SACD playback via optical output?

PS3SACD · Site Admin Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 316

One of our readers reports that with firmware v2.00 it's possible to play SACD with digital audio output via optical out, something that has thus far definitely been impossible.

We're going to try this and will get back shortly. In the meantime if anyone can confirm this please post here.

jcarys · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 2

Interesting, things have definitely changed. When I put a hybrid in, the PS3 let me select among the CD, th 2 channel and the MC layers. I'm playing the MC right now, but my receiver is interpreting this as DTS surround. I really doubt the PS3 is re-encoding this, so I'll have to play around with the reciever for a bit to see what it's actually getting, and whether I can play it direct. More later...thanks for the news!

FunkyMonkey · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 77

Right, I have been testing usign the optical out. Playing the SACD MC layer, I too get DTS output. WHen I disable DTS output in the PS3 sound settings menu, it goes down to 48kHz stereo.

For 2channel SACD, I get 48kHz, i.e. same as CD.

So it seems that via optical, the PS3 does indeed re-encode MC to DTS (impressive compromise for non-HDMI equipped receivers), and 48kHz for the 2 channel, i.e. same sampling as DTS.

In other words, the PS3 does its best using optical, but certainly not comparable to the HDMI PCM signal of 176kHz resolution.

md47 · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

PS3SACD · Site Admin Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 316

So far, yes. PS3 does not (yet) support DSD output and converts the signal to (hi-res) multichannel PCM for HDMI output, or -- since v2.00 -- to DTS via digital optical output.

FunkyMonkey · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 77

usernameuser · Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

Hey guys do you think you can play SACD in Linux, if so it could be the first ever computer that plays SACD? can you imagine? and lets not stop there, perhaps you could rip the dsd track of SACD and burn your own mixes, or burn a DVD-A, if thats possible.
But probably not, knowing sony they probably restrict the SACD part of the PS3 with their hypervisor, or they built a separate chip that decodes SACD and its not accessible though Linux.
Is any Linux Masters around maybe they'll know for sure.
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usernameuser · Joined: 11 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

I think that even if the PS3 could output DSD via optical, receivers probably are unable to read DSD through the optical plug, as in hardware that wasn't designed to be able to read DSD signal, example: trying to plug a yellow video cable to the red audio plug on a tv. but maybe a media player on PS3 Linux could decode the DSD to the optical port, maybe?
also guys there is this SACD player i saw at a pawn shop for $45, do you guys think I should get it, I already have the PS3 so I dont really need it, but i've seen it go for $125 on the net, i think i could get them to go down to $40, what do you guys think? The model is scd-ce595.
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LOGIc AND REASON RULE!

The Seventh Taylor · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401

PS3SACD · Site Admin Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 316

It's not clear if Sony has publicly documented the feature yet but there's some (Japanese) coverage here today:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20071113/sce.htm

lutefisk69 · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 15

So, there is still no DSD output via optical or HDMI? It would be great if it did.

md47 · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

if i am not mistaken, dsd output via hdmi is part of the hdmi 1.1 spec (please correct me if i am wrong)

so you would need a receiver that accepts hdmi AND can conver the dsd to analog. i am pretty sure some of these receivers are in the works, if not already on the market, but i dont have any links (sorry)...

dvda-sacd · Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Spain

The Seventh Taylor · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 401

AV Watch has some news about firmware v2.01 today:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20071120/sce.htm

I can't make much of the Japanese, even with Babelfish and Google Translate. Does it say something about multichannel digital optical output from SACD becoming impossible? (That seems to be what Babelfish makes of it.)

That would be terrible news.

Justin42 · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 2

I finally got around to hooking my 60GB PS3 (fw 2.01) via optical to my older Kenwood VR-6070 amp, which does support DTS, and I can only get PCM 2 channel output over optical on SACD.

I've tested some DTS DVDs and they work fine.

Unfortunately, I hadn't realised that DTS was available in 2.0 until after I did the 2.01 update (Which I did without thinking after all the problems reported in 2.0). I can't get DTS output on multichannel SACD no matter what settings I tweak.

Wish I would've held out a few hours at least to check! I've been going nuts trying to get DTS SACD multichannel output. :/ It definitely seems like something is up with 2.01.