I've used a Sony NS999ES for quite some time, primarily for SACD as almost all of my RBCD is ripped to a music server and played via a Squeezebox. RBCD that is played on the Sony goes through an external DAC, but as far as SACD performance goes, the need for a change has been hard to justify!
On the subject of SACD performance, does anyone know if there's ever been any kind of upgrade path for the SACD decoding chips from Sony? They essentially own the technology, right? If they've never changed the decoding chip architecture at all (like has been the case in a myriad number of ways with RBCD chips...), should there really be that much difference in SACD performance amongst Sony players (or any other for that matter?)? I'd imagine there's been changes to things like power supplies, output stages, transports etc., but has Sony ever introduced an "updated" SACD decode chip... just some food for thought and conversation.
On the subject of SACD performance, does anyone know if there's ever been any kind of upgrade path for the SACD decoding chips from Sony? They essentially own the technology, right? If they've never changed the decoding chip architecture at all (like has been the case in a myriad number of ways with RBCD chips...), should there really be that much difference in SACD performance amongst Sony players (or any other for that matter?)? I'd imagine there's been changes to things like power supplies, output stages, transports etc., but has Sony ever introduced an "updated" SACD decode chip... just some food for thought and conversation.