Just found out PS3 plays SACDs... does anyone buy those?

[BluStar88]

Originally Posted by RC-Bruin

I think you need an HDMI connection to your receiver to be able to play it. Supposedly it sounds awesome. I have an SACD ofr Pink Floyd The Wall, but I don't have the connection to play it.

My understanding is you can also use digital optical cable

[BStecke]

Originally Posted by BluStar88

My understanding is you can also use digital optical cable

SACD requires either 5.1 analog outputs or HDMI. Optical doesn't have the bandwidth to support it.

Originally Posted by SlapnutsGT

Just tried to get on this PS3 playing SACDs thing ... and let me tell you its a ****ing headache ... only way it will work multi-channel is if you have a receiver that carries HDMI audio ... good luck with that because good receivers like that get upwards to $1000, optical doesn't carry the SACD signal, so its either HDMI audio or analog, which defeats the purpose ... I just buy DVD-A anything that plays DVD movies can play them

How does that defeat the purpose?? Each channel is decoded the same whether it is transmitted via HDMI or analog. For quite some time, analog input/output was the only option for SACD/DVD-Audio, and it always did, and still does, work fine.

[SlapnutsGT]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

You know that before digital audio reaches the speakers, it's turned to "analog"?

I called them analog plugs, I mean it defeats the purpose to listen to 5.1 channel sound when you can only hook it up with 2 channels ( Red & White ) because there is no PS3 plug that has the 4 or 5 plugs on it required for the multichannel SACD option

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by RC-Bruin

I think you need an HDMI connection to your receiver to be able to play it. Supposedly it sounds awesome. I have an SACD ofr Pink Floyd The Wall, but I don't have the connection to play it.

Where did you get Pink Floyd's "The Wall" on SACD? As far I'm aware only "Dark Side of the Moon" made it to SACD.

I have several SACD's and they sound awesome (I have a Pioneer DVD player that plays both SACD and DVD-Audio; Having a receiver with no HDMI connections, I can't play them on the PS3).

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by BStecke

SACD requires either 5.1 analog outputs or HDMI. Optical doesn't have the bandwidth to support it.

It's not a bandwidth issue; It's a copy-protection issue. The studios didn't want an unprotected digital stream, thus no optical.

[dannyjl]

Yeah, I just got back from the store with my new PS3 20 gig a few minutes ago. The main reason I went with that is because the new 40 gig model DOESN'T support SACD. I don't care about the media card slot and the wireless connection - just BD,SACD and a few games for me. Ashame Sony is not supporting SACD anymore. Even the 4 very expensive BD recorders don't support it. I just also recently got into SACD - have the 2 Genesis box sets and few Peter Gabriel realeases but still have yet to hear this great format. I have an Oppo 970 that plays SACD but the sound really bites from cd's on that machine. There are all kinds of settings you have to tweak for sound and I think they interfere with the music and I have yet to find the right combo of settings. As soon as find the English PS3 manual online and read up on it I'm gonna get this puppy set up tonight and FINALLY enter the wonderful world of BD bliss after months of following hundreds of threads on this great site!

[tiger roach]

I will be taking advantage of the SACD capability.

The problem with the SACD format is that there are relatively few music listeners any more who even buy CDs, let alone "super" CDs. So many people now think mp3's are good enough, and they are even lower-resolution than CDs.

I guess the differences in audio formats aren't as obvious as the visual ones - it's more of a connoiseurship thing. It's a shame too, because I would like nothing better than to be able to get all my music in higher resolution.

[cawgijoe]

To clarify......you can play SACD's (2-channel) via the analog output from the PS3. To get multi-channel SACD audio from the PS3, you need HDMI.

[bw1605]

i wish it would play dvd-a

[cawgijoe]

Originally Posted by bw1605

i wish it would play dvd-a

SACD is a Sony format......DVD-A is not.

