Oppo 980 SACD Hookup

[rnatalli]

My brother down in sunny FL got himself a package containing classical SACD's (non-hybrid) only to find out they won't play on his DVD player. He recalls I have the Oppo 980 which plays virtually anything and gets himself one. His receiver doesn't do audio over HDMI, but does have analog bypass inputs. So far so good, except the 980 has a fixed crossover of 80hz and his speakers don't make it down that low. One solution I had in mind is to setup the Oppo so L and R are set to large, turn off the sub in the Oppo menus, and then run a pair of analog cables to the CD in on the receiver which does do bass management. The other solution is to simply tell him he has to spring for something like the Yammie 463 or Pio 918. Thoughts?

 

[Adam]

The only part that throws me off a bit is the mention of just using a two-channel audio connection. I was thinking that SACD was multi-channel.

In general, I think that you have the right solution. If you can't just turn bass management off in the Oppo, set it up to effectively turn it off by setting all of the speakers to large and saying that there is no sub. Then, do the bass management in the receiver. I believe that is exactly what you suggested.

 

[rnatalli]

I'm not sure if they're multi-channel or stereo SACD's, but I know they aren't hybrids otherwise they would have played when he put them in his old player. I want to get him able to listen even if it isn't multi-channel. I'll run through the connections and setups with him tonight over the phone and see what happens. It sound like I'm on the right track. Thanks!

 

[j_garcia]

Almost all SACDs have a stereo SACD track on them, though not all, and all SACD players should be able to be set to give the 2ch SACD track priority when spinning up the disc.

Yes it will work exactly as you suggest since I have done it that way when I had all 3 of my SACD players hooked up.

 

[rnatalli]

Almost all SACDs have a stereo SACD track on them, though not all, and all SACD players should be able to be set to give the 2ch SACD track priority when spinning up the disc.

Yes it will work exactly as you suggest since I have done it that way when I had all 3 of my SACD players hooked up.

I know the Oppo has that option in the menus so I think all should be good. Even if the SACD's are multi, I believe the player down mixes things to stereo if it has to.

Why would you have 3 SACD players hooked up?

 

[j_garcia]

No, m/c SACD utilizes discrete channels and cannot be downmixed via analog.

LOL. At one point I had 3 players that were SACD capable, not so much that I had them hooked up so I could quickly switch between them or anything. One is the 222, which is a carousel, then the 2900 and my 980 that I recently sold. Technically 4, since my PS3 will also play SACD

I am currently down to just the PS3 and 2900 in the main system. The 980 will get replaced with a new BD player, likely around Black Friday, be it the expected Oppo, the BD-50/55, or Sony S550.

 

[gus6464]

Does the Oppo 980 have 2 sets of analog audio outputs? I know my samsung universal player has a set of 5.1 outputs and also has another set of 2ch analog outputs called mixed 2ch. I have toslink going to my receiver for dts audio cds and then a pair of analog cables from the mixed 2ch outputs for SACD.

All hybrid SACDs will contain a 2ch SACD track and some will even have a multi ch track as well.

 

[j_garcia]

I don't say "all" or "always" anymore about SACDs because every time I do, someone proves me wrong with one particular title So not all hybrids will have a 2ch SACD track, though I don't own any that don't have it. The only thing that is constant about all hybrids is that they will have both SACD and CD tracks.

Yes, the Oppo has multichannel analog and an additional stereo analog out:

 

[Adam]

The only part that throws me off a bit is the mention of just using a two-channel audio connection. I was thinking that SACD was multi-channel.

I should clarify what I was trying to say - I was thinking that SACDs could be multi-channel and that you would want to use the multi-channel analog connections. My apologies.

Does you brother have an available multi-channel analog input on his receiver?

 

[rnatalli]

Does you brother have an available multi-channel analog input on his receiver?

Yes, but the Oppo fixes the crossover at 80hz which is too low for his speakers. I need the receiver to bass manage so can't use the multi ins.

 

[Adam]

Yes, but the Oppo fixes the crossover at 80hz which is too low for his speakers. I need the receiver to bass manage so can't use the multi ins.

I think that I might need to be schooled. My assumption (which is what might be wrong) is that the receiver could still do bass management on the multi-channel input signals. If so, couldn't he just disable the bass management on the Oppo's multi-channel audio outputs in the same way that you discussed in the first post? Just set all of the speakers to large and the subwoofer to off (based on page 23 of the manual). He wouldn't even need to connect the subwoofer output/input because it wouldn't be carrying any signal.

Can his receiver not do bass management on the multi-channel inputs? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[rnatalli]

My experience with using multi inputs is that it bypasses everything including bass management. Although, I have seen on a few occasions some receivers that'll manage the signal anyways. I'll have to have him try it and see what happens.

 

[j_garcia]

I have only seen one or two receivers that would do bass management on the m/c analog input, because much of the purpose of that connection is that it expects a signal that is already processed.

 

[Adam]

I'd be happy to check out the manual for his receiver if you'll let me know which one he has. The manual might say something about it.

 

[rnatalli]

Thanks for the offer, but we got it up and running already. There was a side effect I didn't think of. No video, but using a spare video port and s-video cable did the trick.

 

[dobyblue]

You can set downmix on the multi-channel analog outputs.
There are several settings, from FLR, 7.1, 5.1, stereo, etc.

However, if he wants to pony up $620 you can get a new TX-SR805 and use the HDMI connection and stream DSD. The 805 will do DSD>Analog conversion in DSD Direct mode without converting to PCM.

 

[rnatalli]

However, if he wants to pony up $620 you can get a new TX-SR805 and use the HDMI connection and stream DSD. The 805 will do DSD>Analog conversion in DSD Direct mode without converting to PCM.

His wife isn't quite like mine so I doubt this would happen. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Adam]

His wife isn't quite like mine so I doubt this would happen. Thanks for the suggestion though.

So, his wife takes more of a hard-line "PCM conversion or nothing at all" stance, huh? She's old school, but I can dig it.

 

[rnatalli]

So, his wife takes more of a hard-line "PCM conversion or nothing at all" stance, huh? She's old school, but I can dig it.

She doesn't understand the difference between PCM and PMS, but she does understand $620 for something they "already have."