Question about DSD DACs

Normally HDMI is needed to output DSD from a transport to an outboard DAC since it has copy protection built into the protocol. If you use other means (such as coaxial SPDIF or Toslink), then DSD is usually downsampled to PCM. Unfortunately, I think your player outputs DSD data according to the HDMI spec whereas most DAC makers seem to favor the I2S protocol over the HDMI connection. So your choices for an outboard converter will be severely limited.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the analog outputs the player should be reading the SACD layer of a hybrid disc if you have SACD Priority set to Multichannel or Stereo in your setup menu. That may already be the case in your system.

There IS DSD over S/PDIF, commonly called DoP, but I dont' know who supports it.

It is not a downgrade, as the data is still DSD, but it is bandwidth limited. If you want to play super DSD files (whatever the current term is) you'll need USB.

Best,

Erik

Here is a link from dCS regarding DoP

http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/support/what-is-dop-dsd-over-pcm/

DSD capable DACs are able to decode DSD file formats (such as DSF, DFF or DSD ISO) to analog without conversion to PCM. One must feed these files to a DSD DAC using a computer running appropriate software (JRIVER, HQPLAYER…) thru USB, firewire or LAN connections. These music files can be obtained either by buying from music download sites or ripping from your own SACDs with a special version of a PS3 loaded with SACD ripping software.
Some who prefer their music decoded with a DSD DAC also upsample their PCM music library (wav, flac, ape…) to 2xDSD or even 4xDSD (if they have a 4xDSD capable DAC) although one would need a powerful computer to do the 4xDSD upsampling.
Personally, I have an 8 year old computer that can do PCM upsampling to 2xDSD without sweat.
Check out this article with lot more infomation: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-abcs-of-dsd-downloads/

Best, Gigi

Many thanks for the responses, and especially to Gigi for the link to The Absolute Sound’s article, which was very enlightening, given my somewhat underdeveloped level of technical knowledge. It sounds like this isn’t as simple a process as I’d hoped for, that is, putting a disc in the spinner and having it play back the SACD layer in unconverted DSD format. Experimenting with my system as it stands, I actually like the CD layer better (it’s a little warmer and less shrill), but it’s running through entirely different processing than the SACD layer, which relies on Cambridge Audio’s own onboard DAC chips instead of my outboard DAC. I do have the system set to read the SACD layer in stereo, so it is presumably the PCM conversion I'm hearing through the speakers.

At some point it looks like I’m going to have to learn the ins and outs of inserting my computer into the process which is something I’d hoped to avoid (old dog/new tricks issues here). Since the literature for my CA 751 BD claims to send DSD over its HDMI output, my question then becomes: what happens to this data when (if) it reaches a DSD capable DAC? Or is this just an unworkable setup, which is the impression I’m getting from the responses so far?