Can I connect a SACD player to an outboard DAC??

[andy13]

Can I still get the benefits of a SACD or DVD-A cd player if I run the signal through an outboard DAC? Is there such a thing as SACD or DVD-A outboard DAC? CAn you recommend any? Thanks.

[N. Abstentia]

First off, let me say I don't know for sure so this is just speculation.

I wouldn't think you could do that. Wouldn't you have to use the digital connection if you're using an outboard DAC? If so, you can't get SACD or DVD-A. SACD and DVD-A signals are only delivered through the 6 channel analog out.

[Feanor]

First off, let me say I don't know for sure so this is just speculation.

I wouldn't think you could do that. Wouldn't you have to use the digital connection if you're using an outboard DAC? If so, you can't get SACD or DVD-A. SACD and DVD-A signals are only delivered through the 6 channel analog out.

Virtually all SACD and DVD-A players send only CD layer, (16 bit / 44.1 kHz), data to their digital outputs. Also, I'm not aware of any standalone SACD, (DSD), DACs that are available to consumers. Copy protection protocols have a lot to do with this, I suspect.

[andy13]

SACD and DVD-A cannot be listened to in a 2-channel stereo? I didn't know they were strictly a multichannel format. Since I do most of my listening with an integrated amp, there is no point in me buying a SACD or a DVD-A player. Is this correct?

Also a question on regular cd players. What is the difference between a 20-bit and a 24-bit player? I have an Adcom GCD-750 that is a 20-bit player. Will a 24-bit player sound alot different. My Adcom has no output to connect it to an outboard DAC but has a coax input to use any players output and run it through the Adcoms onboard DAC.

[N. Abstentia]

You could change the SACD player to 2 channel mode and you could listen on a 2 channel system. Don't forget you'll need to hook the player to a TV so you can see the menu to do that.

Same with a DVD-A, you can just play the DD or DTS track in 2 channel mode. DVD-A also depends on being hooked to a TV, even more so than SACD.

[Feanor]

SACD and DVD-A cannot be listened to in a 2-channel stereo? I didn't know they were strictly a multichannel format. Since I do most of my listening with an integrated amp, there is no point in me buying a SACD or a DVD-A player. Is this correct? ...

No. A typical SACD recording is "hybrid": it consists of three separate versions of music, or "layers".

1. Multi-channel SACD -- this can only be decoded by the SACD play and must be output via the six analog outputs;
2. 2-channel SACD -- this too can only be decoded by the unit itself, and output by the left/right pair of the analog outputs;
3. CD, (2-channel only, of course) -- it be played on standard CD players as well as an SACD player. On the latter, the sound is output via the same, left/right pair of analog outputs as for the 2-ch SACD; or it can be output by way of the digital output, (optical or coaxial), of the player to an external DAC which is either a standalone unit or is built into an A/V receiver.

The 2 channel SACD version of the music will usually sound better than the CD version because (a) o the higher SACD resolution, and/or (b) the superior record engineering that the producers chose to use for that version. As for the CD version per se, it might sound better using an external DAC if the external happens to be better quality than the one in the SACD unit itself.

I'm not experienced with DVD-A but heretofore I believe that recordings in this format generally can with at 2-channel and multi-channel Dolby Digital versions, and multi- and maybe 2-channel DVD-A, (24 bit / 96 kHz), versions. They had no CD-compatible layer, unlike the "hybrid" SACDs. I think there is now something called "DualDisc" that provides a CD layer that is compatible with most CD plays.

[Cincy2]

Yes you can purchase separate SACD transports/DAC's. The price of admission is high however. dCS makes a transport / DAC combo that transfers SACD digital to an outboard DAC via a firewire encrypted port. See the dCS website for details.