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SACD Player/Transport Choices

I am planning to acquire a McIntosh MCT500 to go with my C53 (proprietary MCT connection).  But I am wondering if there are other good SACD transport choices that will send a true DSD stream to an external DAC on a non-proprietary basis, either through USB or I2S.  I’m trying to research this, but it’s difficult to find definitive answers regarding the actual digital stream from SACD - often I discover that the stream is converted to PCM.  I do know PSAudio has a scheme similar to McIntosh.

I realize simply purchasing DSD and streaming from an SSD is probably more practical these days.  But I am sort of fixated on a physical disc player.  Budget-wise, most interested in transports around or below that of the MCT500 (~$5K). Thanks for your thoughts and advice.

mattsca
henryeng
3 posts
 

I just got an Onix XSR20 SACD transport.  It (mostly) works well.  I'm using the DoP output (AES/XLR) into a Bricasti M3 DAC.  But I notice two issues...

1. Remote control of the unit is unreliable.

2. Gapless playback does not always transition seamlessly from the end of one track to the beginning of the next track.  Very noticeable with classical music SACDs.

Has anyone else experienced these issues?

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,566 posts
 

I have a McIntosh MCD350 SACD player on one of my Mac system and an Esoteric SACD player on my other Mac system.  The Esoteric player is night and day better than the Mac.  The Mac sounds a bit veiled compared to the Esoteric. 

mattsca's avatar
mattsca OP
38 posts
 

@stereo5, if I read correctly, your MCD350 is not outputting a true DSD stream, limited to the onboard DAC, or a toslink connection to an external DAC. 

toronto416
277 posts
 

Japan is one of the largest music markets in the world, and cds are still more popular than streaming.  

As a result of the enduring popularity of physical media, Japanese hifi companies such as Accuphase, Luxman and Esoteric continue to make very high end CD/SACD players.

blisshifi's avatar
blisshifi
1,243 posts
 

@henryeng I’ve learned that if sitting from 10ft away or more, you have to be mindful of where you’re pointing the remote. The unit is quite small and the IR window looks small as a result. If you are more accurate with the pointing, it should be fine. Have you noticed other issues?

I have not spent a much time with gapless content, but I’ll let you know what I find when I do. 

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