Universal Players that do not convert DSD to PCM?

It is interesting that nobody has thus far made mention of the Esoteric DV-50. I own this unit, and if I'm not wrong, it does not convert DSD to PCM. Whether this contributes to its excellent performance on SACD is still a point of controversy. Esoteric's more expensive players like the UX1, do convert to PCM. Do any other users of the DV-50 care to comment on this? The other thread concerning the DV-50's performance has gotten so far off into the deep waters of modifications of other players, that it is no longer relevant to the DV-50

TW- The newer Denon universal players, amongst the very few that can apply speaker distance setting for SACD, do NOT convert to PCM for speaker distance setting but DO convert to PCM when bass management is called for. Check out the very thourough reviews at Audioholics.com.

Russ

Aren't ALL digitally recorded SACDs originally recorded in PCM then converted to DSD during mastering ? Do any digital multitrack recorders and mixers run natively in DSD ? I thought they all ran 24/192 (or 96kHz) PCM.

The DVDA standard (PCM) is theoretically a higher resolution standard than SACD (DSD) so if a player converts DSD to PCM (DVD-A) then that should not be detrimental.

Plus if a player does convert to PCM then it only needs one DAC which could then be a more expensive and more capable DAC. If it has 2 DACs then the accounting department will have to make sure that they are less expensive DACs.

So I guess I'm saying that it probably shouldn't be a consideration ... have a listen and buy the one that sounds the best.

Marantz Dv9500 (has a switch).

Seandtaylor99, please do some more research.

Regards,