Article: At Long Last! Listen To Your (Physical) SACDs Through an Outboard DAC

[rando]

@gmgraves

 

The Sony BDP-BX37 was unique SKU US/CA model, only available in a set of retail stores owned by a very rich Southern family 🤠, designed to hit what was at that time the lowest available price point for those desiring to try Blu-Ray.  For comparison on a supposed audiophile site you picked a highly amusing device.  Certainly amusing to me since I bought one used a year or two ago to do basically the same test(s).  Admittedly I didn't get CC to monetize purchase of a dongle and moved directly on to watching a 99¢ BD after determining this device was not an unrecognized jewel missing some key hardware mod/firmware adjustment.    

 

Absolved of provenance.  I think your article missed a key element by failing to mention the Burr-Brown (Texas Instruments) PCM1738 DAC chip in the Sony which ultimately provoked you to explore the OPPO's capabilities further.  Some mention of why one/both of us chose this exact model wouldn't have gone astray either.  Though probably beyond the scope of this article.  I'd also liked to have seen a few lines, or HINT HINT get the boss to clean up and promote his previous article, on mShuttle file transfer as a second reference point to depict how broadly it and the OPPO varied in function as transports.      

 

As always, you prove a very interesting character under any pen name.   

 

Edit: While digging up that pdf I came across this Audio Circle link which delves fairly deeply into the questions at hand.

[rando]

4 hours ago, blue2 said:

however it only accepts DSD over USB - probably a very common problem.

 

Kal rightly arrived at using a passive preamplifier-processor many years ago. 

 

14 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

I must be missing something because I fail to get your point.

 

Establishing said BDP actually has capability to playback DSD and, based on the level of technical awareness being exhibited in the comments, making clear what you are comparing.  Let me remind you that DAC used in the Oppo was mentioned and listening tests through both DAC chips were performed.  In brief you skipped right over the rather large potential issue of whether the Sony device actually passes on untouched data.

 

Provenance in this case would've elicited a few sharp intakes of breath.  Since you were remiss in providing any clue why or how the Sony was chosen.  I promoted some background information.  

[rando]

46 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Can’t you just read an article for what it is instead of comment cryptically on all possibilities a writer didn’t cover to your liking?

 

Have you lost all cognitive memory of participating in the comments section of every single article he's written?  Beyond pointing out you are dropping the bar impossibly low here.  Should not articles provoke conversation and further expansion upon the ideas portrayed.   You've all but managed to avoid angry rhetoric in the comments by some stroke.  Why seed them.

 

What I saw was a string of responses highlighting nearly every corner of research indirectly touched on.  Forgive me for the sin of asking "Why was none of this included?"

 

[rando]

19 minutes ago, Kal Rubinson said:

I do not understand this or why it is relevant.

 

I'm attempting to eat dinner which limits ability to dive into the full archive "Music in the Round" and forum posts.  Would it be incorrect to say in the 5 year period surrounding this Sony device's release you never used a preamp-processor to feed a dac from HDMI source?  I believed otherwise.