PS Audio Music Server In The Pipeline?

No actually it works incredibly well I was surprised

Is there some reason that the music server couldnā€™t rip sacd just as long as they used the same encoding handshake method that is on the DMP via I2S to send it to the Directstream DAC?.

guthrie_m said

Is there some reason that the music server couldnā€™t rip sacd just as long as they used the same encoding handshake method that is on the DMP via I2S to send it to the Directstream DAC?.


Good question. The reason it can be done in the DMP is that at no point is the full-resolution audio data accessible to the outside world other than via the I2S connector, which I guess the licensors are not concerned about. In the Music Server, the ripped audio data is stored on the internal HD for replay at the userā€™s convenience. There is no way PS will get a license to do that with SACD content.

Interestingly, for those who donā€™t know, the main reason ripping SACDs is so darned difficult is not that it is encrypted, per se. The reason is that the spiral of pits in the SACD disc follows a meandering pattern, and the only way to track it properly is if the firmware on the transport is equipped with the code necessary to deal with it. That is not something that can be hacked by your archetypal pimpled geek.

I, for one, was unaware of the meandering pit path. This is indeed interesting.

So you are saying that chip canā€™t be used on the back side of the digital data? Or Sony wonā€™t let that kind of SACD data be stored on a hard drive? Or PS Audio wonā€™t spend that kind of money to do that since they have a solution for SACD with the DMP? I never knew that they had that kind of stuff with the pits on the SACD disc. Very interesting. The music server is going to have a disc transport built in it right?

I guess thereā€™s no legal way to play SACD from the server, as then it would have to have a DMP integrated, which would probably double its price.

So you are saying that chip can't be used on the back side of the digital data? Or Sony won't let that kind of SACD data be stored on a hard drive? Or PS Audio won't spend that kind of money to do that since they have a solution for SACD with the DMP? I never knew that they had that kind of stuff with the pits on the SACD disc. Very interesting. The music server is going to have a disc transport built in it right?
That level of specific detail I am not familiar with. I imagine the command(s) that allow the transport to read the SACD layer are all you would need to then store the resultant data on a HD, but of course that would get PS into all sorts of legal trouble if they chose to implement it.

Ted Bailey posted instructions last year for modifying an Oppo or Pioneer BD player to enable users to rip SACDs to disc. Since it appears to make use of a flaw in a specific series of transports rather than in Oppo/Pioneerā€™s implementation, I expect those companies are not having to contend with any legal blow-back. Itā€™s a long thread, and I havenā€™t bothered to follow it to the end.

Another approach would be to design and build an I2S-to-USB converter, and insert that between a DMP and a computer. I donā€™t know if such things exist.

I believe the Music Server will ship with a CD transport, rather than a SACD transport. Maybe Paul will comment.

Richardā€™s correct. The server will ship with a DVD/CD ripper installed as of this date. If we included a BluRay disc ripper and the ability to rip SACD onto a hard drive we would be in direct violation of Sony Copyright something we would not ever do without getting permission. If I put my clever cap on I could imagine figuring out a way to keep some sort of encryption on the hard drive so once ripped it could not be removed or copied and adding the same handshake requirements we have now and SACD playback available to only PS Audio DACS and only through I2S and that might satisfy their requirements. And it might not.

No plans currently exist to do all that work and risk rousing the sleeping bear.

Paul McGowan said

ā€¦ If we included a BluRay disc ripper and the ability to rip SACD onto a hard drive we would be in direct violation of Sony Copyright something we would not ever do without getting permission.


Kaleidescape can rip a bit perfect copy of a BR disc to a Kaleidescape server, all perfectly legitimate within their closed ecosystem. Just canā€™t do that for a SACD unfortunately.

Exactly. And that is because each SACD has a unique encryption code that must be decoded by a Sony chip. If you use a Sony chip and then somehow make the unencrypted file public, you are in violation of their copyright. Which is why the DMP, using the internal Sony Chip to decode the encrypted file, restricts the copying of that file and makes it impossible to make copies. If Kaleidoscape were to copy those files using a Sony chip to decode the encryption they would be in hot water.

brodricj said Kaleidescape can rip a bit perfect copy of a BR disc to a Kaleidescape server . . .
As I recall, Kaleidescape can only play an approved copy of a DVD as downloaded from Kaleidescape's system and on a user's hard drive only if a physical copy of the hard drive is present in an attached Kaleidescape "Vault" of disks). That is, you can only play the copy off of the drive if the DVD is also physically present.

Does the playback of Blu-ray disks work differently in the Kaleidescape environment?

Will the music server be able to store my downloaded .dsf files so that I have only one place to go to play my music? Will it be able to play my SACD/ DSD music? SACD rips?

Yup. Should not be a problem.

1 Like

Just noticed that this topic falls under ā€œEverything Elseā€ and ā€œHumorā€. Humor? Someone could read more into this than intended, perhaps a correction of the category is in order?

Thank you for noticing this! I moved the thread to a better location.

1 Like

Personally I loathe playlists, and would strongly prefer a system that adapts to my preferences, expressed as Like/Hate buttons.
Playlists take an inordinate amount of time to create and after the first few plays, become boring and predictable. I want to hear music that is new to me as part of a personalized mix.
AFAIC, creating playlists should be done by a personalization algorithm or a disk-jockey, not by me.

I very much agree with your take on this Eldrick. Playlists are dreadful to create and get boring quickly. Predictive AI/algorithms are where its at, in my opinion.

1 Like

I totally agree. Anyone can create a UI where you navigate by some sort of taxonomy (Aritst, Genere etcā€¦) or playlist. What I would like to see are suggestions based upon machine learning. For example I generally listen to classical on Sunday mornings, when itā€™s raining I may play something more dark and moody like Jesus and Mary Chain, if itā€™s a snowy day it might be George Winston or some other Windham Hill artist. A system that can figure out the right song for the mood would be truly differentiated. Iā€™d be willing to share some personal preferences if it could take those in to account. Integrating external information like weather is relatively easy these days as well. Of course the next logical evolution would be voice activation like Siri or Alexa. Hey Octaveā€¦

Love playlists and hope to never let a machine pick my music.

I really am excited about this server as it seems like it will be a great product. However, if I were to add this server to my components I would have three PS Audio devices with i2s outputs, yet a Dac that has only two i2s inputs. Will the server allow an i2s input from say the Nuwave Phono?