SACD Ripping using an Oppo or Pioneer? Yes, it's true!

[chichaz]

Thank you to ted_b and all who contributed to the procedure! It's unbelievable (in a good way) I'm able to do something with all these SACDs I was stockpiling in the early 2000s. I first heard DSD in the studio during a Telarc session and was blown away. A big proponent of the high res audio movement early on, it eventually lost steam over the next several years as the format was mostly considered dead. Now the ability to rip and play directly on my 851N has only made me purchase many more! 

 

I have read every post (all 80 pages!) and feel like I deserve something for that. Anyway what I will do is reiterate a few recurring problems and answers to common questions to help those new to the process. 

 

Flash drive troubleshooting: You're sure you have the files correct on the flash drive, with the correct extensions and inside the autoscript folder yet it's still not working? Try another flash drive! My first one didn't work, but the second did. If the drawer doesn't pop open, it's time to try something else! There are many threads here with screenshots on what your autoscript folder should look like. There are several threads about the formatting of the flash drive. Use a PC to do this, or a PC emulator on Mac. Perhaps avoid large capacity drives. The autoscript folder takes up well under 1GB. 

 

Once you have the flash drive ready, connect a PC directly to your SACD player (you do not need a crossover cable). I used an older laptop I could leave setup in the living room for a few days. My wife didn't mind! Anyway use a TV to locate the IP address of the unit and modify the SACD.cmd script using Notepad to put in the correct IP address. Do NOT include any extra zeros. Then, continue with the instructions, getting out to terminal / DOS. Once you're in DOS navigate to the correct directory with all these files and type sacd.cmd to start the process. Don't forget Doskey, which allows you to use arrows to repeat text input just in case you make a goof getting to the right directory, etc. What if you don't know DOS? Keep reading... 

 

Put the SACD_extract folder in the root directory (C:\). Then here's the exact play by play: 

1) Windows menu -> run command -> type "cmd" -> press enter

2) At the command prompt type cd:\ -> press enter

this puts your directory at C:\

3) Type CD \SACD_extract -> press enter

4) Now type sacd.cmd -> press enter

After a few seconds the disc info will come up, then start copying the data to the same SACD_extract directory 

5) When done you'll get the message, "We are done..." 

6) Now you can pop out the disc, put in another, wait about 10 seconds and repeat steps 4-5 for all your SACDs. 

7) When done, type exit -> press enter to get back to Windows 

 

What players work to extract SACDs? These are the ONLY known and confirmed-working units: 

Pioneer BDP-160

Pioneer BDP-170

Pioneer BDP-80FD

Oppo 103, 103D

Oppo 105, 105D

Arcam UDP411

Arcam CDS 27

Cambridge Audio CXU

 

None of these manufacturers have locked out the ripping capability yet. It's not likely they will but be cautious about upgrading your firmware just in case. 

 

If you're in a bigger city be sure to check craigslist for these players. I found a very inexpensive Oppo 103 (~$300) on Chicago craigslist to do this! Now that the 20x series of Oppo players are out, people are upgrading and selling off their 10x units. 

Cheers. 

[chichaz]

On 8/25/2017 at 0:26 PM, bellhead said:

So is it best to have your Oppo 105D player and your computer both connected (by direct ethernet cable connections) to your router?

Certainly doing it this way is the most foolproof method of extracting ISOs.

Since we're here, extracting the ISO file THEN converting it down to DSF or FLAC files later also keeps the process simple. Besides personal experience, 97 pages of this thread have shown this over and over again! 

[chichaz]

That's a good list for starters. However you've got a duplicate in Cambridge Audio units. #3 and #13 are the same. The full model name is Cambridge Audio Azur 752BD. The "CXU" is a completely different unit and is a duplicate of #16. It would help to group them by manufacturer. 

[chichaz]

Over the last two years or so I have read every post on these 187 pages. If you'll indulge me for a moment, I wanted to chime in with an update. 

