+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Links: family / facebook / twitter / linkedin / google / instagram / random | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | _______ | We're alone in the universe or we're | | ,--'.:::::.`-._ | not; either idea is mind-boggling. | | /..:::::::::::..\ | | | /..:::::::::_;::::| | | | || `---'----' _|:::| | | | || `;:::| | | | |' ==== ==== |-::| | | | |-( @ )-( @ )--|O):| | | | | ` | ` |/::' | | | . v |:/ jeremy@ | | | | ___, || malcolm | | | \ -- _/| .id.au | | | \_____.-'__/-.__ | | | _| _/|::.\.::-._ | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [ ] news [ ] about [*] writing [ ] journal [ ] images [ ] guests | | +--- latest | | |->> archive | | `--- search | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "SACD ripping HOWTO" :: [2011-07-04 02:43PM] | | author: Jeremy Malcolm | | | | Super Audio CDs (SACDs) were a next-generation CD format, capable of much | | higher fidelity as well as 5.1 channel surround sound... and unlike | | regular CDs, designed to be impossible to rip. Although a handful of disks | | and players are still being sold, the format has been a failure, mainly | | because the CD format wasn't broken to begin with, except for audiophiles | | and record companies. | | | | Since my SACD player was my early-model PlayStation 3, which has already | | broken once, I needed to rip my SACD music into a more durable format. | | Also, I wanted to be able to listen to it in 5.1 channels which I hadn't | | been able to do before now, because my tuner only has an optical audio | | connection, and the PlayStation demands an HDMI connection for playing | | multi-channel audio. | | | | Luckily, ripping music from SACDs has just become possible. This tutorial | | will teach you not only how to rip your files from SACD, but also how to | | play them in multi-channel format without the need for any expensive | | audiophile hardware or software. What you need is: | | | | * A PlayStation 3 model CECHAxx, CECHBxx, CECHCxx or CECHExx, released in | | 2006 or 2007. See if you can find one on eBay. | | * Said PlayStation must be running firmware version 3.55 or 3.41 - which | | means that you won't be able to use it on Sony's PlayStation Network. | | Unfortunately, downgrading the firmware is not currently possible. | | * A modified unofficial version of that same firmware called OtherOS++. | | * SACD Ripper. Unless you want to compile your own binary, you can | | download a precompiled one here. | | * The PS3's root keys, which are needed the first time you run SACD Ripper. | | * DSDConverter (this is for Mac OS X, I'm not sure about other platforms). | | * FFmpeg and MPlayer (for any operating system). | | | | The first step is to install the OtherOS++ firmware. To do this: | | | | 1. Copy the OtherOS++ firmware file that you downloaded to a USB memory | | stick as /PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP. | | 2. While your PS3 is off, press and hold the power button until it turns | | on then turns off again. | | 3. Press and hold the power button again until the PS3 beeps, then leave | | it held down until it beeps twice more. | | 4. You are now in the PS3 recovery menu. Plug in your USB stick, select | | System Update and follow the instructions. | | | | Now install and run SACD Ripper. | | | | 1. Copy it to a USB memory stick, and insert that into the PS3. | | 2. Go to the PS3's game menu and you'll see "Install package files". | | It should find the SACD Ripper package, so select it and install. | | 3. Unzip the PS3 root keys package that you downloaded to the root of a | | USB stick. Run SACD Ripper and insert the USB stick when it prompts you | | for the root key files. | | | | You're now all set to perform your first rip. | | | | 1. Insert an SACD. SACD Ripper should recognise it. | | 2. Insert a large capacity USB device. SACD Ripper under-states the size | | required, and won't warn you if your device isn't big enough. As a | | rough guide, a multi-channel SACD of about ten tracks needs about an | | 8Gb device. External hard drives are usually quicker than USB sticks. | | 3. Press the circle key to change the format in which the SACD is ripped. | | We want either DSDIFF (DSD) or DSF (DSD). The sound quality is the same | | no matter which of these you choose. However do take care that if your | | SACD is multi-channel (not all are), you choose one of the "mch" | | formats, not "2ch". | | | | Since you are not an audiophile, you don't have any software capable of | | playing the DSD format directly, so we'll need to convert it to an | | ordinary PCM (eg. WAV) file. This is what DSDConverter is for. To use it: | | | | 1. Move the USB device to your Mac. | | 2. Run DSDConverter and open the first ripped track. Choose WAV as the | | file format and 24 as the bit depth (or 16 to economise on file size). | | 3. The setting for sample rate is a bit more complex. If you want to be | | able to compress it to a reasonable size (10-15Mb) later, you need a | | sample rate of 44.1 Khz, which is no better than CD quality. If you are | | unhappy with that, but don't mind a file at least ten times larger, you | | will have to stay in WAV format, and choose whatever sample rate you | | like (176.4 should be enough, though). | | 3. Click Start and make yourself a tea or coffee. | | | | Next we will compress the file into an AC-3 file, which is a good | | compressed format for multi-channel audio (another alternative is | | multi-channel MP3, but this isn't so widely supported). It's exactly the | | same Dolby Digital format that you get on DVDs. We're going to use FFmpeg | | for this. | | | | 1. From the command line, type "ffmpeg -i [file.wav] -ab 320 [file.ac3]". | | Of course, replace the parts in square brackets with the actual names | | for your input and output files - but you must include .ac3 as the | | extension for your output file, so FFmpeg knows what format to use. | | 2. The "-ab" setting is the bitrate. Note that this is not the same as the | | sample rate! It controls how compressed the file will be. 320 is the | | same bitrate used on DVDs, so should be good enough for most people, | | but feel free to experiment. | | | | Finally, how do you play this file? Here is where your mileage will vary. | | In my case, I have a computer running Ubuntu hooked up to my sound system, | | and it decodes AC3 audio in hardware. So I need to play the AC3 file | | without my computer decoding it first. The command line that I use is: | | | | pasuspender -- mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw=1,0 -ac hwac3 [file.ac3] | | | | Breaking this down: | | | | 1. pasuspender tells Ubuntu's PulseAudio sound system not to interfere with | | MPlayer, since PulseAudio doesn't yet support AC-3 passthrough. | | 2. -- is just a separator to tell pasuspender that what follows is the | | command I want to execute without interference from PulseAudio. | | 3. The -ao option to MPlayer specifies the audio output device, which will | | certainly be different on your system to mine. Use "aplay -l" to find | | out what it is on your system. | | 4. The -ac option tells MPlayer that we want to play the file using | | hardware AC-3 decoding. | | | | There are a few ripped files that MPlayer hasn't been able to play, and | | I'm not sure why, since they play fine (but in stereo) using other | | multimedia players such as Totem. But most files play very nicely. | | | | So it was a bit of a marathon, but I can now hear my SACDs in all their | | multi-channel glory for the first time, and they sound great! If you run | | into trouble with the above procedure, feel free to drop me a note and | | I'll try to help you out. | | | | UPDATE: Read the comment below for some improvements to this HOWTO. | | | | reply (12 comments) | | << Back | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | page generated in 0.108 seconds sadlittlewebjournal 3.2.4 | | content (c) its respective creator(s) web administration | | valid html 4.01 transitional rss feed | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+