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[E-Rock]

New MC user here - please go easy on me!     I've tried searching the forums and the Wiki for an answer to this specific question but couldn't find a solution.

I'm simply trying to play SACD .iso files in MC 23.0.79 for Mac.  I can import my SACD .iso files without issue and can see all available tracks, artist info, etc..  But when I try to actually play a track, the .iso disk image mounts to my Desktop (as DISC1) and MC doesn't actually play anything.

I imported the .iso files into MC making sure Data was checked in the Media Import window.  I've also tried to drag/drop an .iso file into the Now Playing window - same "disk image mounting" issue.

What am I doing wrong?  I've tried looking in Playback Options and Tools -> Options for a setting that I may have missed...but so far I still can't get this to work.

FWIW, I can play .dsf files with no issues.

[RD James]

Make sure the [Media Type] tag is Audio, and the [File Type] tag is sacd

[E-Rock]

Make sure the [Media Type] tag is Audio, and the [File Type] tag is sacd

Thank you - changing the [File Type] tag to sacd solved the "disk image mounting" issue.   

HOWEVER, I'm now only able to play the first track of the .iso.  As soon as it reaches the beginning of track 2, playback stops.  I also can't manually play any other tracks other than track 1.  I've checked the tags for each track of the .iso and all are set to [File Type] sacd and [Media Type] Audio.

MC "tries" to play these tracks in that buffering begins but then it never actually commences playback and simply stops.

 ?

It's also not clear to me how to choose multichannel playback for these .iso files - each track is listed only once in the MC library, and track 1 always defaults to 2-channel playback.  Is there another setting I'm missing?

[RD James]

It sounds like these did not import correctly at all. I don't know if that's a bug with the current Mac builds as I only have access to a Windows machine right now.
The [Filename] tag should point to the iso location, and each track should end with: \albumname.iso;1 where ;1 is the [Track #]

SACD iso files are a huge pain to deal with if something goes wrong, as you can't just edit the fields easily to fix things.
Assuming that the issue here is the filename, what you need to do is:

1. Select all tracks in the album and open up the Rename, Move, & Copy Files Tool. (right-click and it's in the Library Tools section)
2. Put the RMC Tool into Update mode at the top-left, not rename or copy mode.
3. Only have the Filename and Find & Replace tools enabled.

For Filename, use:

Code: [Select]

[Album].iso;PadNumber([Track #,0], 0)If [Album] does not match the name on disk, change it to match the iso filename. (or rename the iso)

For Find & Replace, you want:
Find what: .sacd
Replace With: BLANK (leave it empty)

That should hopefully fix the SACD playback.
I've attached an image to show you what this should look like from the Windows version.
You can see that it fixes the album by adding the track # suffix. It will be slightly different on a Mac.


Discs with stereo and multichannel tracks usually list the multichannel tracks after the stereo ones.
So a 7-track album may list 14 tracks, and track 8 is really track 1 again, but the multichannel version.
I usually split these up by changing the album tags from "Album Name" to "Album Name (multichannel)"
There is also a "Fill track numbers from list order" library tool you can use to quickly make these 1-7 instead of 8-14. Do this after fixing the files as described above.

[Awesome Donkey]

SACD iso files are a huge pain to deal with if something goes wrong

Yeah, this is why I split my SACD ISOs into individual DFF (and DSF) tracks using sacd_extract.

[RD James]

Yeah, this is why I split my SACD ISOs into individual DFF (and DSF) tracks using sacd_extract.

I think they've fixed it now, but there was a bug where it would cause the split tracks to have a click at the start/end which left me having to re-rip a number of discs. Easier to just keep it as iso - though JRiver still has this problem with a few discs.
 
SACD is just a pain in general, from ripping to importing, managing files and tagging etc.
The only reason I keep some discs around is the multichannel discs that aren't available in other formats.

[Awesome Donkey]

I think they've fixed it now, but there was a bug where it would cause the split tracks to have a click at the start/end which left me having to re-rip a number of discs. Easier to just keep it as iso - though JRiver still has this problem with a few discs.

I disagree, the last/latest sacd_extract release I tried still has the click at the start/end when extracting to DSF. Because of that (and since it's SACD on Mac we're talking about here) it's actually much easier to extract the multichannel and/or stereo DSD audio tracks via sacd_extract as DFF then use another app, dff2dsf, to convert DFF files to DSF (it's repackaging the DFF files as DSF instead of re-encoding them). No clicks or anything - gapless albums like Dark Side Of The Moon play without any track segue issues.
 

SACD is just a pain in general, from ripping to importing, managing files and tagging etc.
The only reason I keep some discs around is the multichannel discs that aren't available in other formats.

I agree that SACD is a pain in general. But with some extra work you can create usable, individual DSD files, which once imported they work out just fine.

It's worth noting I do keep the original SACD ISOs around just in case, otherwise I listen to the split stereo files without issue. But I'd never import a SACD ISO, that's for sure.

[E-Rock]

Thanks for the help, guys.

I followed RD James's rename/update instructions above exactly - and also made sure the Album name tag matched the .iso filename, as well.  No luck - same playback issue (track 1 playback only, and no multichannel tracks available).

FWIW, the .iso files are my own, created via iso2dsd_OSX_v6 (which uses sacd_extract) and a Pioneer player.  I know the .iso files contain both 2-ch. and m-ch. files, as I'm able to create both types of .dsf files successfully from the .iso using iso2dsd.

Of course I could just use .dsf instead of .iso for these SACD tracks in MC, but I'm trying to avoid the significant increase in file size when converting to .dsf tracks.

Maybe I'm importing the .iso incorrectly?  RD James already pointed out the [File type] tag issue.  Could I be missing something else?

Anyone else having similar problems with SACD .iso files in MC 23.0.79 for Mac?

 

[JimH]

Are you selecting more than one file before you press the play button?

[E-Rock]

Are you selecting more than one file before you press the play button?

Yes.  And I've tried every combination possible - click on individual track, highlight multiple tracks and press the Play button, try to skip to Track 2 using the Next button, etc.

I've tried several .iso files and they are all consistently not playing past Track 1.  And still only 2-ch. tracks are visible in the Library.

Could it be an issue with the .iso files?

[Awesome Donkey]

Could it be an issue with the .iso files?

Could be, yes. SACD ISOs typically have embedded CUE files within them - if the CUE file is incorrect, it could cause an issue like this. Since you're ripping them yourself, the issue could be there in the ripping process (my guess would be with iso2dsd). I've never used that app before, but does it give you any options to create an external CUE file? If so, that could help you.

[E-Rock]

Thanks for the further insight.  Is there a way to inspect the CUE file embedded within the .iso?  And yes, iso2dsd does have an option to generate an external CUE file.  I've tried importing .iso files alone, as well as importing with the external CUE file residing in the same folder as the .iso - same issues.

That said, I was able to successfully import one SACD .iso file properly - both 2-ch. "sacd" and M-ch. "sacd" versions are listed, along with the original .iso in the Library.  Upon import, MC analyzed these files successfully and playback of all tracks works perfectly.  I've compared the CUE sheet for this "successful" .iso with the CUE sheets from the others, and I can't detect any obvious differences.  So I have no explanation why this one particular .iso is working properly.

Any other ideas?