digitalFAQ.com Forum - SACD analog, or SACD passes through HDMI ?

Since SACD is usually output as analog (not digital), the receivers, speakers and other components will actually determine the sound quality. It's all about the D/A and A/D conversions. The same is true of most "digital" formats that are viewed or heard on analog equipment.

I can pretty much answer this by just copying/pasting from Wikipedia:

Quote:

SACD players are not permitted to offer an output carrying an unencrypted stream of Direct Stream Digital (DSD). Players initially supported only analog output; later some proprietary digital interfaces such as Denon Link permitted encrypted transmission of DSD. There are now two standard digital connection methods capable of carrying DSD in encrypted form: i.Link and HDMI (version 1.2 or later, standardised in August 2005). The older i.Link interface is generally found on older mid- to high-end equipment and some current top-of-the-line units from Japanese manufacturers. HDMI is more common, being the standard digital connection method for high-definition video with audio. Most new mid-level and higher 2007 model year and later A/V processors support the HDMI 1.2 specifications DSD over HDMI feature. Most boutique manufacturers still do not support DSD. Some HDMI 1.1 spec DVD players convert DSD to LPCM and then pass it to an HDMI 1.1 spec or later processor. Lower end processors usually convert the DSD to LPCM, higher end ones usually convert it to LPCM for bass management or DSP but can also process it natively at the expense of DSP and bass management. Some new DVD players from Oppo Digital, Pioneer, Onkyo, etc. now support HDMI 1.2 or 1.3 and will pass DSD over HDMI as well as LPCM. Be aware that some players, for instance, Onkyo DV-SP504, will not support DSD or LPCM over HDMI without resampling it to 48 kHz. SACD or DVD-A will be played through analog outputs instead. The older i.Link interface has been dropped from all but high-end A/V processors and DVD players.

If it actually supports HDMI, then it can be used. But I would imagine that both sound about the same either way.
Again, the speakers and receivers really matter the most here, not the connector type.