Question regarding HDMI and SACD

[donaldheil]

I have a 5 year old receiver, so it doesn't have HDMI. I own a SACD player hooked up with analog connections.

My question is: do the new receivers can amplify SACD through a HDMI connection, or that remains the same?

I guess the answer is NO, since HDMI is digital. But just want to be sure.

Thank you.

[guitarist155]

depends on the player you have and the new receiver, sacd can be sent over hdmi via dsd or converted to lpcm and then sent over hdmi, for pure dsd you would have to have a receiver that can decode dsd over hdmi and for sacd over lpcm any receiver that supports lpcm audio over hdmi will work.

here is some information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD

[donaldheil]

Thanks for your help. Now I know that SACD can be reproduced using HDMI. But, will it sound better than with analog connections?

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by donaldheil

Thanks for your help. Now I know that SACD can be reproduced using HDMI. But, will it sound better than with analog connections?

i would say they would sound about the same unless you are using dsd over hdmi, if the receiver could do dsd i would use it otherwise you could just use analog and not tie up an hdmi port. if you did get a new receiver you could just try both and see which you like better.

[Ben123]

I think an SACD player will down-rez the sound to PCM before it send it over HDMI as unlike a fully original sound output via the 5.1 analogs. This is apparently due to copy protection. I might be wrong, pls feel free to correct me.

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by Ben123

I think an SACD player will down-rez the sound to PCM before it send it over HDMI as unlike a fully original sound output via the 5.1 analogs. This is apparently due to copy protection. I might be wrong, pls feel free to correct me.

it will if the receiver only accepts pcm. it can send dsd (the original sacd track) over hdmi as long as the receiver can accept it, then the receiver does the dsd decoding. when you use the 5.1 outputs the player does the decoding

[jhawkjd]

I'm curious about all of this as well. I was looking at the SONY 400 disc changer that plays SACD and also has an HDMI output. But this player will not output SACD via HDMI. Only via the analog outputs. And I want to get rid of the 6 analog outputs to my receiver. Talk about cable clutter!

That way I could put all my CDs DVDs and SACDs in one player.

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by jhawkjd

I'm curious about all of this as well. I was looking at the SONY 400 disc changer that plays SACD and also has an HDMI output. But this player will not output SACD via HDMI. Only via the analog outputs. And I want to get rid of the 6 analog outputs to my receiver. Talk about cable clutter!

That way I could put all my CDs DVDs and SACDs in one player.

well not all players support dsd output/or dsd over hdmi. so you would need to have one that can send dsd over hdmi or convert it to pcm and send it over hdmi, and like you said the sony changer will not output sacd audio dsd/or pcm over hdmi

[guitarist155]

donaldheil you will need to check and make sure your player can support sacd over hdmi. tell me what player you have and i can check

[Ben123]

Originally Posted by guitarist155

it will if the receiver only accepts pcm. it can send dsd (the original sacd track) over hdmi as long as the receiver can accept it, then the receiver does the dsd decoding. when you use the 5.1 outputs the player does the decoding

Does the Denon AVR3808 decode DSD? I also have a Pioneer DV-600 DVD player which comes with SACD playback and has HDMI and 5.1 analog output.

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by Ben123

Does the Denon AVR3808 decode DSD? I also have a Pioneer DV-600 DVD player which comes with SACD playback and has HDMI and 5.1 analog output.

i will check when i get back as right now i am heading to bb

[guitarist155]

i don't see anywhere that the player or receiver supports dsd i don't think many do, and most of them would probably convert dsd to pcm and it wouldn't sound as good as just running it 5.1 analog. so for right now i would say sacd is pretty much stuck analog or pcm unless a receiver has a ieee1394 port

[guitarist155]

also any receiver that has the auto eq and audyssey would just convert the dsd to pcm anyway

[rarredoa]

I have a PS3 connected to my onkyo 605 via HDMI... am I getting the full resolution/potential of SACD? I don't think that the receiver does DSD decoding, and my understanding is that DSD converted to PCM is considered lossy, can someone please clarify? Any settings on the PS3 or receiver that I should be aware of?

[guitarist155]

the ps3 converts the sacd to pcm before outputting it there is no way around this however it is still loads better than a cd. the only way to get the sacd unchanged is to use a player with analog outputs or a player and a receiver with an ieee1394 port to carry dsd, also some high end receivers and high end sacd players have dsd over hdmi but i do not know of many

[Galley]

SACD over HDMI requires HDMI 1.2 or greater. Of course, the PS3 is 1.3.

[donaldheil]

Thanks, guitarrist155. My SACD player right now is the OPPO DV-981 HD. To be honest, I bought it thinking more about the image upconversion that the audio, but I think this player sounds very good. But if it can sound better, well, that'd be nice to know.

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by donaldheil

Thanks, guitarrist155. My SACD player right now is the OPPO DV-981 HD. To be honest, I bought it thinking more about the image upconversion that the audio, but I think this player sounds very good. But if it can sound better, well, that'd be nice to know.

ok looked it up and that model will not send out dsd over hdmi it would convert it to pcm first so i would stick with 5.1 analog.

the dv-980h is the only oppo i see that will do dsd over hdmi

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by Galley

SACD over HDMI requires HDMI 1.2 or greater. Of course, the PS3 is 1.3.

right it will convert the sacd to pcm first though which some feel is worse than 5.1 analog as it would have dual conversion from dsd to pcm then to analog. this does not make the ps3 a bad sacd player as it will still kill a cd lol it just means that you have to convert it to pcm for 5.1 or use analog for stereo

the spec for hdmi 1.2 applies to dsd over hdmi, hdmi 1.2 must be able to handle dsd but the components don't have to so just because it has hdmi 1.2 or higher will not mean it can send or receive dsd

[guitarist155]

ok just looked and from what i have read the onkyo 805,875,905 will accept dsd and convert it straight to analog and not to pcm then to analog. looks like another reason to own an onkyo