I also want to suggest you give Music Direct or whichever dealer you’re thinking of purchasing the Onyx from a call. Confirm that Onyx outputs DSD from its AES digital out. Then confirm with EMM Labs that the MA3i will accept that signal. I think it should but double checking it with them won’t hurt.
Upgrade CD transport/player vs. Sacd transport/player
Seeking to upgrade my CD listening experience and am not sure how to proceed. Here the my opions:
1. Cd transport, such as Teac, Jays Audio, Audiolab, to connect to my dac which is currently a Weiss 204, but will upgrade to a Meitner Dac/streamer, specifically the MA3i. Not looking for a cd player.
2. Sacd/transport/player-here is it gets complicated. I have researched SACD sound that also guarantees that I will hear the DSD layer of the SACD. If I go the SACD transport route such as the Onix Zenith Shanling XST20, but after looking at this option, it seems very difficult and no guarantee as I may need a special box (which I am told is legal) along with HDMI and or i2S connections. One member tried a few combinations and could not always get the combinations to provide the DSD layer. Does hearing the DSD layer of SACD make a big difference vs. SACD PCM?
3. SACD Player-here there are multiple players such as Accuphase, Ps Audio and others that decode the DSD layer, but all of them are close to or over $10,000.00 in cost.
4. Not sure which way to proceed. The big question is, is the SACD sound with or without the DSD layer far superior to redbook? I can buy a top cd transport for less than $5000, but the SACD player is far more expensive. Is there anybody that has compared the two. Is the difference between top sounding redbook vs top sounding SACD substantial enough in order to justify the additional cost required to obtain the SACD player that decodes the DSD layer?
Thank you for your time and attention.
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No, that is the big difference between a player and a transport. Players decode, transports just extract the digital information. I cannot believe how badly North Americans have screwed up SACD. If you can handle HDMI, then all you really need is a universal disk transport, which can be as inexpensive as a couple of hundred bucks, new. See: I own this 4K Blu-ray player, and I think it’s a better and cheaper option than Netflix Premium this Black Friday | What Hi-Fi? That transport handles SACD, CD and Pure Audio Blu-ray as well as video formats. It has two HDMI outlets, one dedicated to audio. With hybrid SACDs, you can choose whether to output the CD layer, or either 2-channel or multi-channel DSD. Pure Audio opens up multi-channel high resolution PCM, as well as Dolby Atmos. It is dead-simple plug-and-play into HDMI-equipped pre-amps. Remember HDMI currently supports 48-Gbps so why not get seriously simple?
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@kjl1065 - @hjdca gets to the heart of the matter. If you go the transport & DAC separates route - to make it all work out nice and neatly - you will need to go with I2S (HDMI like) connections. So your choices in equipment may be limited. I went with the PS Audio PerfectWave SACD transport and PS Audio PerfectWave DAC (Mk I). With special purchases, I am all in for about $6K. Big money to me, bigger now with how prices have skyrocketed in the last 3 or so years. If I didn't go this route, I would have looked at Luxman's cd player offerings more closely. Prior to purchasing the PSA equipment, I had one of the original SACD changers, the SONY 555 SCD from 25 years ago. It was/ is still working fine, but I became nervous about getting it repaired or having a laser replaced, since SONY's Laredo repair facility (the ones who performed repairs) had mixed reviews. With the PSA transport, Redbook CDs sound much better - fuller sounding, more detailed. So much so, that I felt redbook approached how SACDs were sounding. Rich |
@kjl1065 Roon is very solid if you get their Nucleus One. I wouldn’t worry about phone support. They provide support via their forums and you can post your questions here and get answers quickly. This should not be a deal breaker. Most roon issues are with roon core installed on DIY servers as well as Mac and Windows computers. Stick with Roon Nucleus…pretty much plug and play. |
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