Randy Yates wrote:
Steven Sullivan writes:
[...]
Another reason may be that some kinds of dynamic range limitation that are allowed
in Redbook, aren't in SACD spec.

Is there indeed any such specification in the Redbook?

You mean, is thge use of extreme digital compression/limiting
with accompanying digital clipping
explicitly *encouraged* by Redbook spec? No. I doubt
the drafters ever even envisioned it.

Regarding level differences, or dynamic range differences, why don't
you provide some numbers? Such things could be easily measured and
verified in the digital domain so that no analog anomalies would
creep in to the comparison.

It's easy to provide numbers -- e.g., the difference between the CD and
SACD layers of "Dark Side of the Moon', which were documented by
Stereophile (I confirmed this on my own too) --
but it's wrong to attribute them to the formats, except in the sense
that I've done: one format allows
abuses that the other doesn't. (This assumes the file remains
entirely in the DSD domain ; of course one could do all sorts
of processing in PCM, then transcode the result to DSD, to achieve that
modern overhyped CD sound in an SACD release.)

Along these lines, are there any computer SACD players and associated
software that allow ripping the raw bitstream to a file?

AFAIK there are no software or hardware SACD tools available to the
consumer for digital extraction (or even playback, afaik),
legally or otherwise.

DVD-A has been cracked, but SACD encryption has not.

--
-S
"The most appealing intuitive argument for atheism is the mindblowing stupidity of religious
fundamentalists." -- Ginger Yellow