Esoteric DV60

To bump this thread, I own a DV60, for listening to music it is absolutely incredible. The Redbook section easily beat a friends Marantz SA11 S2 in an AB. The DV60 is getting a raw deal on this thread, particularly when it comes to music production. I have also AB’ed it against an older DV50, the DV60 was far superior sounding to my ears.

Esoteric built the DV and SA series as a cheaper alternative to the more costly machines further up the product chain.

Actually, the word is the DV60 is actually inferior to the DV50s, as it's power supply, etc. was cheapened.

I can't speak to the SQ of the DV60, but; still have the DV50S set up for 5.1 Analog out into a Classe SSP800. The playback of SACD's is superb. All of my 2 Channel listening is with the K-03. Would assume the DV60 would be a step up from the DV50S.

Dan, the Sony XA5400ES can output SACD from it's analog terminals and HDMI, because HDMI can incorporate copy protection that's unavailable with either coax or optical.  It can output either stereo or multichannel from HDMI, but only stereo from analog.

I'm interested in the multichannel analog SACD ability of an SA or DV 60.  I use an Ayre C-5xeMP for stereo.  The sound with the Sony through the Bryston SP3 is excellent, but lacks that magic "being there" quality I get with the Ayre.  I'm hoping an Esoteric can bring that magic.

I presume surround from an SACD is available via the DV-60 5.1 analog.  Sony was concerned about digital copying.

TY- Dan.

I studied the manual a bit more, and no, there can be no SACD output through the HDMI terminals. I believe this dates back to the earlier days of this format, where SONY would not allow digital output of any kind concerning SACD output, so equipment was not equipped with the means to output SACD digitally.

The player does a fine job with multi-channel analog SACD, though.

Regards,
Dan

Dan-

does the DV-60 play SACD in 2-channel only?
Happy Listening!

I happen to own an Esoteric DV60, I use only the analog 5.1 output, mainly due to the fact that my my older Primare SP31 processor does not have HDMI capability.

I have looked in my manual, and it states: "Set the Digital Output setting to "On".

"This terminal cannot output sound from a Super Audio CD".

"To enjoy the digital surround audio from DVD Audio and DVD Video discs, connect the HDMI terminal to a surround amplifier  and set the Analog Output setting to "Multi ch". 

Obviously, HDMI terminals have limited use regarding surround sound, not having SACD output would be a deal-breaker for me, had I the use of HDMI. You may consider looking at a bit newer model of Esoteric, they most likely would have expanded HDMI output capability.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Dan