It sounds like you may have discovered the hard way that very few SACD players output any DSD data digitally, whether coax, toslink, you name it, all thanks to Sony’s digital rights management policy on SACDs. You won’t get any hi-res data from them. You have to use their analog RCA outs to your amplification. Which is one of the reasons I ponied up the cost of the PST.
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Its funny this was never much of a big deal in the AVR / Processor world as everything went HDMI for video and audio. It just worked if your AVR / Processor accepted DSD, which most do as they use the ESS or AKM off the shelf chips. The cheapo universal players all just sent the info. I would say in the early 2000’s half would so SACD. that number has plunged recently.
Its only in the 2 channel world where DSD gets complicated. And now with Streaming digital, more options brings more confusion to the old school analog bunch.
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The mk2 DAC uses a usb jump drive not an sd card, just for clarification.
I think the end user gets the general idea, but I appreciate the correction. Not having a DSD Mk 2, I did not know.
Decision to purchase PST was necessary for me due to having frustration with other SACD player compatibility issues in reading the DSD layer.
I have one more question, when playing CD in PST ,the screen reads CD 44.1/16 and DAC also mirrors the same; should it not upsample to say 96 or 192/16 or 24 or do i have find my other XRCD recorded @24/96
Or do i have to use Thumb drive downloaded with high resolution files into PST front USB port?
Thanks,
The PST does not upsample. It is true to the resolution it plays which is actually what you want.
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Hi paul ,
True for PST output via I2s but shouldn’t Dac upsample it, or am I dreaming in wonderland.
Syed
The DS MK1 and MK2 does upsample anything you feed it, but that’s a very different process.
The PST outputs the exact data and sample rate while the DS MK2 reports exactly what it is receiving. From there, all the magic happens.
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An XRCD is still a 44.1/16 cd.
A quote from Wikipedia:
“ The XRCD definition refers to the mastering and manufacture process; the resulting CD and the contained data conform to the redbook standard and are encoded at 16/44.1. Hence, XRCDs are playable on any compact disc player.”
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Thanks again Paul. My imagination is clear know, so if you want to play CD @44.1/16 bit resolution , buy a cheapo CD player/DVD player as you can’t upsample what is already recorded on CD; however to play higher resolution, one must invest in 24/192 or DSD files on Thumb drive,hard drive or server plugged into PST or directly in USB port of PST.
Am I making sense?
Yes, sort of. Here’s the thing. Upsampling doesn’t buy you much in terms of sound quality. What does impact sound quality is the PST with its ability to deliver a jitter free digital signal and master clock to your DAC, even at 44.1kHz.
That is what will sound best where a cheapo CD transport will sound significantly worse.
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Great explanation, and justification why PST exists. you earn my respect and medal for great marketing point.
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