So here’s the the thing :
PS Audio’s no longer offering the SACD Layer of SACD discs anymore on the next Gen Disc Transport. If I am wrong, please correct me in my ability to deliver “Fake News”.
I can’t afford or could ever justify spending thousands of dollars on a box that just spins discs. I’d rather use that money for DAC’s (love the DS Sr. BTW), amps, interconnects and of course media.
I can’t find the schematics for the UBP-X800 or UBP-X1000ES so hacking into the PCB and fly wiring the CLK/DATA/GND pins is not happening. I am fully capable of doing that kind of work if I knew what pins on what chip to solder off of (see my DIY hack of the 5.1 Balanced XLR, Fixed Outputs of the Sony STR-DN1080 AVR). What difference would it make whether you tap off the internal I2S pins or the neater/cleaner solution offered by a $40 made in China PCB ? At the end of the day, it’s the DirectStream Sr. that does all the work anyways. But it does require a clean Digital Input (Galvanically Isolated would work too I guess). I2S has made a great improvement in my system even better. $Megabucks Disc Transport or $400 Sony Universal Disc Player (cheaper used or NOS) with a $40 HDMI to I2S adapter board. Add to that a clean high current 5VDC Wall Wart or separate Power Supply and you have a Kick Ass source for Peanuts.
