SACD & Wadia Digital Volume Control

I would think it would work, but only for 16/44 CDs, assuming you're talking about using the Wadia's digital input. The SACD players have no DSD digital output, and the Wadia has no capability I know of anyway to convert a DSD signal, so it would not work for SACDs (I don't think the Wadia has an analog input, does it?). I would not suggest this course of action for CDs, as the Wadia's transport is excellent and you would not have the extra interface from the Sony or Marantz interfering with the signal.

I don't believe there is an SACD digital output on the Sony or Marantz, in either case, the Wadia would not decode an SACD signal. I do believe that both units allow for standard Red Book digital output, which could be fed into the digital inputs of the Wadia which would then control the volume. In this case, the Sony or Marantz would be acting only as a transport and the Wadia, being software driven, would output a 24 bit signal with the sampling rate, a moot point. Read their technical data to learn more on their site. If this is the case, you would be better off inserting the disc into the Wadia and let it do all of the work internally. The latest generation 861 and 27ix have proprietary algorithms which you can choose from to tailor the sound to your particular system. Finally, Wadia offers a analog to digital converter, but this path would further complicate the signal transfer and result in a lesser quality signal.

Sterling is correct. The only way to use a Wadia 850 or 860(861) with an SACD player at this point is to incorporate the Analog to Digital converter. I have this set up in my system and I am very happy with the results. While I am sure that there is some degradation in the quality of the SACD signal, the SACD still sounds nearly as good as it does going directly to a preamp.