Hi-res files play on a PC but not on ND5XS

Hi Gajdzin

make sure you get the proper PS3 model because only a few were capable of reading SACDs.

also check beforehand it has the proper firmware and is not suffering from YLoD (yellow light of death) because that will mean the end of the PS3. YLOD is caypused ny bad tupe of solder in combination with a bad (hot) PSU and insufficient cooling by system fan.

in 2011 I followed the instructions found here 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forum...e-extractionbackups/ 

For the latest versions of sacd-ripper and sacd-extract read the story from back to front.

for setting up the ps3 follow the instructions in the first post.

Just noticed a lot of the links on that first page don't work anymore. I hope you can still find the required parts.

cheers

aleg

No, it's too much for me. I have 2 full time jobs I wish somebody started a service where you send in a SACD and they send you back the FLACs...

Ive been reading about the PS3 thing for a long time.  I agree -- it's for someone with a lot more time on their hands.

I think (hope) that some day there will be a more elegant solution. 

I'm with you, Bart, but I'm afraid SACD is a dying format, which is why I see so many great SACDs on auction sites, sometimes cheaper than their CD equivalents... Great time to buy this hi-res music, as long as you can preserve it as a file.

The older PS3s will also not be available indefinitely... Their supply will dwindle.

And, one day, the manufacturers will stop making SACD players, because any physical medium is a dying breed. Who knows - vinyl may outlive the CD, DVD and SACD! At least it's a niche that's going strong.

That's why I'm not buying a SACD player. It would be joy for a while, but what if it breaks down 5 years down the road and nobody can fix it...? The only way I can protect my investment in the music is if I can save it as files, back it up, archive it in a universal format that I should be able to transfer from if a new format becomes all the rage, etc.

Gajdzin,

Send the files (a FLAC & a WAV from a Dropbox) to Naim's tech support with a mail to explain your problem, they will tell you if they are compatible with your ND5...

I would do that if not for the fact that the mystery has been explained a few posts ago. My brother ripped the wrong layer from the SACD - the 5.1 mix instead of the stereo mix. ND5XS apparently refuses to play 5.1 mixes, which is probably the right decision from Naim. My PC plays just the top 2 tracks of the 5, which, upon closer listening, sound VERY strange, because they are not even the main L and R channels

Naim, if you are reading this, here's a in improvement suggestion: when asked to play a 5.1 mix ND5XS could display the information WHY it refuses to play the file, like: "Can't Play - multichannel file".

Very interesting point!  Copyright extend to "playing in public" hence at which point a large gathering of mates becomes "public" as such ?

Most SACDs have both SACD and Red Book CD tracks on the same disc.

Gajdzin, are you sure you listen to the SACD track and not the other one?  My SACDs are copyright protected and I could not create copies.

Nevertheless, I find SACDs sounding clearly superior to any other format and still cannot figure out why SACD players did not make it big ?

I'm not listening to SACD at all, because I don't have a player, because Naim doesn't make one My brother came over with the files he ripped from his own SACDs using an old PS3. Unfortunately that particular SACD appears to have:

1. High definition tracks in 5.1 version, which Naim cannot play

2. Red Book version, which is not higher resolution than my normal CD

So - zero benefit from this particular SACD... I wonder how many SACDs are like that. I wanted to start buying them on auction sites with the purpose of ripping and putting on my NAS, but if many of them only have multiple-channel mixes + 16/44.1 version, then what's the point?

PS. IMHO SACD players did not make it big, because no format will ever make it big if it's addressed to a tiny niche like the audiophiles. 99.99% of consumers these days are perfectly happy with MP3s...

All my SACDs have in the DSD-layer at least 2-channel stereo, only a few also 5.1.

Also nearly all my SACDs are hybrid so have a PCM layer alongside the main DSD layer.

http://www.sa-cd.net/home will show the content of an sacd (stereo and/or multichannel) and if it is a hybrid (pcm alongside dsd)

cheers

Aleg

I guess there should not be many?  

I have around 20 SACDs and they all have the hi res DSD layer

OK, I was just unlucky with my brother's SACD then It's the Dark Side of the Moon. I had high hopes for it. But it seems to only contain the 16/44.1 stereo mix and the hi-res 5.1 mix. Or that's all his PS3 can pull from it.

There exists no 16/44.1 in DSD.

16/44.1 is a PCM specificatio So can only appear in PCM-layer.

DSD is either 2.6 MHz/1-bit (most) or 5.2 MHz/1-bit (some).

Might be helpfull to read about the difference between DSD and PCM ;-).

cheers

Aleg

Gajdzin are you sure the player was picking the DSD layer and not the PCM one?

Gajdzin

this is all rubbish what you are talking here!!

Sorry to say that, but DSD is not PCM and you are using all terms from the PCM domain that don't apply to DSD.

PS3 combined with sacd-ripper, extracts the DSD layer that contain 2-channel stereo and/or 5.1 multi channel in mostly 2.6 MHz or some in 5.2 MHz 1-bit encoding.

If your dac/pc cannot play dff format you need to convert dsd into pcm. There are a few programs that can do that, like the free AudioGate from Korg or, the best one, Saracon from Weiss.

your conversion program determines how to convert this to PCM, which could be anything from 44.1 to 384 and everything in between In either 16/24/32 bit word length.

any questions I'm happy to answer but please get some basic knowledge about dsd format and how it differs from PCM. that will be a lot easier for me.

cheers

Aleg

SACD was meant for multichannel hi res audio in the first place due to its ability to pack lots of data.  Hence do not be surprised to find many SACDs with 6 channel DSD and stereo PCM layer as opposed to 2 channel DSD and 2 channel PCM

Yes, I think that was the error. Needs to be re-ripped. Anyway, I'm giving up on SACDs, too much hassle. Unless Naim comes up with a SACD player, then it's a different story. Or somebody comes up with a service where you could send in your SACDs and they send back the files...

9140 DSD stereo SACDs

5899 DSD multichannel SACDs

8329 hybrid SACDs (combination of DSD layer and PCM layer)

cheers

Aleg

If you want DSofM in HiRes, search for the 4.1 Alan Parsons' mix (see http://www.quadraphonicquad.co...tM-underground-DVD-A)

download the ISO, that was released onto the internet.

Then in foobar2000 convert to 24-bit 2-channel FLAC, or of course if you have a multi-channel system, burn it to DVD and play it as a full quadraphonic recording, as it was originally mixed.

Simon.

a google search for "Rip SACD with PS3" will give you many tutorials and which PS3 models work.