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SACD Players

Hello,

New member here. I am looking to add an SACD player in order to play the DSD layer of SACD directly. Based on my research I have shortlisted PS Audio Direct Stream Memory player and McIntosh MCT500.

Option 1) I currently own McIntosh MA5300 which means I can use MCT500 with supplied DIN cable connected to MA5300’s DA1

Option 2) Purchase PS Audio Direct Stream Memory player and DirectStream DAC MK1 (Both discontinued)

From what I understand the memory buffering and Air Lens would make the media sound better. Whereas, I haven’t found many reviews on MCT500.

Both options would roughly cost the same. I am looking for the better sound. Which option is better? Any advice or insights would help.

Thank you,

SA

rlsammie

Showing 4 responses by mahler123

mahler123
3,625 posts
 

Magnetar universal players are basically the successor to Oppo. I believe the company was founded by the Oppo engineers that designed their UDPs. Their menus are identical to Oppo and you can either play the SACD with the internal DAVs or use them as transports to export the DSD over HDMI to a DAC such as the Bryston DAC3

mahler123
3,625 posts
 

It looks like a FW connection with 8 pins.  As I mentioned such a connection can sound very impressive.  Both my above mentioned players sounded much better that I would have expected from AVRs and other components inputting by conventional means into the Sony and Pioneer AVRs were distinctly less vivid.  Hopefully McIntosh will continue to support such a format going forward 

mahler123
3,625 posts
 


What kind of a connection is that between the 2 McIntosh components?  I used to have a Sony SACD player that had a proprietary connection to a Sony AVR and then later a Pioneer Elite DVD/SACD player with a similar link to a Pioneer AVR.  These links were FireWire and sounded very good indeed 

mahler123
3,625 posts
 

I am away from home now but what settings on the Oppo do you use to rip SACD?

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