to avoid the occasional manual level adjustment and upgrade. -- Response: I do not understand what this means: "avoid the occasional manual level adjustment and upgrade."

Every once in a while, we notice that one channel is lagging a bit relative to the other. In the past, we've corrected this by manually adjusting the level control(s) on the rear panel of our Mac MC300. My thought here is that, by using the balanced (XLR) circuitry on both the Mac MX130 and the MC300, we won't have to make said occasional level adjustment(s). In my mind, this constitutes a [modest] upgrade.

Perhaps it's a sin, but we've always used our older Mac equipment for 2-channel stereo only. As mentioned earlier in the thread, we've always used flat ribbon-type cables for connecting the player(s) to the Mac MX130 and the same type of cable to transmit the stereo signal to our Mac MC300. As I've been absorbing the information that's been posted to this thread, it has occurred to me that quite a lot has happened in the A/V world that we have no clue about and, believe it or not, using XLR circuitry is one of those things. In closing, this thread supports and/or proves the fact that audio and video are now inextricably linked together. This is a relatively new concept to us, but we're trying to catch up.

As ever, thanks for all the great posts -- and please keep them coming.

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

That would change the way you play music.

Ripping is the term for extracting the digital audio that’s stored in the disc and saving it as a file on a computer. With CDs it is pretty straightforward. Most computer drives can read CDs and then you just run a program to extract that digital 1s and 0s.

With SACDs there are copy protection systems to circumvent. There is a process (which can be daunting to a beginner) that involves copying some “boot files” to a USB drive that you plug into a compatible Oppo 10x or player using the same chipset (some Pioneer and Sony older models worked too), with those players connected to the home internet network. You then load an SACD disc but not auto play. Next you run a java script program on your computer and tell it the network address for the Oppo(et al) player. And let it do the rest.

Once the files are extracted, they can be copied to a network drive (NAS) which makes them available even when the computer is off. NAS systems often also have multiple drives installed for redundancy so a single drive failure won’t cause all your precious data to be lost.

You would then need a playback device (like the BDA3 with the 3.14 streamer for instance) to read the file (from the NAS or computer) and play it back instead of playing from the disc.

Your mileage may vary but I find that spinning discs often still sound better.

Originally Posted by crwilli

Good post!

crwilli..... I agree with you, it is a great post. Do you have anything that you might be able to add to the new [to us] concept of using one's computer as a quality audio source?

The problem I see on our end is the fact that our MacBook Pro (MBP) is somewhat behind when it comes to data transfer technology. Specifically, our MBP 17 came with (3) USB 2.0 ports and (1) Thunderbolt 1 port. Putting it kindly, said USB 2.0 ports present a bona fide "bottle neck" to transferring a lot of data -- and we assume that "ripping" SACD audio, for example, involves a lot of data...but, once again, we've never done anything like this in the past.

Thank you for participating in the thread

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

That would change the way you play music.

Ripping is the term for extracting the digital audio that’s stored in the disc and saving it as a file on a computer. With CDs it is pretty straightforward. Most computer drives can read CDs and then you just run a program to extract that digital 1s and 0s.

With SACDs there are copy protection systems to circumvent. There is a process (which can be daunting to a beginner) that involves copying some “boot files” to a USB drive that you plug into a compatible Oppo 10x or player using the same chipset (some Pioneer and Sony older models worked too), with those players connected to the home internet network. You then load an SACD disc but not auto play. Next you run a java script program on your computer and tell it the network address for the Oppo(et al) player. And let it do the rest.

Once the files are extracted, they can be copied to a network drive (NAS) which makes them available even when the computer is off. NAS systems often also have multiple drives installed for redundancy so a single drive failure won’t cause all your precious data to be lost.

You would then need a playback device (like the BDA3 with the 3.14 streamer for instance) to read the file (from the NAS or computer) and play it back instead of playing from the disc.

Your mileage may vary but I find that spinning discs often still sound better.

Great post!

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by 70sMac

crwilli..... I agree with you, it is a great post. Do you have anything that you might be able to add to the new [to us] concept of using one's computer as a quality audio source?

The problem I see on our end is the fact that our MacBook Pro (MBP) is somewhat behind when it comes to data transfer technology. Specifically, our MBP 17 came with (3) USB 2.0 ports and (1) Thunderbolt 1 port. Putting it kindly, said USB 2.0 ports present a bona fide "bottle neck" to transferring a lot of data -- and we assume that "ripping" SACD audio, for example, involves a lot of data...but, once again, we've never done anything like this in the past.

Thank you for participating in the thread

I have focused on computer based digital music exclusively since 2014. That decision was purely based on convenience and lack of desire to deal with LPs again.

Ripping is done via Ethernet only and is a totally separate process of playing your files. Both your OPPO (if that’s what you have) and your PC are connected to your router.

Playing the files back via USB is fairly easy. A software ‘player’ is told where to find your files and then you choose what to play.

Of course, like everything with computers, the ones and zeros must be aligned. They don’t work on ‘close enough’.

Jump in and start! We can fine tune things along the way to help you.

[70sMac]

Originally Posted by crwilli

Jump in and start! We can fine tune things along the way to help you.

crwilli..... Did you miss the post about "jumping in"? We just invested a pretty big chunk of change toward trying to solve the original theme of this thread. Specifically, we just purchased an Oppo UDP-203 in an effort to begin Playing SACD audio on old equipment ... and we did it based on recommendations that came out of this thread. I guess one could say that we've definitely jumped in and started.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by crwilli

I have focused on computer based digital music exclusively since 2014. That decision was purely based on convenience and lack of desire to deal with LPs again.

Ripping is done via Ethernet only and is a totally separate process of playing your files. Both your OPPO (if that’s what you have) and your PC are connected to your router.

Playing the files back via USB is fairly easy. A software ‘player’ is told where to find your files and then you choose what to play.

Of course, like everything with computers, the ones and zeros must be aligned. They don’t work on ‘close enough’.

Jump in and start! We can fine tune things along the way to help you.

[70sMac]

Hey, when did they draw that picture of me? Man, those car batteries can get mighty heavy.

[Cohibaman]

IMG_5403.jpg

[Cohibaman]

Originally Posted by 70sMac

crwilli..... Did you miss the post about "jumping in"? We just invested a pretty big chunk of change toward trying to solve the original theme of this thread. Specifically, we just purchased an Oppo UDP-203 in an effort to begin Playing SACD audio on old equipment ... and we did it based on recommendations that came out of this thread. I guess one could say that we've definitely jumped in and started.

I’m pretty sure Craig meant jump in with ripping and listening to files (as opposed to the physical media). He was answering your question and explaining. A fine job of explaining at that. No need to get crappy, we’re all friends here.