[elwappo99]

From research it appears the BDP-BX7 is the same as the BDP-s370, but the BDP-BX7 includes an HDMI cable. They are also a little cheaper.

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

 
You know, when I think over it, from the 1950's to 1999 storage formats and audio-quality was on a steady rise, the storage format peaked at SACD, and since then we've been declining, and now we have an SACD player for $140 that sounds excellent, and these units used to cost, what, $900+?  Yes now I see why it's the bargain of the century =)

In addition to sounding good with CDs and SACDs, the S370 can also play back DVDs and Blu-ray discs, plus streaming videos off of the internet.

 
Quote:

I think i'll keep my eye out for the s370. Seems like a solid unit, and although it may not be as great as a dedicated SACD unit, I'm at the point where I'd appreciate the size, functionality and cost.

I am sure the upcoming Oppo BDP-93 (@ $500.00) will sound better than the Sony S370....but will it be 3X better?  

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

In addition to sounding good with CDs and SACDs, the S370 can also play back DVDs and Blu-ray discs, plus streaming videos off of the internet.

 

I am sure the upcoming Oppo BDP-93 (@ $500.00) will sound better than the Sony S370....but will it be 3X better?  

I have a audio-gd reference 5 dac,and I was originally interested in getting a straight CD-transport on the side of a computer based rig. The SACD functionality is a somewhat experimental branching for me.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Well here's what that HiFi World magazine October 2010 issue has to say about the S370's sound quality:
 
"the analogue outputs were excellent, clear, crisp and dynamic, but in stereo of course; they did a good job with CD... Digital audio via optical link was full bodied, smooth and easy going but hardly better than the analogue outputs ... HDMI was a little harder in tonal character ... SACD sounded as easy going and luxurious as usual ... "
 

What were they connecting it to?  The impression I get, without being able to read the review, is that it was a home theatre receiver of some kind. You realise that the quality of the digital output would be dependant on the DAC it was being fed to, don't you? 

 

[oqvist]

Quote:

What were they connecting it to?  The impression I get, without being able to read the review, is that it was a home theatre receiver of some kind. You realise that the quality of the digital output would be dependant on the DAC it was being fed to, don't you? 

Sounds like the reviewers didn´t get that. Or they expected wonders using the 370 as a transport. The first post totally messed with my mind because I just couldn´t figure out how any could find the S370 expensive. Must have been some ironic thing or something.
 
I thought heavilly on getting on that one but then I got the audiophile sickness and ordered the oppo bdp83se instead

... But anyway would be kind of backwards getting a SACD player and then skip on the DAC. Since the dedicated DACs I have don´t have SACD support. I wonder if the S370 DAC would measure up so well to the Ref9 like the oppo DAC does. SACD vs CD the oppo destroys the Ref9 but it keep up very well with CD-CD comparisons as well. It will take some time to decide a winner

 

[Maxvla]

So if I'm getting this right you can only output SACD via digital to a DSD decoding capable receiver? That kills it for me since my amp requires balanced input and the way I normally get it is through digital input into my DACMagic.

 

[kiteki]

Quote:

What were they connecting it to?  The impression I get, without being able to read the review, is that it was a home theatre receiver of some kind. You realise that the quality of the digital output would be dependant on the DAC it was being fed to, don't you? 

They were connecting the HDMI to a Yamaha receiver of some kind with DSD conversion, I'm yet to buy the magazine.
 
 
As far as the red/white analogue outs go which they praise with "excellent, clear, crisp and dynamic, but in stereo of course"
they are... well... analog... so I can in fact connect my headphones directly to the S370 and hear sound.
 
Now all I have left to question is the nature of the dac inside the S370, and the nature of my amplifier, like, for starters I'm questioning whether either can reproduce 10Hz-100 000kHz, you see, my headphones have a frequency response up to that range, so I want to listen to bat-country and see what happens.
 
 

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

So if I'm getting this right you can only output SACD via digital to a DSD decoding capable receiver? That kills it for me since my amp requires balanced input and the way I normally get it is through digital input into my DACMagic.

 
No, there are 5 ways to output SACD on this player.
 
 
 
1.  192kHz/24bit analog on the red and white things on the back.
 
2.  optical via the shiny red thing on the back, though quality will suffer.
 
