SACD Player/Transport Choices

I’ve excerpt this from Onix’s literature easily obtainable with a simple search or 

https://onixhiend.co.uk/introducing-onix-zenith-xst20/

I have underlined statements here you should take note of...

"FPGA-Assisted I2S Output

While many audiophiles are looking for a reliable I2S transport for their High-End DACs, the lack of standardization in this part of market would previously cause many compatibility issues. However, our Zenith XST20 features special hardware that allows switching between 10 I2S pinout modes, significantly expanding its compatibility to virtually all I2S DACs on the market."

Seems to imply with the use of their Field Programable Gate Array are able in some cases configure the output to circumvent Sony’s copyright protection and scheme and possibly make the XST20 compatible with other DAC’s. There may be some wrinkle in copyright law that lets them attempt that but we’ll see if Sony tries to intervene or not.  

My Oppo outputs DSD over HDMI to my Bryston DAC 3 which does the decoding.  For the record I have a Sony ES SACD player that also outputs DSD over HDMI into the same DAC.  Not sure what you are reading there.  Readon and Magnetar do the same thing, In my understanding.

https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-udp-205/

scroll to specifications-output

I use my Esoteric X-05 as transport to my external dac except when playing sacd. When playing sacd the Esoteric uses its own dac. Esoteric has both single end and balanced outputs so its easy to switch source. Used a Krell KPS 30i as transport before Esoteric but the advantages of beeing able to play sacds without another "box" in the main setup won. The Krell serves as transport in my second setup now and does it very well (recapped and serviced 1 and 1/2 year ago).

Conclusion: I can recommend both Esoteric and Krell as transports. Neither of them will play sacds when used "only" as transports.

@mahler123 Just because you want to believe something doesn't make it so!