DSD resources

Last update: August 15, 2012

About DSD

What is DSD? For a basic understanding of this audio format have a look at our SACD FAQ.

DSD Disc format

Sony/Philips DSD Disc format specification:

To find out how to make a DSD Disc, check our DSD Disc guide.

DSD downloads

Here's a list of known DSD audio files (tracks and disc images) downloadable from the net.

DSD recorders

If as a consumer you want to make your own DSD recordings you can choose from this equipment.

DSD Disc playback

To play back DSD Discs you can use any PlayStation 3 (including PS3s that are not SACD-compatible!) or Sony's latest SACD players, the SCD-XA5400ES and SCD-XE800. Note: Sony's 2010 and 2011 range Blu-ray Disc players do support SACD but not DSD Disc format.

Sony VAIO PC's/notebooks from late 2005 on can play back DSD audio natively through the Sound Reality chip in Windows Media Player. On other PCs running Windows XP/Vista and Windows Media Player 10/11 you can play DSD files in WMP with this plug-in, which converts the DSD to PCM on the fly. Minimum hardware requirements do apply as the transcoding is quite processor-intensive. More about the plug-in here.

For playback on a PC with Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista) or Apple Mac with OS X Lion you can also use Korg AudioGate DSD recording/playback/conversion software. You can download it for free.

DSD file playback

For decoding DSD files played from for instance a PC you can use a Mytek Digital 'stereo 192/DSD DAC' (see news). It handles DSD via USB 2.0 and FireWire/i.LINK/IEEE1394.

For playback from SD card only you may use a Fostex HP-A8 headphone amp (see news) or a Korg DSD recorder (see above).

For playback of DXD audio you could use the M2Tech 'Young'.

DSD-capable AV Receivers

PS3 will not output pure DSD bitstream but a lot of SACD players with HDMI output do. To handle such a signal you'll need an A/V Receiver with DSD input.

DSD news

For (links to) news about DSD, follow @DSD_Audio on Twitter.

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