.iso file of an SACD. How to play on mac?

Hi, I have one of my SACD's backed up as an 'iso' file' Someone has told me I should be able to play them on itunes on my mac. Is this possible? -Thanks

 

Hmmmm, I would think that you would have to extract the ISO.... but I'm not positive.. maybe try just dragging the iso file into itunes & see what happens?

 

I've dragged SACD ISO's into Audirvana and they play great, even with the tracks broken out.

Worth mentioning that there are apps that will convert them to DSF/etc format as well.

 

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=129913.msg1373112#new

 

Thanks, got it but do you know if its output should be DSDIFF, DSF?

 

It's up to you. Going from memory, the differences are metadata support, I think DSF can be fully tagged like a FLAC can. But DSD is DSD regardless of the format, so no worries there.

 

Thanks will try it out.

 

@Rolltide is correct. DSF supports metadata tags. That's probably what you want.

 

Thanks, will give it a shot.

 

'kay, so... the DSF files arent opening in itunes. Any other suggestions?

 

Tried converting DSF to M4A via XLD program but although it plays in itunes it just plays as static.

 

iTunes will not play DSF (or DFF) files. Yes, XLD will convert. Under "XLD" on the top menu bar, select "DSD Importer Settings" Select "44100 Hz" for the "Samplerate Conversion" pulldown and select "24 bit integer" for "Quantization". Now, in the normal XLD preferences, select Apple Lossless as the output format.

Give that a try and tell us what happened.

 

Thanks Gloomrider, will do.

 

Hi Gloomrider, cant see anything on the drop down menus that mentions 'DSD Importer Settings'

 

What version of XLD do you have? The latest is 20141129 (148.1)

 

Lol! 142.0 -think I need to update

 

Thanks Gloomrider, got it playing. Had to convert to .dsf then open in DDS importer in XLD like you suggested. Youdaman!

Btw, just as an additional question, its showing 1600 kbps is that bout right? I have seen some 24bit files that are around the 3000kbps mark. Thanks

 

Yeah I was just talking to someone online and they say theyre getting over 6000kbps for a rip of the same album. Any ideas what the difference would be?

 

24 bit / 44.1kHz would be 2116.80 kbps uncompressed. So an ALAC encode of that might put you at around 1600 kbps. Perhaps the 3000 kbps is for 48kHz material?

EDIT: Keep in mind that iTunes will play content higher than 44.1kHz, but you would need to manually adjust the sample rate of your DAC (for best sound) unless you purchase some middleware like BitPerfect. You can try samplerate conversion values higher than 44100 in XLD. That will get you the higher bitrates. Also, once you go higher than 48kHz, lossless is your only encoding option. Apple's AAC encoder will resample higher than 48kHz to 48Khz.

 

Thanks for the tech. advice Gloomrider, -its appreciated. Yeah I have a macbook plugged into a Teac DAC via toslink. I'll try the higher sample rate and see how that goes. I only use lossless in my itunes these days. Its taken me almost 2 years to rip everything and I want my music library portable if I have to move or go on holiday, -its all on an external.

 

Try 88.2 kHz or 176.4 kHz. These are typical of hi-rez DSD -> PCM conversions.

 

Thank I will do. I only have three SACD's, but if this means I can rip them and have them on my comp, I might be inclined to buy a few more. Speaking of bitrates heres the bitrate someone else got with the same cd: 'Delay 1968' by 'CAN'

 

I'm going to guess those are ALAC 176.4 kHz rips. They have a ravenous appetite for disk space, beware!

FYI: DSF files in my Audirvana library report as 5644 kbps. So native DSF files are actually smaller than those examples above.

 

ALAC? Not a good idea then?

 

Okay, so at 88200 I got this bitrate 2976 :