[mneuwiueyagaobcf]

I'm talking about this product listed at audiocubes http://www.audiocubes.com/category/H...lf_System.html

I am interested mainly because I need a (cheap but good looking) transport to use with the DAC1 and I would like to try SACD. I'm not too concerned about clocking or jitter as the benchmark is not as prone as other dacs.

Does anyone have experience with this unit?

Is it worth buying even though I will not be using the video section. Will I be able to use my Benchmark DAC1 for CD's even though it is an SACD minisystem?

How does the cd load into the transport in these units? What's the build quality like?

Also, I will have to use a transformer and audiocubes say that the transformer will affect the sound quality "in a positive way". Is this true?

Thanks!!

 

[Ferbose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mneuwiueyagaobcf I am interested mainly because I need a (cheap but good looking) transport to use with the DAC1 and I would like to try SACD. I'm not too concerned about clocking or jitter as the benchmark is not as prone as other dacs. Does anyone have experience with this unit? Is it worth buying even though I will not be using the video section. Will I be able to use my Benchmark DAC1 for CD's even though it is an SACD minisystem? Thanks!!

If you are using Benchmark DAC1, you probably won't need the crummy little speakers in that min-system, right? Don't waste money on its amplifier and speaker section. If you wan a decent transport with SACD playback, try Sony DVP-NS775V. Its list price is only $130.
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...DVD_DVDPlayers
Although the software support od DVD-Audio is not as strong as SACD, you may also want to check out some inexpensive universal players. Some DVD-audio discs, such as AIX label, comes with 96/24 PCM signal that can be read by DVD-video machines. This means, even with the SVP-NS775V, you can enjoy a few hi-rez DVD-audio discs. To my ears, DSD has its unique sound which is a tad different from PCM audio. Although SACD's future is unclear, I think it is still worth exploring.

 

[jjcha]

Do SACD players transmit the SACD data out of an optical digital out? I had thought (hopefully mistakenly) that they would only send out the redbook layer.

-Jason

 

[skullguise]

Almost all players do NOT send out SACD digital signal. Those that do are in either encrypted, or perhaps ina proprietary format. Pioneer and Sony have this, but I believe each player will only work with the company's own receivers.

Many players WILL put out up to 24/96 signal, though; and some will downsample the digital output to 16/48 or something like that.....