 

I bought some SACDs on Discogs recently and ripped them last night, for backup purposes of course 👍. I had installed a wired gigabit switch in my entertainment center a few months ago. Now everything is just a little bit easier. Popped in my trusty (read: dedicated) flash drive into my Oppo, turned off auto-resume & looked at the IP address, inserted the first disc, connected an Ethernet cable I leave behind the cabinet to my laptop, edited the IP address in the sacd.cmd file, shelled out to DOS, changed the directory, typed "sacd" and blamo!

 

While I realize this still takes several steps, it requires a maximum of five minutes. That's unless you make a mistake, and I admit I usually make one or two. I have to say, though, wired Ethernet and the dedicated flash drive are the keys to making this an easy process. Hope this helps anyone else who has successfully ripped a disc and hopes to do so again in the future. 

 

Cheers

[chichaz]

On 7/24/2019 at 11:04 AM, BluRay444 said:

I have an Oppo (BDP-103) as well. If I understand you correctly, your Oppo network setting is now set to DHCP mode? If that is the case, unless you have some specific reason for doing this, you might consider giving it a fixed address, eliminating one of the steps that you mentioned. 

In addition, you can save time and steps by creating .bat files for the various ways you rip your SACD's i.e., a .bat for extracting stereo sony dsf files, another .bat for raw iso's, etc. This is easy to do and eliminates looking up parameters and prevents typos.

 

All true, but I'd rather leave everything in DHCP. I have too many devices to go around trying to assign fixed IPs to everything. Besides I find myself ripping SACDs maybe every three months now that my collection is ripped. If it takes me an extra 30s to locate the current IP address that's okay. 

 

OTOH I should make some BAT files to write DSF files, rather than splitting out my ISOs later on a different machine. Thanks for the recommendations. 

 

Thanks @NorthGeorgiaWX for reminding me to thank the people here who've discovered and refined these methods in the first place! 

[chichaz]

On 11/30/2019 at 5:29 PM, Timb5881 said:

Well, got my BDP-s390 and a remote for it.  I have had it for a couple of weeks, mainly just checking it out.  Tonight I ripped my first SACD, and working on my second one..   We shall see how it works on more!

Getting the first one ripped is 99% of the battle. The other 1% is remembering how you did it weeks or months later 😄🙄

 

A bit of unsolicited advice: Save that working flash drive!

 

Congrats and enjoy.

[chichaz]

On 12/28/2019 at 1:25 PM, Redbeemer said:

Quote

...I suggest you convert your DSD files to 176.4 flac rather than 192 flac as DSD is based on the 44.1 clock and single rate DSD is an even multiple of 44.1, so when downconverting to 176.4, it is an even multiple of 44.1 and 2.8 MHz DSD.  It is normally preferable when downconverting, to do so as an even integer or fraction thereof.

 

I don't know if what I'm about to say is the case with DSD to PCM conversion, but I can tell you several pro mastering engineers agreed at a recent AES convention that PCM to PCM downsampling from non-even multiple rates (say, 192kHz to 44.1kHz) was no longer the issue that it once was, at least for software-based SRCs (sample rate converters). At some point in the past it was preferable to use even multiples, but the quality level in SRCs have caught up. For clarification, software-based SRCs in the pro world exist within the digital audio workstation (DAW) or could be something standalone like Weiss Saracon.

 

Then again this entire discussion of post-ripping playback is off-topic. There are many other threads on this forum that cover the subject... Can we celebrate the new year by returning the discussion to SACD ripping? 

[chichaz]

On 3/11/2020 at 11:01 AM, tngiloy said:

Whoops. I checked the rear of my Oppo and I had left a thumbdrive plugged in that I had stored my backup settings on. I removed it, plugged in the Auto Script thumbdrive in the front usb slot and the drawer opened as it should.

I'm expecting a couple sacd's in the next few days and will test then, but I think that fixed it.

Duh,

Tom

Yes, having another thumb drive connected likely prevented the Oppo's firmware from running the script off the correct one. We all make mistakes, it's human.

P.S. Everyone please wash your hands! #NoMoreCovid-19 

[chichaz]

On 3/19/2020 at 2:00 PM, alexanderdemaet said:

My Cambridge azur 752bd cannot play dsf music which I burned on a data dvd

You'd either need to burn an SACD-R, or connect a flash drive, hard drive, or a network drive to play back a DSF file. I'm able to play back using my Oppo player, which I understand is functionally the same unit. One caveat with SACD-R playback is that, a firmware update removed this ability, at least on the Oppo-branded unit. 

