Transport that outputs SACD DSD signal w/ coaxial?

Kr4, that's what I believe as well. I don't think it really does anything with the SACD layer but the manual is misleading.

I see what it says but I do not believe that it will convert DSD. I think it is misleading in that it is referring to what you can get from an SACD via s/pdif. In other words, PCM from the RedBook layer.

Kal

The manual says it converts it to analog. That should mean it converts it to PCM at the digital output. It is not passing DSD. I'm sure someone smarter than me will jump in if I am mistaken.

Narrod-
I wasn't suggesting it would output the DSD digitally, but rather decode it from it's digital input, and output it through it's analog outs. Here is a link to the manual-

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/manuals/archive/tri21_eng.pdf

Go to page 5, and it states that it will convert digital data from any CD,SACD,or DVD-A source.

I did a quick search and couldn't find any information on a TriVista DAC that outputs DSD. Provide a reference. I would like to look into it.

Ok, thanks guys. Great information. I suspected that it may be similar to DVD players not being able to output upconverted video signals over analog component outputs (only HDMI), but I wasn't sure.

So, the better question is what is the point with Muscical Fidelity advertising that the Trivista DAC does SACD? I believe it only has an optical and coaxial digital inputs, right?

There are none that pass DSD over TosLink or Coaxial outputs. I doubt there ever will be because of Sony licensing and copy protection concerns and the orphaned nature of SACD. There is just not alot of software being released from the big record companies.

Consumer devices can't be allowed to output unencrypted DSD over i.e. coax . . . this would be a violation of the liscensing agreement that the manufacturers need to support the SACD standard. It is, of course, a copy-protection thing. The Trivista DAC wouldn't be affected here, because it actually doesn't play the discs, but who knows how they expected it to be used? Maybe with modified machines, in the same way that the SDI interconnection standard was popular a while ago between DVD players and video processors -- but the only way to get an SDI output on a DVD player was to modify it.

The dcs equipment does use IEE1394 (firewire) to convey DSD from their transport to their DACs . . . and several IC manufacturers offer ready-packaged DSD-over-1394 transmit/receive chipsets that are targeted at consumer electronics applications. But adoption of this standard in finished products seems to be extremely rare.