RCA or HDMI for SACD stereo sound?

Hello all.
I have a Yamaha bd-s681 blu ray player that can play SACDs as well. The Yamaha has hdmi input and RCA .The manual recommends hdmi connection for SACD stereo sound . My speakers, Dynaudio Xeo-2 do not have hdmi input, only RCA. I have been playing SACDs thru an RCA cable. Im not sure how to connect the player to the speakers thru HDMI, or is the RCA connection good for SACD sound?
Please advise.

 

RCA

 

Depends on which processor/DAC is better: your SACD player or AVR. With my Sony UBP-x100es, it's the RCA hands down.

 

You don't connect the player to the speakers, you connect the player to an amplifier then connect the amp to the speakers.
You haven't mentioned what amplifier you have

 

I dont have a stand alone amp. I have powered speakers Dynaudio Xeo-2 , capable of (192kHz support through optical)

 

Speakers do not have HDMI input, typically they are connected by RCA phono to an amplifier or receiver.

A Blu-ray player usually has HDMI output, not input. The HDMI cable therefore goes from your Blu-ray player to the HDMI input on a receiver, which then amplifies the signal and outputs it to your speakers via RCA phono cable.

 

So its never a direct connection between the speakers and the player ? I need an audio reciever in between the player and speakers to get the full SACD sound and Blu Ray sound ?

 

Your only option with your powered speakers is the RCA input for SACD playback.

The Dynaudio Xeo-2 speakers are powered speakers with a line in RCA input. So the OP can connect the Yamaha bd-s681 to the stereo RCA input of his speakers. The speakers are his amp.

https://dynaudiodata.blob.core.windows.net/media/4034/manual_xeo2_0916_en.pdf

 

I am quite happy using HDMI to my processor.

 

Goodness. Very interesting. So, he could therefore connect by Toslink too, presumably ?

 

Yes

 

Not sure about optical for SACD. If it's a single layer SACD I believe there would be no audio.

 

Nope. Not for SACDs. That would work for CDs though.

 

Oh ? What’s the reason for that ? Toslink works fine for me on my SA-CD player.

 

SACD does not play if i connect the player to my speakers directly with Toslink, SACD only plays if i connect speakers and player thru RCA , but i am not sure if i am getting cd sound or SACD sound.
The lamp on the Yamaha player indicates SACD sound.

 

What model of SACD player do you have. Al my SACD player have muted their TosLink connections while playing an SACD disc except for the Sony UBP X-800 which first output 176.4/24 PCM while playing SACD's but later via firmware "update" was downgraded to 44.1/16.

 

I have an old universal Pioneer player. The 596 or something. Should be in my profile.

It’s true the PS3 allowed SA-CD playback via toslink briefly and then defeated it again. I too have the UBP X800 but it’s a more recent acquisition, so I didn’t suffer the outrages of their daft firmware updates wittingly.

 

If you haven't updated its firmware maybe it still outputs SACD's as 176.4/24 via its S/PDIF output.

 

Not when playing SACDs it doesn't! Only when playing redbook CDs will this work.

The reason why is because Sony's SACD licensing agreements for all SACD player manufacturers specifically disallowed the transmission of both DSD and transcoded PCM (from SACDs) to be sent over either SP/DIF and Toslink.

 

Hmm. It’s been a long time. Re-reading the manual I confirm that no SA-CD audio is output over HDMI - only that of DVD-A. But in addition, I learn that no SA-CD is output either over Toslink or SP/DIF, only analogue on this player, something I either never knew or have forgotten.


Well, I never ! Thanks for that. This means that I’ll have to listen to my SA-CD collection all over again !

 

Are you sure? All you can hear from the TOSlink(SPDIF) connection when playing the DSD layer are crickets.
Perhaps you were playing the CD layer of an Hybrid disc?

 

Everybody tells me the same, I tested this with a couple of Japanese SHM SACD which are single layer SACD's. The X-800 output 176.4/24 via S/PDIF until a firmware update downgraded this and now it only outputs 44.1/16 while playing an SACD, and 100% positive of this.

 

Okie dokie. I ll bite. Have X-800 and will test with one of Single Layer SACD's tonight.

 

Please, tell us what your X-800 outputs via S/PDIF when playing a single layer SACD.

 

My X-800 doesn't have the S/PDIF connection. The confusion probably comes from you referring to optical coax as S/PDIF.

The good news is. It works over the optical coax! Very pleasant surprise for me.

Do you know which FW number removed the 176 .4/24 bit rate?

Kind Regards