dvd-a & sacd really sound better? (1 Viewer)

[dobarmar18]

dear friends,
i've collected few dvd-a & sacd discs since they came out .hoping that they were better than cd but even i use universal player with d-link & receiver which has d-link(3rd edition) i found nothing excitng( the sound which i heard was no different from cd) except surround music in 5.1.what i would like to know is do i need special player & receiver to hear the difference between cd & high resoultion disc or all these discs are the same sonic with our ears.
thanks.
denon dvd 3910
denon avr-3805
ar performance series speakers
velodyne sub

 

[Hartwig Hanser]

The sound quality difference is often subtle and best perceived on acoustic instruments and natural voices, e.g. in classical music. It also depends on the quality of the equipment. The 3910 is a fine machine, but the avr is not really good for critical music listening IMO. The speakers I do not know.
Perhaps try connecting via 6 analogue RCA cables, then you use the internal DACs of the 3910 which may be higher quality than those of the avr.

 

[KurtEP]

The quality of different recordings can vary enormously. Pretty much all of the SACD's I own sound better than their CD counterparts, but often the difference isn't all that great. This seems to be especially true with older recordings. On the other hand, some modern recordings, such as the copy I recently purchased of Harnoncourt's Morzart Requiem are simply amazing.

 

[john a hunter]

Although I first started listening to SACD over a year ago, I am still constantly amazed at the,to me, huge leap in sound quality that multi channel sound gives.I can't recommend more highly that you try it although the best bet is via 5 channel analogue by-pass from the player to your preamp /receiver.Accurately set the levels and distance, and you will be transported to heaven! True I listen mostly to classical but there is still a good selection of other types of music and even today it was announced that Genesis is releasing much of their output on SACD.Give it a go, as I'm sure you will love it.

 

[mfabien]

This thread is part of an HD DVD player Forum so perhaps this time I can get an answer:

If one of you DVD-A lovers has an HD-A1 or XA1 player, will you listen to the DTS surround track of your DVD-A via the 5.1 multichannel analogs than play the same DVD-A on your Universal player to hear the High Resolution track and report on the difference?

When I play Steely Dan's "Everything Must Go" in my HD-A1 (DTS track) it is simply great sound... much better than via SPDIF digital connection.

 

[Doug Pyle]

DVD-A and SACD really sound better. Without going into the tech of it (plenty of discussion elsewhere), there is more audio information to produce higher fidelity, wider dynamic range (loud/soft), and smoother range in frequency reproduction - sounds live, especially with acoustic music. You may need to explore your gear & connections to see why this isn't more apparent to your ears.

I have more experience with SACD than DVD-A, but I find the improvement over redbook CD sound so significant that I rarely am satisfied with redbook and rarely buy it anymore. I primarily use SACD for 2-channel sound at higher resolution for higher fidelity sound.

I am interested to know if the SACD and/or DVD-A quality on the HD-DVD (or Blu Ray for that matter) compare well to dedicated SACD / DVD (-A) players.

My modest system: Sony C555-ES (5-disc SACD / CD) player, Yamaha RX-V3300, ancient(!) but steady pair of SpeakerLab 3 mains for 2-channel SACD audio

 

[mfabien]

SACD cannot be played on the HD DVD player whereas DVD-A has also a DTS surround track which can be played on any DVD player.

My question, in the post before yours, was: if someone who has both an HD DVD player and a Universal player can play a DVD-A on the HD DVD player, using the DTS track, then play same in a Universal player using the High Resolution track and then report findings here, I would be most grateful.