How do i know which will sound better with SACD playback, or will it be dependent on the DAC quality? My AV receiver (onkyo rz3100) says a AKM 32bit/384kHz DAC, i dont know what DAC the blu ray player (sony) has but it supports SACD playback and has both hdmi and analog outputs. So how should i connect it to the AV receiver for best sacd sound quality?
I mostly use stereo playback, because i prefer 2 channel sacd to 5.1, with multichannel sacd's i also set the player to read and output the stereo portion.
You didn't specify which Sony blu ray player, but I suspect it's an older one as most now don't have analog outputs except the X1000es or 1100es. They were never known for outstanding DACs so I'd use hdmi and use the onkyo DAC, it's capable of DSD over HDMI.
No one knows. I've asked and didn't get a response in that thread. If sony isn't saying, it's not a flagship dac by any stretch. Your Onkyo is a pretty high end unit for them and would surely blow away the s780 DAC. Use HDMI. If you want another SACD/bluray player, consider the Pioneer UDP-LX500. It has two channel analog outs and uses a AKM 4490 dac. It's pricey though.
I'd still use HDMI to an AVR regardless of the player. Many AVRs will do a A to D conversion regardless then run it through it's dac. Even pure direct doesn't guarantee a pure analog signal is maintained, as it may just cut off unneeded circuitry. Rule of thumb with an AVR is leave everything in the digital domain as long as possible. I have two Oppo players hooked up to my anthem AVR. I use HDMI, even though the 95 I have on paper beats the Anthem DAC. It sounds fine through the receiver this way. I use the analog outs to a headphone amp.
Most Onkyo AVR's offer pretty decent on-board DSD bit-stream decoding (via HDMI). So when playing SACD's there's nothing stopping you from setting your Sony to output either DSD or PCM audio to see which 'you' personally prefer...
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