Converting my sacd iso to flac

Hi Folks!
I have a lot of SACD ripped to iso files which I play using foobar on my Pc .If I understand correctly foobar reads the iso file and converts the dsd to a pcm stream.I have ordered a fiio x5(which i,m waiting for) ,which can also play dsd using software on x5 to read and convert to pcm.
Neither  foobar or the x5  can play dsd natively ,for that you need a dsd dac or something like the schiit loki which I don,t have. 
Some of my sacd iso files contain both the stereo and the (5.1 tracks which i,m not interested in) some have stereo and mono tracks.
As 128gig microsd cards are really pricey just now I,ll be using 2x 64gig cards in my x5 for now.
If I start filling my cards with iso files I,m going to run out of space very quickly ,some of the files are over 4gig which would also mean formatting my cards to NTSC instead of fat 32 and I,m pretty sure the x5 wouldn't  react to well to an iso with a 5.1 track.
I was intending to use foobar to rip all my iso files to flac 176khz by this method 
 
1) Set ASIO driver to PCM
2) PCM Volume to 0db
3) PCM samplerate to 176400 (or 88.2 if you want to sacrifice some resolution)
4) DSD2PCM Mode( Direct (Double-Precision 30Khz LPF) 
5) Preferable area (none) -- make sure to select Stereo Tracks to decode later (see below)


Now drag and drop the ISO image to the foobar playlist:

1) All the tracks will magically appear
2) Select the tracks you want to convert with you mouse (if multichannel...you need to convert to stereo using other converters first)
3) Right click and select Convert to ....
4) Convert to FLAC level 5 (Default)
5) Set destination folder for output.
6) let 'r RIP.... will be done in a few minutes.
 
 
I don,t know if this is the best method or a  lossless or lossy conversion to flac  but after listening to the original iso and  converted flac files I cant hear any difference in sound quality.
 
If anyone with some experience in sacd ripping to flac could tell me if I,m doing this right I,d really appreciate some help.
is there any advantage to leaving the iso untouched and letting foobar or the x5 to decode to pcm ?converting allows me to select individual tracks and put them on my x5 instead of full iso and will remove unwanted  5.1 and mono tracks.This also has the advantage of freeing up a lot of space on my pc .I  also have a backup of all my music  on a 2TB external drive ,but I just want some advice before I start  ripping to flac  and deleting my iso files off my pc.   

I would also like to know the answer to this if possible. Bump. 

I had a similar dilemma as a friend of mine supplied me with some sacd .iso files but thankfully I use JRiverMC 19 and all was taken care of as JRiver handles the .iso files on the fly with no fuss... However before I knew of JRiver handling the .iso files with no fuss I decided to do some searching and came across two methods of breaking up sacd .iso files (one uses a command line the other a GUI) - I posted them on someone's blog (one method they already knew of) but the last of which has a GUI I believe is best...


Here's the link to the Blog.... yeah I'm the Anonymous guy @ 6/09/2014 9:28 pm



Link to the program with GUI via Sonore: http://www.rendu.sonore.us/software.html


I used the ISO2DSD
program


Now once I had the files separated I used dbpoweramp to convert to 24/192 wav using the DSD- codec I found on another site....


Here's the Link to the dbpoweramp codec: Note get the download from Spoon in the first post



I'm pretty sure once it's in .WAV format it's a cinch to get into .FLAC at whatever bit depth/frequency one desires.... (I stopped here as I had come across JRiver's ability to handle .ISO and .DFF files on the fly!)


So the train of thought is to go from .ISO -> .DFF -> .WAV -> .FLAC (Windows 7)


You can of course go another route as there is also a


DSD2FLAC
program on the Sonore site as well but I believe it's

Mac and Linux only....


Enjoy...

Update 11/2021 - All of the above may not work now

Try this

https://web.archive.org/web/20190509205301/http://dsd.sonore.us/iso2dsd_PC_v7.zip

Really did the trick! Thanks for the links!

woa, thanks. I usually just use foobar to listen to sacd ripped, not knowing that it can convert it. Is there any other tool on windows ? And how to read sacd disk on pc ?

Main trouble of SACD ISO to FLAC, WAV, DSF conversion is clicks at border of tracks.
 
The trouble is result of bug sacd_extract software during conversion ISO to DSF.
 
ISO -> DSF conversion allow transfer metadata directly from ISO to DSF.
 
For ISO to DFF conversion (without metadata, of course) - no click problems.
 
I.e. conversion ISO -> DFF -> DSF with additional auto transfer metadata from ISO to DSF allow solve both trouble:
 
1. Clicks
2. Metadata transfer
 
Also during resampling at border of neghbour tracks appear slight noise splashes. It result of applying of digital filtration during resampling.
 
It's matter of some albums like live concerts, operas, etc. I.e. there tracks divided in places with non-zero values.
 
Solving here in serial resampling/processing all tracks of album as solid audio stream. I call it "true gapless conversion" (or seamless album conversion).
 

 
Audio playback software also must support gapless playback.

3) PCM samplerate to 88.2K is well enough, unless you can tell the difference with higher rate.

winxp said:

  3) PCM samplerate to 88.2K is well enough, unless you can tell the difference with higher rate.

Click to expand...

About optimal sample rate we can talk only in considering full certain audio system.
 
Here many variables.
 
From technical point of view, simple comparing sample rates or audio formats (as example PCM. vs. DSD) as itself is not fully right.

yuri korzunov said:

 
About optimal sample rate we can talk only in considering full certain audio system.
 
Here many variables.
 
From technical point of view, simple comparing sample rates or audio formats (as example PCM. vs. DSD) as itself is not fully right.

Click to expand...

IIRC DSD actually does go to 88.2khz evenly.  176.4 x 16 = 2,822.4 and 88.2 x 32 = 2,822.4

tsukinick said:

  IIRC DSD actually does go to 88.2khz evenly.  176.4 x 16 = 2,822.4 and 88.2 x 32 = 2,822.4

Click to expand...

Yes. However for qualitative resampling no difference multiple or not input and output sample rates.

yuri korzunov said:

 
Yes. However for qualitative resampling no difference multiple or not input and output sample rates.

Click to expand...

In simpler words?  Sorry.

tsukinick said:

  In simpler words?  Sorry.

Click to expand...

If sample rate conversion made properly no difference (in quality of conversion) between:
 
1. 2.8 MHz to 352/176/88/44 kHz, and
 
2. 2,8 MHz to 384/192/96/48 kHz.

yuri korzunov said:

  If sample rate conversion made properly no difference (in quality of conversion) between:
 
1. 2.8 MHz to 352/176/88/44 kHz, and
 
2. 2,8 MHz to 384/192/96/48 kHz.

Click to expand...

I know the true audible difference is very slight, but I am a little OCD about numbers and only like to sample in even amounts.  It just seems wrong dividing oddly.  Perhaps I like even conversions because with video the difference is huge i.e. 3:2 pulldown from 24fps to 60hz, bothers me so much I use a 144hz monitor to watch most content.

Is there idiot (and I am referring to me) proof conversion software for Mac OS X? I have XLD (which is limited to 24/96) and I noticed that there is a program for sale for $35.00 called TraX . What should I use and is there a guide explaining how to use it? Thanks to all. And please bear with me as no one would confuse me with an IT person or a computer engineer. 

https://code.google.com/p/dsf2flac/