Why bother with buying SACD/DVD-A in stereo? - Page 4

Phil A · 06-23-2006, 12:15 PM

Most preamps or rec'rs that take a digital signal have the DACs piggybacked off the DSP. They are HT products 1st (including my Bryston SP 1.7 pre/pro which sounds best via an analog connection for that reason), designed in that manner. Many products have more in common with computers vs. being designed primarily for audiophile quality playback. That is part of what I meant in the earlier post of how even stores set-up their equipment with HT in mind. HT is a much more popular market than the small niche audiophile one.

I sold my Modwright XA-777ES a few months back. The XA-777ES is a nice SACD player. The Sony 2000ES SACD changer is not bad for $400 list. Universal players are generally designed to playback multiple formats. They do a good job of accomplishing that task but are not necessarily the best quality for SACD playback if that is one's goal.

Doug Otte · 06-23-2006, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YiFeng

it matters to me because the AVR is doing all of the dolby and DTS decoding. i want that capability vs. player's decoding cause it's a pain in the neck to connect analog wires from player to AVR =). i can just imagine now, in the future. one hdmi cable from a universal player to the AVR. and then 1 HDMI cable from AVR to HDTV. cuts down on clutter!

meanwhile the universal players is passing all of its signals through the HDMI digitally:
-TrueHD
-DTS-HD master
-1080p
-SACD
-DVD-Audio MLP

and the AVR's taking that and decoding it and amplifying the results. that's awesome =).

Right, I did some more reading after my last post and it seems that HDMI 1.2 will pass SACD signal. And I agree that it would be nice not to have to use the 6 analog cables. My Marantz 7400 doesn't do HDMI, and my Pioneer 59AVi has nice SACD sound, so I'm stuck w/ the analog cables.

Doug

JediFonger · 06-23-2006, 06:50 PM

it isn't so much unpluggin and pluggin, it's the fact that you look into the back of the AV system you have and it's a forrest of wires =). i hate that when i know that i can be done digitally. i've wanted that since i first got into HT/stereos when i was 14 =).

dany · 06-23-2006, 10:39 PM

It is a forest back there,i just dont look.

Rachael B · 06-23-2006, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YiFeng

can you gentlemen describe what you hear about the SACD stereo that's better than the CD?

If it's beat music, a good 'un will always have a stronger bass line. The CD's bass will be fuzzy and less defined. Horns sound way better in DSD. I know not why. Same for keyboards. I just hear it. High pitched guitar notes might show the least improvement...? The total sound grabs me. I'd buy SA-CD's if M/C had never been in the picture.

Chris Gerhard · 06-26-2006, 06:35 AM

I can't really adequately describe the subtle improvement I hear with SACD and that is why I just credit it to better fidelity. The approximately 40 year old music in the "Searchers Collection" is something I figured would not result in any discernable difference but I do hear an improvement with the SACD layer. Maybe greater detail or greater presence is a way to describe it. Overall, I now consider hybrid SACD my all-time favorite audio format. DVD-A is good but too many releases were poorly done and I can't play them in my auto unless it was packaged as DVD/CD or DualDisc. I have to record the CD side of DualDisc to CD-R since I still haven't tried to play one in my auto. If all of these formats were replaced by hybrid SACD, I would be delighted. There are too many CD players to ever cease CD releases for the lifetime of SACD but would anybody be unhappy if only hybrid SACD were released and mass production efficiencies resulted in pricing only a few pennies higher than current CD? Offer CD/SACD stereo always and SACD multichannel when possible and this would be one happy consumer.

Chris

JediFonger · 06-26-2006, 12:48 PM

taht's what i mean Chris =). that's why i feel SACD's are more conducive to the marketplace. unfortunately, car's headunits don't playback the SACD layer. it'd be awesome to listen to 5.1 SACD of floyd in the car. it's great driving music.

dany · 06-26-2006, 01:29 PM

I think some newer cars have DVD-A head units.

JediFonger · 06-26-2006, 01:39 PM

yes at the cost of $500-1,000 more. even standalone HU's cost that much and some limit stereo playback to 24/96 instead of 24/192.

Matt Fisher · 06-28-2006, 12:16 PM

I've had the Panasonic CQ-DVR909U headunit (DVD-A compatability) in my car for nearly 2 years now, when I installed it I also put in new component speakers and a solid amp. The biggest problem with it is the small-fold out speaker on the actual HU that serves as the center channel; it is very weak and can be a bit muffled. So when I listen to DVD-A disc like The Marvin Gaye Collection where vocals are very center-channel focused on a lot of songs, it's almost like listening to an instrumental album. On the Buena Vista Social Club DVD-A, it's 4.0 which makes for nice ambiance music since I don't have to worry about the center channel. For DVD-A discs where vox are spread across center and the front channels, it sounds solid, certainly a noticable improvement over CD. I bought it on eBay for $250 refurbished with a 1-year warranty. Of course though, like home theater upgrades, once you do one part, you have to start looking into upgrading others in order to fully maxamize potential. Oh and it does support 24/192.

I've always been one to say here that if DVD-A/SACD were given the opportunity to be better incorporated into autombile systems, they would have fared better. I am the only person I know though who has such a unit in their car, wasted potential...

JediFonger · 06-28-2006, 02:46 PM

that's why ebay is awesome =).

but new systems costs arm+leg.

i'd love to hear SACD 5.1 in car. that pink floyd album was be so awesome. i've even go as far as thinking of modifying a pioneer 588 into me car.