Beware of SACD Transports -- they probably will not work with your favorite DAC


Hello, I just learned a painful lesson. I'm guessing that not many people will know this so I'm going to put it in here.

The audio on a SACD is encrypted.
If I were to purchase a SACD / CD player I have nothing to worry about. The Audio is un-encrypted inside the player.
However if I were to purchase a SACD / CD Transport made my brand Z, I would have to purchase a brand Z DAC???
Apparently Sony who owns the SACD format mandated that the audio on the SACD itself is encrypted and
the digital output from a SACD transport is ALSO encrypted. It looks like the actual un-encryption is done in the DAC.
There is no standard for doing the un-encryption so every manufacturer has their own proprietary way of doing this.
So I cant use a Esoteric SACD transport and an Auralic DAC which is what I tried to do?
londontk

Showing 4 responses by mahler123

I should clarify that I play my Oppo 105 and Sony SACD Player over HDMI into the Bryston DAC3
I have a Bryston DAC3 which has 4 HDMI inputs.  I play the DSD layer of SACD from an Oppo 105 and a Sony 5400 ES..
If the OP truly has an SACD Transport (no DAC) then it must send the DSD via I2S or HDMI
I’m wondering if the OP bought the Grandioso.  It’s a two chassis transport that feeds a two chassis separate DAC via HDMI cables.  The transport is 33K Euros and the two DACs together are the same.  It’s reviewed in the January issue of Hi Fi News.
  If so the OP perhaps thought he didn’t need the DAC and wasn’t prepared to be shelling out 66K Euros.  If this is the case, two observations:
1) His Esoteric dealer did him a major disservice, and
2) consider getting the Bryston DAC3 that I referenced earlier.  It’s a heck of a DAC, will accept the HDMI from the Esoteric, and only cost him about 3K Euros
Jafant 

yes, I prefer the Sony/Bryston combination to the stand alone Sony SACD