Analogue Productions SACDs

I'm using balanced cables from the Oppo to my Amp which has true balanced inputs as well as single ended.

@big_greg 

if I play the SACD in my Oppo player and the sound from the internal DAC in the Oppo is clearly worse than if I play the red book version from the same SACD disc in the CD player in my Rockna server through my Rockna DAC

I don't know what Oppo you have but I guess you spent 10 times as much on your Rockna DAC alone.  You may not have compatible cable connections, but I would be very interested in how 2-channel DSD played from your Oppo (acting as a transport) sounds through your Rockna DAC?

From my reading, the Rockna DAC does not appear to process DSD natively.  Instead it converts to PCM which negates the inherent linearity advantage of DSD.

My Reavon, which is basically a repackaging of the Oppo system-on-a-chip, has TI Burr-Brown DACs which also do not process DSD natively.  It is hard to tell from the blurb because you have to read the DAC spec sheets carefully, looking for what they don't say!

But when listening, I could tell almost immediately there was something wrong, which was confirmed when I wrote to Reavon.  It is fine when used as a transport feeding native-DSD capable DACs.

@richardbrand I send the DSD 64 data to the Rockna DAC through a HDMI to i2s converter.  They are readily available and inexpensive. 

I'm not saying that the Oppo's internal DAC is "bad", but when you hear the difference with the same DSD file from the SACD being played through the Oppo compared to the Rockna, you can't unhear it.  The Rockna is much more detailed and dynamic, leaving the Oppo a little "flat" sounding. 

On the other hand, a well mastered CD or the Redbook layer from a SACD will sound very close to a SACD and much better than a SACD played through the Oppo.  

You don't have to have a Rockna to be able to discern the difference.  Any decent DAC that can accept i2s input and DSD 64 should provide better sound quality than the Oppo. 

I'm not trying to pick on Oppo, my point is that any universal player like that is built to a price point and by definition is built to do multiple things, so you're not going to get the full enjoyment your digital files can bring.  I thought the Oppo sounded good until I visited a friend who has a Jay's Audio CD transport and DAC (Redbook only) and realized that I was wrong about the possibilities that CDs present.  That led to my experiment of using the Oppo as a transport and taking advantage of the Rockna DAC. 

I can buy used CDs for 3 or 4 bucks at the local record store instead of paying 10 times that for SACDs that don't really sound much (if any) better when played back that way.

@big_greg 

Ok, with that extra information I can see where you are coming from!  To summarise, I think you are saying that a CD can sound nearly as good as an SACD when played in two-channels through a state-of-the art DAC box.

In my experience most classical CDs have excellent sound quality, probably because digital mixing is kept to a minimum.  I stopped buying vinyl as soon as CDs came out, but I am dipping my toes into the vinyl waters to try to see what all the fuss is about. 

There is virtually no difference in price for me between new classical CDs and new classical SACDs but new vinyl is three times as expensive - I mainly buy through Presto.  My local bookstore keeps second-hand classical records at about four bucks each, and possibly because I use micro-line stylii, most sound as good as new.  The bookstore's main storage is a huge book barn, which has been expanded into a winery and wedding venue so I think records are just nostalgia for them.

Your Oppo seems to work fine as a transport outputting HDMI, which is the same as my Reavon experience.  Personally I cannot see any point converting multi-channel HDMI to I2S (2-channel only) or feeding DSD into any DAC with a ladder architecture.  DSD was invented to remove the need to balance the individual rungs of the ladder!

The Oppo 205 manual states the quality of the digital output depends on the output connection. I did not know until I looked.  Hope this helps with the discussions with Oppo players.

Due to bandwidth limitations , high resolution audio formats such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS - HD High Resolution and DTS - HD Master Audio cannot be sent through the coaxial or optical digital audio output . A reduced resolution version of the same audio track will be output instead. To listen to high resolution audio formats in their best quality , please use the HDMI connection if you have a receiver that handles HDMI audio (see page 12 ) or use the multi -channel analog outputs if you do not (see page 15 ).

Due to copyright restrictions , SACD audio cannot be sent through the coaxial or optical digital audio output . To listen to SACDs , please use the HDMI or analog audio connections .

Due to copyright restrictions and bandwidth limitations , full resolution audio from DVD -Audio discs cannot be sent through the coaxial or optical digital audio output . To listen to DVDAudio in full resolution , please use the HDMI or analog audio connections .