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For the meantime I would check Gumtree / eBay and other classifieds. There are still the appropriate PS3 available for creating back up / archive rips of SACD and for a lot less than the 220 that this USB drive would sell for if developed. I have archived all of my SACD's and because I am a pop/rock rather than Classical musical fan, it is unlikely that any further SACD of interest to me will be released. My trouble free and fully working PS3 is therefore about to be sold, if anyone from the UK is interested (and possibly the EU)

The downloads are still expensive and often cheaper to just buy the disc. I have now archived all of my SACD to iso backups, so if anyone in the UK is in need of a 60GB/FW3.55 ready to rip PS3, then let me know, as I plan to sell mine.

I'm glad to see that there is still interest in this forum. I am now in the process of selling my PS3 as my SACD are now all backed up to archive, so if anyone in the UK is in need, let me know. Mark

Actually Ted, ignore my findings about dBPoweramp as although it works on 5.1 and produces the files in any samplerate you want, I think it first converts DSD to 96KHz Wave and the the additional filter downsamples to 88.2KHz or whatever you choose. It doesn't do straight to FLAC in anything but 24/96 either BUT Foobar does it all correctly! Until Jesus's / Sonore Windows gui for DSD2FLAC is ready (I don't have a mac and don't want to setup a Linux virtual machine just for this) then foobar2000 seems the best bet. Utilising the settings for the "Super Audio CD Decoder" component to ASIO:PCM, Samplerate:88200 and DSD2PCM Mode: Multistage (Double Precision) and then converting the files in Foobar to FLAC with no additional processing enabled works perfectly on 5.1 and stereo DSD. Regarding the Dolly Parton "Little Sparrow" SACD, I was then able to analyse these foobar FLAC files in Audacity and saw that the LFE .1 trach contains duplicated bass which is already in the full range channels. By muting the LFE I then exported 5.0 FLACS with corrected audio straight from Audacity. Fortunately, this error also means I can also simply listen to the original DSD files and just power down my sub because I listen to DSD straight to analogue with five good (more or less) full range speakers. For folks with "small" speakers they are not so lucky as they need to get the redirected bass from the five mains to the sub which will be mixed in to the erroneous LFE channel and so my redux FLACs are the only way to do it. I can't fathom how (a nerdy but not specialised) guy like me can identify and correct errors better than the engineering and mastering "specialists" who create them in the first place!

Hi all, I have read Ted's updated pdf , so thanks! I note that it still suggests Korg Audiogate for DSD to PCM conversion. However, this only works for stereo DSD (playback or conversion) I note that the dBPoweramp has it's own convertor (in an official beta form, but been available since 2009 and updated February 2014 from the dBPoweramp codec central page)and so I installed it this morning. I easily managed to convert a 5.1 dsf to 5.1 Flac 24 bit 88.2 KHz file which plays fine. (I set-up the conversion as 24 bit, same as source sample rate and channel mapping then added the resample filter to allow 88.2 KHz final file) Can anyone else confirm that this is now the preferred and best way of doing DSD to PCM? Is it doing what I think it is, particularly with respect to the 88.2 sample rate? (I usually listen to native DSD on my Oppo 105, but one SACD (Dolly Parton - Little Sparrow) has always annoyed me with it's overbearing bassline coming from the subwoofer because the engineers seem to have mastered the .1 LFE channel with a +10dbB boost as it sounds fine on turning the sub volume down by 10dB. (They may have been confused by the Scarlettbook specification which has no 10dB attenuation on the LFE so should run 10dB "hotter" than a DVD/DVDA equivalent LFE channel but still be at 0dB with the DVD/DVDA being at -10dB) (Alternatively, they possibly duplicated all of the bass, which they have already included in the full range 5.0 channels, into the LFE as well.) Either way, converting to PCM allows me to experiment and either attenuate the LFE channel by 10dB or remove it completely and "rebuild" my corrected flac (In which case I know I could just turn off the sub and keep listening to DSD, but I don't want to have to be bothered to adjust the subwoofer each time I select this album)

Dear all, Firstly, my gratitute to the masters of this forum who helped me get my PS3 up and running effortlessly! I am having one disc that is refusing to rip after over 70 successful sacd backups to iso. I managed to buy a used copy of Beyonce Dangerously In Love SACD which has some light scratches but plays fine in my Oppo (multichannel and stereo). I know the disc was pulled from production and could this be because of a mastering problem which is preventing sacd_ripper from doing it's thing? Has anyone else managed to rip this SACD to iso, and if so, any tips for me. Thanks again, in anticipation.

Hi Ted, Id love a copy too. I think I just got the required PS3, so hopefully good to go. Mark