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

[fas42]

1 hour ago, bobbmd said:

@gmgraves You are welcome and I have no way to compare what you are listening to and what I am using but I don't disagree that regardless of the device all physical hard discs sound better -I do notice though that all Stones recordings ie remastered/sacd/red book/vinyl going back to the '60s have always sounded harsh brittle to me on many songs but not on ballads blues songs ie sweet virginia/far away eyes etc what you/others think? At the same time listening to More Hot Rocks disc 2 (above) Mick's voice is clear/centered with Keith's bass coming from right speaker and Charlie's drums clear and distinct from the left( just as it was when I had 5.1/7.1 system) so I guess I am getting DSD/Multichannel with my new downsized system. Again thanks for getting me interested in my discs again and I am glad my original SACD/DVD-A changer still functions, BTW I also have a Harman/Kardon HDCD changer that still recognizes my DEAD HDCD discs and I play it through same amp as above via a Schiit YGGY GS(which probably cancels the HDCD DAC in the HK, eh)?

 

Stones' recordings can be good test disks for easy appraisal of where a system is at. The very first album they did is very roughly recorded, and the slightest misbehaviour of the playback is obvious; but sonically something like Let It Bleed should be a piece of cake, 🤣 - some tracks on Exile on Main Street are heavy going on a sub-par setup; Ventilator Blues I found to be an excellent means of checking replay status, because of the 'sludgy' mix.

[fas42]

1 hour ago, beerandmusic said:

But who knows what "jitter" is audible anyway (grin).  I still say for my ears, many times hdmi sounds much better than analog out of many/most universal disc players that i have heard.  They usually sound more dynamic and better bass, but i guess that just means that the dac in the avr (in my case, i use a marantz sr6013 as a preamp) is better than the dac in the universal disc player regardless of hdmi jitter.  I don't argue on these sites much anymore as my hearing has continued to get worse  (smile)....seems like not much i throw at my system makes it sound "next level" in my budget anymore.  I will always try new amps and speakers though (grin)....i just found out nelson reed made a vintage low end speaker with an ATC midrange...that might be interesting.

 

You should check out some of the newest digital speakers out there - remarkably good value for value. Currently, I'm using ridiculously cheap Edifier speakers, driven through the digital optical input from an equally cheap DVD player - and at the current state of tune, ticks most boxes. Biggest problems for this level of gear is that they are very sensitive to noise on the mains - if you go this route, all efforts to isolate the setup from crap coming over the power feed will be rewarded 🙂.