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Topic: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped (Read 956 times) previous topic - next topic
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Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

WTF?

Over the years I grabbed several SACD rips to convert them to PCM to listen, because I didn't have a proper DAC. While comparing SACD to CD I noticed they sound different, and I tried to figure out why (different master, maybe?). The answer was simpler: SACD simply had left and right channel swapped for some reason. So I swapped them back in PCM.

Today I finally managed to force my new DAC (Fosi Audio SK02) to output the DSD stream as pure DSD, without conversion. And result was the same: every SACD rip that I've ever tried had left and right channels swapped!

WTF?

You can check it on the intro of Michael Jackson's Thriller — on every official release, be it CD, vinyl, any re-release, or digital download, the steps go from right to left. On SACD it's from left to right! What's the point? Is it a global manufacturing failure, or it's made this way so you could feel "some difference", or everyone did something wrong grabbing those SACD rips in the first place?

I tried googling it, asked gpt — no info! I can't even swap the channels back in foobar during playback, because the stream is being transfered on a lower level where no software could affect it.

Re: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

Reply #1 –
I checked one of my SACDs, Supertramp's Breakfast in America, comparing it with a CD copy that I have. The left and right channels are not swapped on the SACD (neither on the SACD layer nor on the CD layer).

Re: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

Reply #2 –
Hey, that's nice info! Could you check the available sacd-rip of that album?

Re: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

Reply #3 –
I checked 3x M.J. Thriller - two versions of SACD's (different "pressings") and one version of 176,4/24 PCM. The steps are from right to left on all 3 versions.
Check if you have proper Channel Map settings in SACD plugin.

Re: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Henry66 on
I checked one of my SACDs, Supertramp's Breakfast in America, comparing it with a CD copy that I have. The left and right channels are not swapped on the SACD (neither on the SACD layer nor on the CD layer).
Quote from: Valetos2 on
Hey, that's nice info! Could you check the available sacd-rip of that album?
Yes, I checked the rips. I don't have an SACD player. (I have a Pioneer BDP-80FD hooked to ethernet for ripping.)

Re: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

Reply #5 –
Wow, that's heavy. After further test I've figured out that the channels do swap when I change the ASIO driver mode from PCM (normal channels) to DSD (swapped channels). The DAC shows it's switched to DSD64 mode, and everything is swapped.



To make DSD work at all I had to follow this instruction and install ASIO Proxy and Savi Audio Bravo HD driver (probably that's the driver for the chip but I'm not sure):
https://support.fosiaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/32879080134937-How-to-Set-Up-the-New-DS2-on-Foobar2000

foobar2000 has the channel swapping option for ASIO, but it affects only PCM playback and makes no difference in DSD:



I'll ask the Fosi Audio support since the issue looks to be on their side. Maybe the wiring on the circuit is wrong, lol :)

Re: Every SACD has left and right channel swapped

Reply #7 –
Damn, I didn't know they still spam with ads since I use ublock. Somehow I missed the "add files" function. Can't edit my old message anymore, so here they are:

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