How to Author a Standard SACD ISO from DSF/DFF: Complete Tutorial
Have a pile of DSD tracks (DSF/DFF) and want a SACD ISO image that plays on SACD hardware, software players, and virtual drives? This tutorial walks through the whole process with DpdoPackSACD.
1. What a SACD ISO is
A SACD ISO is an image of SACD disc content: DSD audio tracks (DSD64/128/256, stereo or multichannel) + album metadata + cover art + directory structure. The authoring tool organizes loose DSF/DFF tracks into one .iso file following the SACD standard.
Typical uses: - Playback on SACD-capable hardware (Oppo, Playback Designs, Esoteric, etc.) - Software players (JRiver, Foobar2000 + SACD plugin) - Mounting in a virtual drive - Archiving: one album, one image, metadata embedded
2. Minimal example: a three-track album
pdmpack track01.dsf track02.dsf track03.dsf -o album.iso
That's it — three tracks become one album.iso; the command-line order is the track order.
3. Full metadata (album information embedded in the ISO)
pdmpack 01.dsf 02.dsf 03.dsf -o album.iso \
--album "Album Title" \
--artist "Artist" \
--year 2026 \
--genre "Classical" \
--label "Label" \
--composer "Composer" \
--barcode 8800000000000 \
--cover cover.jpg \
--date 2026-08-13
Available metadata parameters:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
--album | Album title |
--artist | Artist |
--track-title=N:TEXT | Title of track N (1-based) |
--track-artist=N:TEXT | Artist of track N |
--isrc=N:CODE | ISRC of track N |
--cover=PATH | Cover image (JPEG/PNG, embedded in the ISO) |
--genre | Genre |
--catalog / --barcode | Catalog / UPC / EAN / barcode |
--year / --date | Release year / precise date |
--label | Record label |
--composer / --conductor / --orchestra | Composer / conductor / orchestra |
--disc=N / --disc-total=M | Disc number in multi-disc sets |
--cue=PATH.cue | Import metadata from a CUE sheet |
--pause=N | Pause frames between tracks (default 150) |
4. Multichannel and multi-disc
Multichannel: pass multichannel DSF/DFF directly (5.0/5.1 content is within the SACD standard); the authoring tool writes the source channel count into the image.
Multi-disc sets:
pdmpack -i disc1/*.dsf -o disc1.iso --disc 1 --disc-total 2 --album "Box Set Name"
pdmpack -i disc2/*.dsf -o disc2.iso --disc 2 --disc-total 2 --album "Box Set Name"
5. Verifying the result
# Inspect the ISO structure (inspect mode)
pdmpack -o inspect_dir/ album.iso
- Confirm track count, duration, channel count, sample rate (DSD64=2.8224 MHz / DSD128=5.6448 MHz)
- Actually load and play the image in a SACD ISO-capable player or virtual drive
- Check that cover art and metadata are read correctly by the player
6. FAQ
Track order: command-line order is the album track order — pass tracks in disc order.
Mixing DSF and DFF: allowed (pdmpack auto-detects), but keeping one container per album is recommended.
DST compression before authoring? Optional. DST-compressed tracks (.dst from DpdoEngine) noticeably shrink the image; player compatibility is generally good. Use uncompressed DSF for maximum compatibility.
Will the ISO work on all SACD players? Hardware support varies by model (some units only play discs or specific formats); software players and virtual drives have the best compatibility. Confirm device support before purchase.
Written by Dpdo. Commands verified against DpdoPackSACD / pdmpack 6.68.