[quote="Peke"]As I thought so, You are not using PC to RIP CDs but you use standalone device which is another issue.[/quote]

Sony made the final analog stage of the SCD-XA5400ES to be of highest quality as it uses balanced professional output. It really does not degrade the sound in any way, (the 1 bit DSD stream is unavailable unless you have your SACD player modified and you would then still need some kind of digital format converter to convert DSD to 24/96 redbook standard for the flac process). It is easier to buy a machine with the best possible analog output and sample that at a density much higher than 16/44.1 (cd standard). I used 24/88.2 or 24/96 as that is as high as my Behinger a/d converter goes. After level 6 flac compression a typical album occupies anywhere from 900MB to 2GB. But sound is awesome! I'm not sure sampling at 24/192 would be that much better but such files would be unreasonably huge even after flac compression.

As I thought so, You are not using PC to RIP CDs but you use standalone device which is another issue.

[quote="Peke"]What CD/DVD/SACD Rom drive you are using?[/quote]


Peke, My system is not expensive at all because I am very much a cheap-skate:

Sony SCD-XA5400ES > Balanced analog out using generic Belden cable (very cheap but has virgin copper) > Behringer Ultramatch Pro SRC2496 (for A/D conversion) > S/PDIF (over RCA cable) to PC M-Audio sound card > Audacity free DAW software

To digitize my LP's I used the same setup except:

Music Hall MMF Turntable > Grado (red) cartridge > Audioquest cable > Musical Fidelity V-LPS pre amp > Audioquest cable > Behringer ... same etc.

I could also do the A/D conversion with my sound card but the cheapo Behringer has more options for format conversion.

My PC desktop sound for playback is via an external USB/DAC: PC USB Bus > NuForce Icon2 integrated amp with 24/96 DAC > Paradigm Atom desktop speakers with NHT Super8 mini subwoofer in corner. Using a small external DAC from the USB bus provides much better playback quality than any in-PC sound card, the Icon2 will synch to anything up to 24/96.

Headphones are AKG K701 used with the Icon2 headphone amp above

What CD/DVD/SACD Rom drive you are using?

[quote="windcrest77"][quote="Peke"]What hardware you use to read full SACD on PC ??????? I was not aware that one existed.[/quote][/quote]

THis SACD is playing over 3050 kbps! Depth, dynamic range, etc. are really unbelievable for a PC music system, I never dreamed my PC could be as good as the main stereo system.

[img]http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff509/windcrest77/ScreenHunter_02Nov282120.gif[/img]

[quote="Peke"]What hardware you use to read full SACD on PC ??????? I was not aware that one existed.[/quote]

Here is what MM is reporting at the bottom, I cant believe how crappy ripped CD's sound compared to this:

[img]http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff509/windcrest77/ScreenHunter_01Nov282058.gif[/img]

(I hope this post works I've never uploded an image before)

[quote="Peke"]What hardware you use to read full SACD on PC ??????? I was not aware that one existed.[/quote]


No Peke, not the PC! (my Dell PC can only read the CD layer of these disks). I record my SACD player balanced (XLR) analog output into a Behringer A/D mic/line converter I use professionally to get a file at 24/88.2 PCM, then I compressed that with FLAC. Similar to the way I ripped my 500 LP's except those I only did at 16/44.1.

This experiment was mostly to prove that my USB DAC was working with some PC-based source higher than a CD and with a source I can A/B compare it to that was indeed hi-res. And also to prove if MM can play such a FLAC file. The sound is still way better than the CD layer of the SACD ripped directly (even with the additional A/D conversion). This analog source is still better than a CD (16/44.1) PCM source because it was based on pure 1 bit SACD DSD stream with no brick wall filtering like a CD has. Nad this player has a nice dead-quiet analog stage.

What hardware you use to read full SACD on PC ??????? I was not aware that one existed.

[quote="Peke"]Personally I prefer FLAC[/quote]


I love FLAC too but was impressed by Wav Pack for its speed and the unique method they've employed to do lossy compression as well. You can have it create 2 files a lossy compressed file and a "correction" file (both files are small) when combined these files allow you to get a lossless file back again by simply "correcting" the lossy file. It's a unique approach, but with cheap hard drives, I'm more prone to just use a single lossless file.

I just ripped a hi definition recording of Ana Carem to 88.2/24 FLAC (from SACD), WMP wont even play this file, neither will iTunes (of course), Foobar is playing it but not at full res. But Media Monkey is playing it just fine and my DAC is indeed confirming this resolution. This is the first time I've actualy got my DAC to light up that LED. It sounds incredible.

I also use FLAC as preferred format for lossless audio.

[quote="Peke"]Personally I prefer FLAC[/quote]
Me too, hardware support for FLAC is much better and compression level vs wavpack is about the same.

Personally I prefer FLAC

[quote="Lowlander"]Yes, any changes you make to the tags are only saved in the database, not to the files themselves.[/quote]


Damn, this is a nice codec! Almost makes me wish I had been using it all along. Great sound and it runs real fast.

I do notice that MM is not showing the bit rate on the screen for these files, usually a FLAC, APE or WMA lossless file will show anywhere from 700kBps to 1411kBps but these files are showing 000 kBps (probably a small reporting bug). I did verify that my DAC driver is receiving 1411 kBps off the USB bus, and the sound certainly proves that. So the plug in is working but apparently not reporting its bit rate to MM. I'm going to re-rip a 24 bit 96 kHz hi resolution audio disk with WavPack and see how that sounds through my DAC. This is truly a professional codec.

http://www.wavpack.com/WavPack_Plugin_for_Winamp_v2_8a.exe

Yes, any changes you make to the tags are only saved in the database, not to the files themselves.