Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Modified SACD Player??

very educational!

thanks, chaps!

doody.

Marc:

Thanks I don't want to say X will work and have someone coming back, ticked off at me that X doesn't work

Cheers,

Thanks MarcK,

So i can now add my IE16 to my 800.
Good to know if i ever buy that SACD mod.
Only problem is perhaps that the 4th wire from the 800 cannot be used anymore without you buying a ID20.

Jaco

The DVD Upgrade web site now shows the triple SPDIF output card as available for installation in a limited number of Pioneer DVD players. This is the card that will convert SACD to 24/176 or 24/88 PCM and should work with one of the two multichannel inputs of the 861. So has anyone tried this out or plan to try it out? I know there was some interest shown in this.

No, have thought about it. But since i have no pioneer SACD player but a Sony, i do not want to be the trail and Error person.
Also i bought an expensive IA45 for SACD, so it works for me. Perhaps i would gain some quality, but than i have spend around 2200 Euros to listen to signals of a 300 Euro SACD player...

Jaco

Similar sentiments to you Jaco...I have thought about a Pioneer 868, but the upgrade cost is so expensive that it really makes no sense. And it's still a pig in a poke...having digital outputs isn't necessarily the definitive answer. Just take a listen to the standard SPDIF digital output that's already fitted to budget DVD or CD players vs a Meridian transport, and it's night and day. If the cost of this mod was around �200 to �250, I'd take a punt on it, but �800? I'll pass for now!

Cheers

George

It might be the way to get great SACD sound into a Meridian. Buy a SACD player with a decent drive in it, but without the (expensive ?) high quality D/A output.
Stick this upgrade in, and have full digital path into a Meridian pre.
If this mod would have been there before i bought my IA45, i would have tried it.

Jaco

This swiss company has a strange way of dealing with questions. You have to "Make" a new product in the order process, and than they will get back to you if they have the solution. Since you have to complete the way of payment, i think you sort of buy it already..
There is documentation how to cancel your order, but is the question also canceled than ??

Will ask JVB if they can supply something like this (who knwos they might know each other)

Jaco

SACD is an expensive proposition and I would be hesitant about recommending the plunge. I purchased a Maratz SA-17S1 and had it heavily modified. Due to the 6 channel output requiring a lot of Black Gate Caps, the modifications cost more than the original player. The work was done here in Australia by Soundlabs Group in Melbourne. Here is what they did:

1 AC-SC2-33-S Audiocom Super Clock2 33.8688M
1 AC-SC-PSU-S Audiocom Super Clock PSU
1 Supply Black Gate Capaciters for
24 Di-HSSR-4/600 Diode 4A 600V (TO-251)
1 BDE-DIG1-S BDE-Digital Output Kit DIG 1

Add to that the expensive card for the 861 and it was a very costly exercise.

Was it worth it? That is a hard one to answer. The sound from the best SACDs is as good as from the best DVD-A's, but no better IMO. Finding those best SACDs & DVD-As on the net is not always easy.

e.g. I put an order in for DVD-As in to DVD Empire in October last year, they were not shipped airmail until mid Feb, but only arrived last week as someone goofed and they came by snail mail. DVD Empire were not sympathetic - not their fault but they did not offer any help to complain, something rather difficult when one lives thousands of miles away :-(

Bottom line is I'm not collecting many DVD-As or SACDs. Yes they do sound better, but whether or not the cost and the hassles of record collecting is justified is one you will have to answer. I felt the only way to find out was to tread the road myself but recommend caution for others. There is no guarantee either hi-rez format will survive. We have discussed this before.

John

John,
The meaning of the described mod is that you do not need the IA45 (for the 861) or use the 5.1 analogue input in the G68 but use a 3 SPDIX connection in stead.
No need to modify the analogue output stage of a SACD player.

Jaco

Hi Jaco

Thanks for that, I understand what is going on. It could be a much neater (and I would expect cheaper), than the route you & I took with the IA45 card but I wonder if the result would be much different?

But is it possible to convert DSD to PCM completely in the digital domain, or is there an analog step in the middle as we have? Also, I do not think the Pioneer would be the best player choice. It was never on my list, although I respect some of their players like the HLD-X9 which, modified, gives excellent audio & video here off laserdisc. The D925 (also modified and used for PAL LDs) is not too shabby either.

John

John,

Yes, you can transcode between DSD and PCM entirely in the digital domain. THat would be the preferred method actually.

Most products that do Bass Management in the digital domain for SA-CD do a DSD --> PCM conversion.

Maybe should have just been PCM all along

CHeers,