Just found out I've been listening to compressed audio with optical

[Mr F]

I just found out I have been listening to compressed audio when using optical. It turns out coaxial is better because of higher bandwidth. I know using hdmi enables hi-res audio but still, I have been missing out. I only came across this because I wanted to know if optical supports SACD. Well, it does but not at 192 and limited to two channels. Which makes me wonder how compressed the audio of a 5.1 movie must be by using optical. Also, what about compression and audio quality loss when playing SACD. How are SACDs played at full quality prior to hdmi? You would have to rely on the player's internal dac for processing which most likely is a cereal box dac.

 

[lovinthehd]

You mean lossy codecs? Yes, coaxial and optical are limited to lossy codecs (like Dolby Digital or DTS) for multich audio, and if PCM to two channel. If you want to use multich sacd then hdmi connection to a suitable avr/processor or via a player that can provide analog outs for the 5.1 channels. What the heck is a cereal box dac? If the player has a capable dac, it has a capable dac.

 

[ryanosaur]

You think we should tell @Swerd someone is biting his avatar steez?

 

[Swerd]

You think we should tell @Swerd someone is biting his avatar steez?

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

I'll have my lawyer send him the usual notice warning of potential legal action concerning avatar infringement.

If that doesn't get a response, perhaps my lawyer can arrange his investigator, Fat Tony, to pay Mr. F a visit. Mr. Tony has has been known to persuade people in ways that no legal document can.

 

[Mr F]

You mean lossy codecs? Yes, coaxial and optical are limited to lossy codecs (like Dolby Digital or DTS) for multich audio, and if PCM to two channel. If you want to use multich sacd then hdmi connection to a suitable avr/processor or via a player that can provide analog outs for the 5.1 channels. What the heck is a cereal box dac? If the player has a capable dac, it has a capable dac.

Cereal box dac, you know. You get a free dac in every cornflakes cereal box. You can't compare the dac in say a bluray player to a dedicated dac such a McIntosh, Schiit, PS Audio, Dragonfly, etc.

 

[lovinthehd]

Cereal box dac, you know. You get a free dac in every cornflakes cereal box. You can't compare the dac in say a bluray player to a dedicated dac such a McIntosh, Schiit, PS Audio, Dragonfly, etc.

LOL Fraudioquest, seriously? BS Audio? McIntosh might have a decent one, Schiit has been known to have less than stellar examples. Thanks for the laughs.

Sure you can compare the dacs in a lot of gear. Take a look at the testing of such.

 

[Mr F]

LOL Fraudioquest, seriously? BS Audio? McIntosh might have a decent one, Schiit has been known to have less than stellar examples. Thanks for the laughs.

Sure you can compare the dacs in a lot of gear. Take a look at the testing of such.

Exactly my point. A capable dac is not necessarily a good one.

 

[lovinthehd]

Exactly my point. A capable dac is not necessarily a good one.

Most dacs are just fine, tho, even the ones in the players. It's just not that big of deal and hasn't been for a long time in terms of audible performance....

 

[Jerkface]

I wanted to know if optical supports SACD. Well, it does but not at 192 and limited to two channels.

This doesn't make sense to me, because Sony DSD (the format for SACD) is 2 bit, 2.8Mhz. So whatever you're sending out to the DAC would be some kind of converted version of it anyway, even if it wasn't compressed.

 

[Jerkface]

PS: Just did some digging on this, and I discovered something interesting...

At Long Last! Listen To Your (Physical) SACDs Through an Outboard DAC

At Long Last! Listen To Your SACDs Through an Outboard DAC George Graves When Sony/Phillips Announced their new Super Audio CD format (SACD) in 1999/2000, Sony opened a marketing office in NYC to advertise and promote the new format. They reached out to a number of audio writers (including, yours...

audiophilestyle.com

If you have a DAC that can accept HDMI input AND can convert the 2/2.8Mhz DSD stream, you can have what you're looking for instead of settling for a converted (24/96x2 or 24/192x5.1) signal.

 

[lovinthehd]

PS: Just did some digging on this, and I discovered something interesting...

At Long Last! Listen To Your (Physical) SACDs Through an Outboard DAC

At Long Last! Listen To Your SACDs Through an Outboard DAC George Graves When Sony/Phillips Announced their new Super Audio CD format (SACD) in 1999/2000, Sony opened a marketing office in NYC to advertise and promote the new format. They reached out to a number of audio writers (including, yours...

audiophilestyle.com

If you have a DAC that can accept HDMI input AND can convert the 2/2.8Mhz DSD stream, you can have what you're looking for instead of settling for a converted (24/96x2 or 24/192x5.1) signal.

I use my avrs for dsd streams, both 2ch and multich....

 

[Jerkface]

I use my avrs for dsd streams, both 2ch and multich....

I thought he was looking for a dedicated outboard DAC. The difference between the DACs on a high-end SACD player and a high-end avr isn't much other than saving a few bucks on cables.

 

[lovinthehd]

I thought he was looking for a dedicated outboard DAC. The difference between the DACs on a high-end SACD player and a high-end avr isn't much other than saving a few bucks on cables.

Hard to know what he's got let alone his goals....

 

[Mr F]

PS: Just did some digging on this, and I discovered something interesting...

At Long Last! Listen To Your (Physical) SACDs Through an Outboard DAC

At Long Last! Listen To Your SACDs Through an Outboard DAC George Graves When Sony/Phillips Announced their new Super Audio CD format (SACD) in 1999/2000, Sony opened a marketing office in NYC to advertise and promote the new format. They reached out to a number of audio writers (including, yours...

audiophilestyle.com

If you have a DAC that can accept HDMI input AND can convert the 2/2.8Mhz DSD stream, you can have what you're looking for instead of settling for a converted (24/96x2 or 24/192x5.1) signal.

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing the link

 

[lovinthehd]

I thought he was looking for a dedicated outboard DAC. The difference between the DACs on a high-end SACD player and a high-end avr isn't much other than saving a few bucks on cables.

There's limited connection options and bandwidth limitations/dac capabilities but is fairly standardized for SACD....now if you want higher bandwidth DSD downloads instead, that can of course bring differences.....but mostly above basic capability of ds the higher bandwidth is of little use.

 

[Jerkface]

There's limited connection options and bandwidth limitations/dac capabilities but is fairly standardized for SACD....now if you want higher bandwidth DSD downloads instead, that can of course bring differences.....but mostly above basic capability of ds the higher bandwidth is of little use.

Which is why I shared that article, because it mentions a DAC that actually can process the 2/2.8 signal raw.

 

[lovinthehd]

Which is why I shared that article, because it mentions a DAC that actually can process the 2/2.8 signal raw.

Whut? explain in detail please.