[gbacic]

I have some SACD rips, I don't know what you guys are talking about.
I don't know how to actually rip them, I just know you can.
With a 24/96k rip, the bit rates are around 3000 kbps, so yeah, they're huge.
(Thriller and Getz/Gilberto, FYI)

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wavoman did it: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/rip...-4-ps3-455769/ (I was there).

Cool! That is worth an audio geek merit badge.

 

[waterlogic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbacic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have some SACD rips, I don't know what you guys are talking about. I don't know how to actually rip them, I just know you can. With a 24/96k rip, the bit rates are around 3000 kbps, so yeah, they're huge. (Thriller and Getz/Gilberto, FYI)

Those could be analogue recordings as well (the sample/bit rate tells you nothing !)
Maybe you have DVD-Audio rips ?
Most DVD-Audios can be ripped using the right software. (have plenty of those).

 

[waterlogic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mace1337 /img/forum/go_quote.gif All demo material you can find that is not on an actual SACD disc (but in say a hi-rez flac) will NOT be true SACD but rather SACD re-recorded into a ADC (like a soundcard) and thus cannot be considered equal to the real thing. You go from DSD > analog > souncard ADC > PCM, this has a high potential of altering the sound.

WRONG !

linnrecords.com (also hdtracks.com - see Pentatone classics releases downloads) sells both the masters files downloads and physical SACD (DVD discs) .
Example: have both Mozart Requiem SACD and the hi-res files.
Both sound exactly the same (SACD played on hi-end Denon machine, files played via itunes / aqvox DAC .

Also True, there are many SACD analogue recordings (quality lost inherent to analogue recording) , similar to LP rippng.

As said, using modified SACD players it is possible the capture the digital data (google "digital sacd rips") as well (have few such rips, ex Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms).

 

[Skylab]

The nice thing about SACDs is you can rip the CD layer for PC/portable use, as opposed to DVD-Audio, where ripping is possible but an enormous PITA.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif The nice thing about SACDs is you can rip the CD layer for PC/portable use.

Unfortunately, not all SACD's have a Redbook layer. Some of the best are only single-layer DSD.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unfortunately, not all SACD's have a Redbook layer. Some of the best are only single-layer DSD.

True, but in the end the single-layer ones were pretty few.

 

[waterlogic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif The nice thing about SACDs is you can rip the CD layer for PC/portable use, as opposed to DVD-Audio, where ripping is possible but an enormous PITA.

Ripping DVD-A is a simple process, actually. You can then downsample the hi-res files for portable use in a nick of a time.

So buying DVD-A makes much more sense than buying SACDs.

 

[thisbenjamin]

.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I've found it simpler to own a SACD player. Even the humble Sony SCD CE595 isn't half bad.

Even if hi-rez is moot, poor SACD recordings are few and far between. I budget to buy one or two SACDs every week.

A side benefit is that OOP SACDs usually appreciate. My collection could be sold for more than what I paid for it.

 

[waterlogic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've found it simpler to own a SACD player. Even the humble Sony SCD CE595 isn't half bad. Even if hi-rez is moot, poor SACD recordings are few and far between. I budget to buy one or two SACDs every week. A side benefit is that OOP SACDs usually appreciate. My collection could be sold for more than what I paid for it.

Looks I ll have to come to California to sell my cca 200 SACDs. Or should I wait another year ?

From my SACD collection I can say that maybe 30 to 40% are good recordings. Many sound much worse than their XRCD counterparts or LPs (if available).


With Hi-Res downloads on the move and comp storage getting rapidly cheaper, I see no benefit of buying any Physical media in the future except LPs.

(btw DVD-A can be manipulated in the computer DVD drive, SACDs are dead meat in such a drive)

 

[gevorg]

Contrary to popular belief, digitally ripping SACD layer is actually possible.

It is cumbersome than ripping redbook CDs, but much easier to do than ripping vinyl. Unlike ripping redbook CDs, ripping SACD and vinyl is done at the speed of playback (i.e. 1x).

Recently, some DVD players like Oppo started to have a functionality to convert the SACD layer from DSD to PCM and output it via SPDIF. That PCM stream can easily be captured by some prosumer soundcards and then recorded digitally as-is to some high resolution file (i.e. without D-to-A and A-to-D).

Some people already successfully done this and posted their results online. I can't give links since its against Head-Fi's policy, but if you're really interested I'm sure you can google it.

 

[thisbenjamin]

.

 

[gbacic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterlogic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those could be analogue recordings as well (the sample/bit rate tells you nothing !) Maybe you have DVD-Audio rips ? Most DVD-Audios can be ripped using the right software. (have plenty of those).

They sure don't sound analog at all and were downloaded from a site that would delete it if it was an analog rip calling itself an SACD rip. And Thriller was never released on DVD-A, only SACD.

 

[gevorg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thisbenjamin /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're copying a DSD to PCM conversion, not the DSD steam - which is on paper higher res / contains more data. Not to mention what you detail has already been brought up, as well as it being moot as the analog loop has been present since day one. Anyone can attach an ADC to the analog outs of a SACD player. No one cares thou as you're not preserving the original DSD recording in any way. Unless the DSD steam remains intact until the last stages of the DAC, you're getting a hack job.

The DSD-to-PCM conversion is digital and the loss there, if any, is much smaller than the loss that occurs in the "analog loop" (although someone like Benchmark might claim their DAC and ADC loop is audibly indiscernible, but thats another discussion). The PCM stream is high resolution too (can be 24/96+) and is superior to the CD layer.

Its actually even possible to output the DSD stream bit-for-bit, without converting to PCM, but currently the equipment to capture DSD is very expensive.