SACD + Devialet solution

[Ecki]

In case you have DSD on disc (SACD rip, DSD download), the most simple and cheapest way -imho- is using UAPP android app

It should run on any current android phone/tablet/hardware media player for very little money (and it will install on any device using your Google account).

In my eyes, it's not only a fine, gapless multiformat (stereo only!) player software, it also can repackage DSD data as DoP (no conversion, just repackaging) and thus send it e.g. to an Expert 200 via USB (OTG) and offering bit exact transmission.

BTW 1:
Ripping DSD via LG BD drive is new to me. I have to try, thank you. Currently i'm using Pioneer BDP-170 for that purpose (which i have to repair now- no power - so it should be rather easy to fix).

BTW 2:
I'm mostly listening to Rock and Pop albums, so my SACD collection is rather small, e.g. all Genesis box sets of Hybrid SACD, Pink Floyd (2), Dire Straits (1), Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, and only few more. They all should be PCM originals converted to DSD, i.e. not the very best way to do DSD ... and they do not really impress me soundwise. For these, i easily could do without DSD

[themis]

Hi

I am sure many have this issue with SACD and Devialet Expert and I am trying to see if there is a solution out there.  The problem with playing SACD and using Devialet Expert is this:
1.  DSD data from SACD - Most SACD transports now extract the DSD data via an I2S link into their same-brand DAC which is the only way DSD is allowed to be extracted from SACD as stipulated by Sony.  This is the best way to realize the full benefit of SACD but unfortunately DSD cannot be fed into the Devialet Expert.
2.  Downsampled PCM (normally 88.2/24) - A few SACD transports are capable of this but most of them are being phased out.  Whilst the downsampled PCM 88.2/24 can be fed into the Devialet Expert (via AES) it is not the most ideal as one is not getting the full benefit of the SACD because of the downsampling 

Therefore my questions are:
1.  Are there any solutions for the Devialet Expert to receive the full DSD data from SACD?
2.  Assuming that one decides to go down the route of purchasing the same-brand SACD transport and DAC, this would mean that the DSD data would be extracted from the SACD and processed into analog signal by the DAC before being fed to the Devialet Expert.  However, the Devialet Expert would then digitize the analog signal from the DAC and convert the digitized signal once again to analog signal before outputting to the speakers.  By going through this Devialet 'digitization' process, would the DSD data be 'colored' or even 'corrupted' further as it has gone through two rounds of digital-analog conversion, once by the DAC and a second time by the Devialet Expert?  Or is the sound still very close or true to the full DSD sound despite having gone through the second round of digital-analog conversion in the Devialet Expert? I have read many who use combination of same-brand SACD transport-DAC and monoblocks that the resulting sound from SACD is amazing as it is the full extraction of the SACD DSD data. And I am wondering if using same-brand SACD transport-DAC and feeding into Devialet Expert will produce the same amazing sound? Ideally, the best most 'uncorrupted' way would be to extract the DSD data and feed it directly into the Devialet Expert but this is not possible because it does not have an I2S link input

Just as background, for a long time, I was using the PS Audio Directstream Memory Player (DMP) as transport for my SACD.  The DMP had the option of downsampling the SACD data to PCM 88.2khz/24bit which would be fed via AES directly into my Expert Pro 1000 which sounded great.  However the DMP had many issues and I was presented with PS Audio's new version of the transport (Perfectwave Transport).  Unfortunately this new transport will no longer downsample SACD to 88.2/24 via AES (in other words the AES will only output the 44.1/16 CD layer of the SACD).  Hence I can't play SACD now - because it is not possible to feed DSD data from SACD to my Expert Pro 1000 and the new transport does not downsample the SACD data to PCM 88.2/24.

Would really appreciate your feedback and experience.  Thanks.

Hi,
sorry for the late reply, been away from this forum for a long time. Easiest way to play SACDs with Devialet is use one of MSBs transports (older are cheaper and some even play SACR-Rs). Take AES/EBU or coaxial out and connect to Devialet. One of the best SACD players IMO and only bested by players costing in the 10K euro plus category.

[zdenes]

I have a lot of DSF and DFF (DSD64, DSD128, DSD256) files and I use HQ Player for playback (under Roon). I experimented a bit and found that downsampling DSD to PCM192kHz sounds better than DSD64 (the max that the Devialet can receive). I read/saw at several places that each DAC has a preferred input frequency for the best sound quality. As the Devialet upsamples everything to 40bits/384kHz for DSP, it seems (IME) that PCM is a better input format. For now, I up- or downsample everything to 192kHz and I'm quite happy with the sound.

[chrisc]

The tidiest method I use is to connect a hard drive with DSD music files on it to a Lindemann Limetree bridge via USB and send the co-ax digital signal to the Devialet

I note that the Devialet shows this on the display as 176KHz

Also tried a FiiO K5 pro DAC which handles native DSD but not nearly as good