News help choosing a SACD Player / transport

If your DAC does DSD over PCM (like a Benchmark DAC3B) then an easy recommendation from me to play SACD’ s is a used super cheap Oppo player as a transport. Then the $600 - $900 GeerFab D.BOB. Depending on the quality of your DAC this setup could be phenomenal.

GeerFab Audio D.BOB digital breakout box | Stereophile.com

I used to have a Benchmark DAC3B and loved the way the D.BOB sounded with SACD and CD. I sold the DAC3B when I was not playing disks too much. Tthe DAC3B was not as good as my Yggi+ OG. The Yggi+ does not do DSD over PCM.

A friend has the best DAC I ever heard. A $24k marvel of a DAC that also does DSD over PCM. I will take my D.BOB to his place to hear my $150 Oppo | D.BOB | DAC. I am certain it will be the best sounding SACD I have heard.

I used to own a modded Sony SCD-1 and that was my frame of reference to this D.BOB.

BTW - my understanding is the no other external DAC can play the DSD layer except via the D.BOB

I would recommend getting a high end streamer that is either roon ready or can accommodate an internal SSD woth your library on it. 
Your Mac mini used as a streamer is the bottleneck in your case. 
Lumin U2 is roon ready and you can continue using your Mac Mini as roon core. 
Aurender N200 can accommodate a 2.5” SSD with your music library and can be used with or without roon. 
 

You can definitely pick up a great SACD player like Esoteric or Luxman but it’s a waste of money considering how good streaming can be today. 

Distilling what was previously posted, seems the options to play SACD on most DACs are:

Shanling Onix Zenith XST20 SACD/CD
or
A universal player used as a transport (used Oppo 105) + GeerFab Audio D.BOB Digital Breakout Box 

Wonder which sounds best?

I also have a Lumin U2 streamer together with an English Electric8 switch. I use high quality Cat6 wiring from my cable modem to my Luxul AV router and then to the EE8. Finally, I use a Shunyata Sigma Ethernet cable from the EE8 to my Lumin U2. My DAC is a Bricasti M21. A DH Labs Mirage USB cable connects the U2 to the M21. Power to these components is conditioned by a Shunyata Denali and delivered via Shunyata Venom power cables. I think the music I stream (using either the onboard Lumin app or my Roon Nucleus+) from Qobuz and Tidal sounds rather good.

That said, I also have a Bricasti M19 SACD transport, which employs an I2S connection (using a proprietary cable supplied by Bricasti). The power conditioning and cable are the same Shunyatas. More often than not, using what I try to ensure is the same recording as I am streaming, the SACD or CD version sounds even better — greater clarity, better imaging, wider/deeper soundstage, and more dynamic.

I cannot explain why exactly, but I suspect that the far, far shorter and less complicated data path of the CD/SACD may be the reason.

@kennyc

Distilling what was previously posted, seems the options to play SACD on most DACs are:

Shanling Onix Zenith XST20 SACD/CD
or
A universal player used as a transport (used Oppo 105) + GeerFab Audio D.BOB Digital Breakout Box 

Wonder which sounds best?

As I mentioned in the prior post, I have the GeerFab D.BOB. I also have a RME DAC that can play DSD via DoP using DSD64 on the D.BOB. Sounds as good as the Benchmark DAC3B.

My problem today is that I have a new DAC that is better than anything I have heard, and I want to hear my best sources; that is my SACD’s. I have an incredible and simple fibre optic streaming setup, but a disk has some extra magic to it. The GeerFab does not work with the new Imersiv D-1.

I am going to try the SHANLING ONIX Zenith XST20 Flagship High-End SACD / CD Player Transport True DSD Support

$1,964.21 from AliExpress.

This will connect via SPDIF to my new Imersiv D-1 DAC. I may also get a Allnic DAC in the future which has i2s so the Shanling in theory should work with both. I can return the unit if it does not work.

Actually, I should get this next week because in a few days I will be able to demo the Bricasti m19 SACD transport which also does the same as the D.BOB and the Shanling via SPDIF. It also has a proprietary native DSD stream via i2s, but proprietary is not for me. If the m19 works via SPDIF on my Imersiv D-1 then the Imersiv will work with the Shanling.

The m19 will show up at a headphone meet so I am not taking up any dealer’s time.