[SlapnutsGT]

It does play DVD-A I have NIN's With Teeth DVD-A album and it works in the PS3

[bw1605]

i have the insane clown posse one in 6.1 dts, and it will only play the pcm feed, could i have a setting on the ps3 wrong?

[SlapnutsGT]

Hmm not sure, I'm almost 100% sure I have my PS3 on PCM ... I'll check when I get home and let you know ... but I was under the understanding that anything DVD-A plays in anything that plays DVDs? I even think it plays in the Xbox 360. But, to clarify I have listened to my NIN DVD-A on PS3 numerous times.

[BStecke]

Originally Posted by bw1605

i have the insane clown posse one in 6.1 dts, and it will only play the pcm feed, could i have a setting on the ps3 wrong?

You probably have the PS3 set to PCM, not bitstream. If you have it set to bitstream, your receiver will then be doing the decoding and it should display DTS.

[sonicbox]

Originally Posted by SlapnutsGT

It does play DVD-A I have NIN's With Teeth DVD-A album and it works in the PS3

It only plays the DVD part. All DVD-A can play on any DVD player, but without high-resolution multichannel lossless audio.

[dvda-sacd]

There's a dedicated FAQ about PS3's SACD capabilities at http://www.ps3sacd.com/faq.html

Cheers!

[BStecke]

Originally Posted by sonicbox

It only plays the DVD part. All DVD-A can play on any DVD player, but without high-resolution multichannel lossless audio.

I just tried this and it plays in DD 5.1 @ 448kbps. What do they usually play at? I think I listened to the DVD side of the album once before I started using my PS3 as my DVD player.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by LembasBread

Anywhoo, yeah the PS3 plays SACD's which is a nice feature, but listening to them over HDMI, they're output at 176.4kHz LPCM, which is effectively shitting all over the 2.8MHz sampling rate advantage of DSD encoded digital audio.

Most people would agree that the SACD playback on the PS3 is pretty damn amazing and if you have a PS3, there's no need to get an SACD player with DSD output.

Most receivers don't accept DSD natively and the majority of SACD players, in North America at least, all use 24/96 decimation for DSD so the PS3 is actually better than most standalones.

24/176.4 is also substantially higher for multi-channel than DVD-Audio is capable of.

Anyway some of my favourites are listed below:

Stereo

• Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
• Peter Gabriel - Us
• Peter Gabriel - So
• Michael Jackson - Thriller

Multi-channel

• Toto - Toto IV
• Peter Gabriel - Up
• Billy Joel - The Stranger
• Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
• Elton John - any of the releases, they're all brilliantly recorded
• Depeche Mode - Violator
• John Mayer - Heavier Things
• Ryan Adams - Gold
• Sting - Brand New Day
• The Police - Every Breath You Take
• Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
• Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic (Sweet Emotion in 5.1 is awesome)
• Joe Satriani - Strange Beautful Music
• Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by BStecke

I just tried this and it plays in DD 5.1 @ 448kbps. What do they usually play at? I think I listened to the DVD side of the album once before I started using my PS3 as my DVD player.

The DVD-A portion plays in multi-channel at either 24/48, 24/88.2 or 24/96 5.1 depending on the disc and in 24/48, 24/88.2, 24/96, 24/176.4 or 24/192 for 2.0 stereo.

For With Teeth specifically, it's 24/48.

The DVD-A multi-channel mix absolutely blows away the Dolby Digital mix, so if you're enjoying the DD5.1, imagine how much better it could be?

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by SlapnutsGT

Just tried to get on this PS3 playing SACDs thing ... and let me tell you its a ****ing headache ... only way it will work multi-channel is if you have a receiver that carries HDMI audio ... good luck with that because good receivers like that get upwards to $1000, optical doesn't carry the SACD signal, so its either HDMI audio or analog, which defeats the purpose ... I just buy DVD-A anything that plays DVD movies can play them

Try the Onkyo TX-SR 605 for only $399