 

There is plenty of support available for playback of DSD audio elsewhere in this forum. This thread is meant to address extracting the audio from the disc, which it seems you've successfully completed (congrats!).

[chichaz]

On 4/21/2020 at 10:57 AM, zettelsm said:

Since I hear no difference between original and edited version, I'm not concerned that the conversion and back again is occurring.

What @Redbeemer said above is also my experience. Sony Sonoma systems are the only known way to stay in DSD. Most DAWs can't handle DSD to begin with. Those that can (Pyramix, older versions of Sadie) have to make a DSD to DXD PCM conversion to make any edits (or any processing), then convert back to DSD. This should be seamless and (in theory) inaudible to the user but it's good to be aware it's happening. 

 

As you've all sorted though, this only makes a difference if you're editing the music itself, not so much if you're simply removing movement or piece breaks, etc. 

[chichaz]

12 hours ago, [email protected] said:

Extracted below:

 

PROCEDURE FOR ACCENTED CHARACTERS

 

Most mastering engineers know to leave off non-ISO compliant characters these days. But there are probably a few hundred SACD releases over the years that had those characters before it became clear they can cause problems for end users. I'm glad there's a workaround for this particular problem. 

[chichaz]

On 2/19/2021 at 9:56 AM, Locke65 said:

 

• The only disadvantage of using the sacd.iso: the bad handling of Metadata for sacd.iso compared to DSF-files is this correct?

Yes, and MP3 tag editor works on DSF files, so you can add or modify artwork, etc. This software is actually German so the link is to the German language site, but English is also an option. 

 

[chichaz]

17 hours ago, Mike6f said:

16 vs 24 bits is just marketing BS, nothing real world or audible.

As much as I'd like to leave this (bait?) alone, I simply don't have the restrain 

 

This statement is patently untrue. If you somehow perceive otherwise, you need to listen carefully with a good system. Your ears should lead you to the truth. 

[chichaz]

Oh I was a little bit excited to post here as I had SACD_extract crash several times. Then, after pulling out the disc, popping it back in and trying again, it is working perfectly. Nothing to see here, unless you're curious what happened before it started working. 

 

--

I picked up a few SACDs recently. I ripped one without issue, which was nice considering it had been at least a year since the last time. The second disc keeps crashing SACD_extract. Error details are below. My setup is an old Win7 laptop connected via Ethernet to the network, and my old trusty Oppo BDP-103. I modify SACD.cmd with the correct IP address, then double click it. I also went in through DOS (via cmd), with the same results. 

 

The disc in question is [redacted, since it's irrelevant now]. I looked carefully at it to make 100% sure it's actually an SACD, and noticed it's labelled UDSACD. Did someone figure out a way to block ripping? 

 

Oh, one last thing that could be relevant: This version of SACD_extract is from 2012. 

 

[Details removed since it doesn't matter!] 

[chichaz]

On 12/5/2022 at 11:03 AM, MikeyFresh said:

No idea why whatever version of the executable you currently have isn't providing track metadata, but the above combination definitely will.

The track title you have is a direct result of the command line you specified: "/Users/rossm/Music/LoveOverGoldSACD" >= "Users rossm Music LoveOverGoldSACD.dsf" with the slashes replaced with spaces. If you leave off whatever that switch was (cut off in the screen shot?), I bet you get the original track titles encoded in the metadata. 

[chichaz]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:14 PM, loop7 said:

I wasn't sure this is the right spot to ask but I'm having an issue with DSD2FLAC in that the transcodes are roughly equal in size to the DSD files extracted from an SACD disc. Historically, the conversions are closer to half the size of the DSD isles.

 

JAVA is current so if anyone has any ideas what I may be doing incorrectly, please let me know.

It isn't the spot, actually. This thread is dedicated to the ripping process. Just go to this page https://audiophilestyle.com/search/ and type "DSD2FLAC". You'll get plenty of search results.