3.  coax via the fat plug on the back, though quality will suffer.
 
4.  HDMI to a receiver in DSD.
 
5.  HDMI to a receiver in 176.4kHz/24bit LPCM.
 
 

 

[XXII]

I just bought a s370 a few days ago. I'm using it with a HDMI audio de-embedder to send (what I believe to be 176.4/24 when I listen to SA-CDs) to my DAC. I haven't been able to verify whether it is indeed 176.4/24 or 88.2/24 with SA-CDs but from what I've read it should be 176.4/24 . The manual doesn't really give any indication.
 
Regardless, it sounds great and I'm very happy with it. I've never heard the analog outputs though (probably never will).
 

 

[Currawong]

That's too cool. Very much tempts me to get one along with a suitable DVD player.  Maybe next year.

 

[kevin gilmore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy
/img/forum/go_quote.gif
  While it's true that after over 6,000 titles released worldwide, there're a number of multi-channel only SACDs, the mandate of Sony/Philips still holds true for 99.9 of all SACD titles.

The who live sacd is one such title that is multi-channel only.  Reason: Its 145 minutes long. Both sacd layers are used
to get the length required. I'm pretty sure that this disc is the only one in my collection that is multi-channel only.

 

[Maxvla]

Quote:

 
 
No, there are 5 ways to output SACD on this player.
 
 
 
1.  192kHz/24bit analog on the red and white things on the back.
 
2.  optical via the shiny red thing on the back, though quality will suffer.
 
3.  coax via the fat plug on the back, though quality will suffer.
 
4.  HDMI to a receiver in DSD.
 
5.  HDMI to a receiver in 176.4kHz/24bit LPCM.
 
 

So that's a no. Thanks.

 

[Yikes]

In reality no SACD player outputs SACD; no more than a CD player outputs CD. SACD and CD are the storage mediums or formats. The closest thing to outputting SACD would be the DSD on HDMI, but no one listens to digital, we listen to an analog signal converted/created from the digital. In the case of the S370 the DSD from the SACD goes through an extra conversion process (DSD to 192/24) before going through the final D/A conversion process. The DSD output on HDMI still has to be converted to an analog signal in a Receiver or Processor. As far as the S370's SPDIF output while playing a SACD goes it depends on how Sony designed the player. If it outputs any LPCM while playing SACD's it is the results of a conversion, or possibly the 44.1/16 from the CD layer (that most SACD's have). Someone who owns a S370 should try hooking it up to a DAC that gives some indication of the sampling rate of the received signal.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

So, it's possible to get this thing as a transport for about $140, and add a HDMI de-embedder ($160) to output to a standard DAC and enjoy 24/176.4 ?  Sounds like a pretty decent deal!  The PWD lets me know what rates are input so it could be worth a shot!

 

[XXII]

Quote:

In reality no SACD player outputs SACD; no more than a CD player outputs CD. SACD and CD are the storage mediums or formats. The closest thing to outputting SACD would be the DSD on HDMI, but no one listens to digital, we listen to an analog signal converted/created from the digital. In the case of the S370 the DSD from the SACD goes through an extra conversion process (DSD to 192/24) before going through the final D/A conversion process. The DSD output on HDMI still has to be converted to an analog signal in a Receiver or Processor. As far as the S370's SPDIF output while playing a SACD goes it depends on how Sony designed the player. If it outputs any LPCM while playing SACD's it is the results of a conversion, or possibly the 44.1/16 from the CD layer (that most SACD's have). Someone who owns a S370 should try hooking it up to a DAC that gives some indication of the sampling rate of the received signal.

 
Firstly, the DAC chip in the S370 can decoded DSD natively. It is not converted to PCM first. The S370 can output either DSD or PCM through HDMI via an option in the menu.
 
Also, the signal when using hdmi is definitely not from the CD layer, at the very minimum it should be 88.2/24. I'm in the process of getting a emu 0404 so I can confirm the output sample rate. The S370's older brother, the S770, has already been confirmed to output 176.4/24 via hdmi when listening to SA-CDs. 
 
Also, I should mention that the early PS3s which play SA-CDs are also capable of sending 176.4/24 via hdmi with the correct menu settings:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/455769/ripping-sacds-via-spdif-at-176-4-with-a-ps3