...and assuming you own the 'Dark Side of the Moon' SACD.

Would you please try digitizing the analog output of the stereo SACD version of 'Great Gig in the Sky'? Use whatever bit depth /sampling rate you feel appropriate so long as it's at least 16/44. Adjust to a reasonable recording level. Make sure you're using the stereo layer, and turn off or bypass your bass management when doing the transfer. Run the signal from the l/r channels of the multi-channel out. Note what the player's channel levels are set to.

A bit of a pain, I know but I'm getting some strange results doing this myself and I want to check them against some independent sources.

I'm finding that my current uni-player, at default SACD setting (SACD channel output levels set at 0 dB trim/boost), is outputting clipped signal for this track, as indicated by flattops in the captured .wav view (regardless of the recording level). The only way to make the .wav look unclipped is to lower the left and right output levels in the SACD channel level setup menu. This is similar to what my former uni-player did if I used the 'Fixed' channel level option; that was equivalent to +6 dB gain using its 'Variable' setting. I don't know why manufacturers do this sort of thing, but this is two players now by two different makers (Pioneer and Yamaha) that have. I'm curious to see if other people's players do this too. The Yammy btw has a separate set of channel level settings for SACD vs DVD/CD. ; the Pio did not.

The really weird thing to me, though, is that if I use the 'SACD Direct' option on my current player -- which the user manual says bypasses all speaker settings and bass management -- I get the clipped output too. That suggests that the player (Yamaha SD2500) is 'natively' overloading the analog SACD output.

I've done this in the past, didn't save any samples of it, sorry.

Anyway, I found my player (Samsung DVD-HD950) would output clipped analog audio on every SACD I tried to digitize. And it doesn't have level controls.

I'm assuming you're using a PC soundcard for recording? These often have a lower voltage range on their inputs than Hifi-equipment has on the outputs. So, probably the player is not so much overloading its output, but overloading your soundcard's input.

If you route the signal through a tape deck or so to adjust the level, you will probably find that the signal is not clipped as it comes out of the SACD deck.

Ah, yes, that's another possibility. Thanks. For the record, I'm using an M-Audio 2496 soundcard for capture. I have been running the player direct into the card.

If the signal is being clipped by overloading the soundcard's inputs, the meters will show that. If the source is clipped, the recording will have clipped peaks even if your maximum recording level is way below -0dBfs.

Yes, that's exactly what I see. I also see from googling around that the 2496 is likely to perform this way, it doesn't have the input voltage flexibility of pro cards. So that's probably why I need attenuation prior to input.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.audio.p...80c7dc9febbde97