Picked this up today from HMV, Pink Floyd at Pompeii, on Blu-Ray.
Playing via a Panasonic UB9000 player via SPIDF coax into a Naim DAC V1 and then to my SN3.
Sounds amazing.
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How are your Blue Ray sounding now, vs hires for same albums on your Nd555?
@Mike_S ?
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Yes, generally better, though the mastering seems to vary when you dig into peoples detailed review of some albums. Looking forward to trying again with the new firmware.
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The digital coaxial or optical output from your UB9000 is limited (by copyright protection rules) to 16/48.
To get the full Hi-Res off the discs you are buying you need to install an HDMI De-Embedder like the Blustream HD11AU between your UB9000 and DAC.
Several forum members have now done this with excellent sound quality improvements once you get the full Hi-Res signal.
I also use a UB9000 and agree the digital coaxial output sounds very good, but getting the full Hi-Res signal is much better in my experience.
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@MoonDrifter , thank you for that information, I didn’t realise that could be done. I’ve found one online, I’ll get one of those, it’ll be next month now though.
Regards D
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Noting, if you use the analogue output from the UB9000 into your SN3 you will also get the full Hi-Res output, but it will be via the DAC in the UB9000 (which is very good but probably not as good as your V1 DAC).
Worth doing a sound quality comparison though between UB9000 digital and analogue outputs, which Ive done with my current Lumin P1 Streamer/DAC/Pre-Amp, including the Blustream HD11AU and prefer the Hi-Res digital via HDMI output as my DAC’s are much better in the Lumin than in the UB9000.
However, before I got my Lumin P1, I used the UB9000 analogue output into my SN3 and it sounded very good.
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Well that’s easily done, I’ll try that later today. My wife and daughter have gone away for a few days. I’m home alone, so I can fiddle about and let rip.
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Sounds perfect, make the most of it 
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How did you get on with the sound quality testing between analogue and digital outputs from your UB9000 into the SN3?
Is one better than the other and so you have a preferrence for the best sound going forward?
Called into JB HiFi on Saturday to get this and it was sold out 
. Didn’t want to slum it with the DVD so will wait for next 20% sale and see it they have a copy then.
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Yes, I did the listening test and to my surprise I liked the analogue out from the UB9000 over the DAC V1.
It’s not by much but I do like the sound better.
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From my comparison tests between 16/48 digital output and analogue output from the UB9000 into my SN3 the analogue sounded just a little bit more warmer and thus smoother than the digital via my then NAD C658 streamer/dac, so I can understand your preference, especially as your also getting the full Hi-Res via analogue.
In my experience, full Hi-Res often sounds more warmer/smoother than CD quality sound when I play my Pure Audio Blu-ray Hi-Res discs.
When you can get the full Hi-Res digital via HDMI from the UB9000, that will be another interesting comparison.
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“analogue output from the UB9000 into my SN3 the analogue sounded just a little bit more warmer“
Yes, you’ve hit the nail, I wanted to say that but I thought you may think I was crackers. 
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Just a quick tip; when you connect an HDMI cable into the HDMI Audio only socket of the UB9000 it disables the coaxial and optical digital outputs and also the analogue outputs, which makes direct comparison testing more difficult as you have to keep disconnecting the HDMI cable.
However, once you have chosen your preferred output you no longer need to keep unplugging the HDMI Audio connection.
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Not SACD nor Blu-RAY, but 96/24 streams:
Presto has hi-res downloads of Reference Recordings at half-price. I bought 5 recordings by Manfred Honeck conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony. So far, I’ve listened to the Tchaikovsky 5th and sampled the Bruckner 7th, and they have leapt to the top of the list for orchestral recording sound quality.
All 5 were recorded and processed in the DSD/DXD realm. Actual equipment varies from recording to recording. (I believe the Beethoven may go back more than a decade.) For purists, SACDs for at least some and DSD downloads are available at a higher price, but since my ND5 XS2 is going to convert to PCM in any event I figured why pay extra.
The other three I bought were the Bruckner 9th, Brahms 4th, and Beethoven 5th and 7th. All live recordings.
n.b. My choices were based on recommendations I got from a poster on another forum. The ones he specifically said to avoid are the Tchaikovsky 4th and the Beethoven 9th.
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Just dropped through the letterbox, Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, SDE surround series.
My wife is in her garden studio out of earshot.
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I just compared the SACD layer to the 24/96 version on Qobuz of this fabulous recording on BIS. Wow, the SACD was the easy winner with much better dynamics, tone/touch/texture, depth, etc.
Now that BIS has been sold to Apple, I do hope the BIS/SACD releases will continue…fingers crossed!
I still see plenty of new SACD releases from at least a dozen or so labels…good reason to stick with the format!
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They have a Blu-ray buy one get one free sale on this weekend, you could buy the Pink Floyd online?
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The web site shows it back in stock, but that promotion must be Australia only. Here there is usually a 20% sale on the holiday weekends, so will see if that comes up for Kings Birthday weekend. Though I was wondering whether to skip this one, as I do have a lot of Floyd/Gilmour and Waters DVD/Bluray plus the Sauncerful of Secrets Bluray.
I have been playing a lot of Bluray audio and SACD lately and they are all rather excellent.
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Just landed this little beauty - a rarely available used HDAD of the Alan Parsons Projects classic “Turn of a Friendly Card”. This is one of my favourite albums and I have a few formats: the original first NZ vinyl pressing (a barn find mint condition in the $10 bin at our local record shop), the DSD version (found for free on the internet archive), the latest Bluray edition and now the HDAD. Those are all different mastering.
The HDAD is regarded as the best digital version and it doesn’t disappoint - the 24/192 DVD-A layer is incredible. Nice and weighty whilst very detailed, it will go as loud as you like with complete cohesion - more so than the DSD, which is very good. The latest Bluray is very good to, a little bright in some places for my liking, but very clear and with the best soundstage. The LP is, well, an original 80’s record, so it’s great anyway.
So, another new format and a nice collection of different masterings of one of my favourite albums, so happy days.
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