CD vs DVD Audio vs SACD (1 Viewer)

[Sach]

check this link:

http://sound.westhost.com/cd-sacd-dvda.htm

 

[KeithH]

Here we go again. I only skimmed the link, as I feel like I have been down this road before. In my opinion, both formats best the CD, but for my money, SACD sounds better. I have developed this opinion from listening to my 94 SACDs on my four SACD players (Sony SCD-777ES single-disc player, two Sony SCD-C555ES changers, and one Sony SCD-C333ES changer) and my 23 DVD-Audio discs on my two DVD-Audio players (Denon DVD-3800 and Technics DVD-A10). Overall, SACD sounds smoother and more natural. DVD-Audio tends to sound harder. Now, that could be a function of the components and discs I have been listening to. One could certainly argue that I have done a perfect test of the two formats, as I do not have many recordings common to the two formats nor have I used universal players (i.e., compared the two formats on one component).

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Keith, I'm looking for a 555 or 222. Would you be interested in selling one of your 555's? I would add a clock and other upgrades so I can jump into the foray.

 

[CurtisC]

Yep,both do best the cd,although a very well recorded cd can almost compete.A multi player in the 1k range will yield good performance.

 

[KeithH]

Hank,

Sorry, but I am not looking to sell a 'C555ES. I have them in different systems and use them frequently.


Curtis,

Agreed. The best-sounding CDs come quite close to what SACD and DVD-Audio can offer. I am talking about many audiophile releases, DCC and MFSL gold CDs, and early pressings that were prepared via flat transfers from the master tapes (i.e., no EQ tweaking, compression, etc.).

 

[Craig_Kg]

This is the point that I have tried to make several times - the quality of the recording and mixing can be a bigger factor than the format. It is just that the labels outputting SACD and DVD-A are more likely to do a good job in this area than the mass pop CD labels. And a high end CD player has far more software available than SACD and DVD-A players.

 

[KeithH]

Craig, I certainly agree with you. When I decided to buy into the SACD format at an early stage, when all players available were pricey, I did not want to sacrifice CD playback quality. I had over 1000 CDs at that point! Well, when I bought my Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player in October 2000, I viewed it as a low-risk purchase. Yes, SACD was in its infancy, but the '777ES was very well regarded as a CD player. I have been very pleased with CD playback on all of my SACD players, so if SACD were to die tomorrow (sad!), I would still be set with CDs.

At present, it does appear that more attention is being paid to the sound quality of SACDs relative to CDs. Another way of looking at this is that there is more tweaking going on with CDs than with the corresponding SACDs. Examples of this include the Deluxe Edition CD of The Who My Generation versus the corresponding SACD and the new Police remastered CDs versus the SACDs. Apparently, the technology has not "advanced" yet to allow mixing engineers to tweak the EQ in the DSD domain. When CD was in its infancy, it was not possible to tweak the EQ in the PCM domain either (you could do it in the analog domain, of course). So, many early CDs were done as flat transfers from the masters, and they sound great as a result. That, I believe, is what is being done with SACD right now. In time, unfortunately, equipment became available to make it possible to truncate the music in the PCM domain, and I am sad to say, this will probably occur in time with DSD technology. So, it is possible that SACD sound quality will be diminished if mixing engineers are provided too much flexibility. :frowning:

 

[Scott_N]

Right now I prefer CD's in my Cary than SACD in my 333ES. I waiting for the Consonance tube SACD player to come out.

 

[John Royster]

Craig,

I'm with you. The recording is everything, well almost everything.

These hi-rez formats just allow more of that recording to be heard.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Hank,

You may still be able to purchase a 222ES from Onecall.com Oade Brothers or J and R. You probably will not find a 555ES, though, unless you are extremely lucky.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Overall, SACD sounds smoother and more natural. DVD-Audio tends to sound harder.

If the titles from AIX are 'hard', I guess I may prefer 'hard' over 'smooth'.

When will anyone admit that, like tubes versus solid-state, it can be a matter of preference and not which one is 'better' in the absolute sense.

 

[KeithH]

Michael, I don't have any AIX discs at this point. The music isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I have been thinking about getting that free sampler for $6.95.

If you go back to the post that you excerpted from, I said:

In my opinion, both formats best the CD, but for my money, SACD sounds better. I have developed this opinion from listening to my 94 SACDs on my four SACD players (Sony SCD-777ES single-disc player, two Sony SCD-C555ES changers, and one Sony SCD-C333ES changer) and my 23 DVD-Audio discs on my two DVD-Audio players (Denon DVD-3800 and Technics DVD-A10). Overall, SACD sounds smoother and more natural. DVD-Audio tends to sound harder. Now, that could be a function of the components and discs I have been listening to. One could certainly argue that I have done a perfect test of the two formats, as I do not have many recordings common to the two formats nor have I used universal players (i.e., compared the two formats on one component).

Note the "In my opinion" part. Based on the discs I own on the components I own in my systems, I prefer SACD.

 

[Craig_Kg]

Yep, it'd be nice if the sound mixers were restricted in the number of mics/feeds they could use and the volume settings were manual so no dynamic compression could take place :b

I don't deny that SACD and DVD-A has the potential to sound better than CD but CD has the potential to sound a lot better than it often does.

 

[John Royster]

I don't deny that SACD and DVD-A has the potential to sound better than CD but CD has the potential to sound a lot better than it often does.

LOL!

And while were at it, just how many CDs are recorded well? How many SACDs? DVD-A?

My experience says about:
CD - 1 in 10
SACD - 1 in 3
DVD-A - 1 in 4

So those are just ball park guesstimates. But regardless of the technology it still comes down to the guy slapping it onto tape (or in this case CD/SACD/DVDA)