iTunes and DSotM SACD

[Cave Man]

I just picked up the SACD of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" which is supposed to be encoded in 5.1 surround sound. Can someone shed light on what it will take to import it into iTunes and retain this info? I suspect Apple Lossless will maintain it, but I'd like experienced users to chime in with the facts. I'm hoping my Onkyo 5.1 receiver can decode the imported files through the optical port from my Mac Mini.

TIA

 

[peeaanuut]

none of that is going to work.

SACD does not play through the optical port in surround on that disc. You need a SACD player from someone like sony. It also requires that your amplifier/pre-amp has analog 6 channel audio. Putting it into your mini will play the 2 channel stereo track on the disc, which is very good and when you import into iTunes it will import that track as well. SACD as well as DVD-A is a whole other best to work with. It can be great to hear but it is not cheap to get into.

 

[mosx]

Yup. You're not going to get the SACD info off that disc at all.

Its a hybrid disc, so your Mac will read the standard Redbook (regular ole audio CD) info off of it. But the stereo and 5.1 SACD tracks will be off limits entirely.

The only way to hear that is with a SACD capable player. Unfortunately, the format war between SACD and DVD-Audio (as well as the increased prices and increased DRM of the formats) killed them both off. Support for SACD and DVD Audio among DVD players has been almost completely dropped. Sony is even dropping SACD support from the $399 PS3.

You'll be hard pressed to find SACD support at all any more, really.

Sucks for those of us who bought SACDs Because of that, I refuse to touch HD-DVD or blu-ray until there is a clear "winner".

 

[Cave Man]

Thanks to both of you for the info. That is really sad - it seems like such a great audio format.

 

[peeaanuut]

Yup. You're not going to get the SACD info off that disc at all.

Its a hybrid disc, so your Mac will read the standard Redbook (regular ole audio CD) info off of it. But the stereo and 5.1 SACD tracks will be off limits entirely.

The only way to hear that is with a SACD capable player. Unfortunately, the format war between SACD and DVD-Audio (as well as the increased prices and increased DRM of the formats) killed them both off. Support for SACD and DVD Audio among DVD players has been almost completely dropped. Sony is even dropping SACD support from the $399 PS3.

You'll be hard pressed to find SACD support at all any more, really.

Sucks for those of us who bought SACDs Because of that, I refuse to touch HD-DVD or blu-ray until there is a clear "winner".

what I have been finding is that the players still support it but dont really tell you unless in the fine print. Just about every DVD player with 6 channel analog out will support one of the 2 but noone bothers to spend the ink on it. Either way it is a mute point because the library for both of the formats is quite small.