Dvd Audio ?? (1 Viewer)

[John Kotches]

Mike,
How popular is it to rip CDs to MP3?
Ok, that might be a bad example, as MP3 is about portability and small space consumption
Who needs to hear something to criticize it? Man are you getting picky these days
Remember ignorance is bliss!
Regards,

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Friends,
First, I went to Mr. Jefferson's school, the University of Virginia. Although a great education, my knowledge of audio came from working with David Chesky and team at Chesky Records and Steve Guttenberg and Andy Singer at Sound by Singer, a high end dealer in New York City.
Second, I think we are all interested in the more "applied" aspects of our audio hobby. Fortunately, I can recommend two good books on audio as a hobby:
1. Good Sound by Laura Dearborn
2. The Complete Guide to High End Audio by Robert Harley (current editor of The Absolute Sound)
Further Reading:
Principles of Digital Audio by Ken Pohlman
My favorite long-time periodicals are:
1. Stereophile magazine (the classic that essentially invented audiophile listening)
2. The Absolute Sound (seems to be the best right now, with great recommendations from beer budget to princely sums)
3. HiFi Plus (great, beautiful glossy magazine with great articles on turntables and digital, very good music selections)
4. HiFi News and Record Review (classic British magazine with a great series on U.K. real world systems assembled by hobbyists)
I am a particular fan of Robert Harley, having had some great conversations with him in the past. He also has a superb guide to home theater (Home Theater for Everyone) out now as well for you HT-focused fans. I am moving to a separate HT system for my new house.
I hope that helps. I will see if I can attract some industry people like Michael Bishop and David Kawakami to periodically post comments. I am glad we have Dr. Waldrep, I think he adds a lot of value here despite his bias toward PCM-based formats. Sorry John couldn't resist!
A couple of not-so-well-kept secrets:
1. Room acoustics matter a bunch. Go to www.cardas.com for simple easy to understand speaker placement diagrams. Try to minimize the use of glass tables and other furniture - they destroy high frequencies.
2. Experiment with cables. There is a difference, but you don't have to spend a fortune. Some DIY cables sound awesome, but I am partial to low-end Audioquest, Nordost, Kimber, and my long-term fave Cardas.
3. Play with AC conditioners. Microwaves permeate a lot of homes and multi-family housing. Monster has some great designs by Richard Marsh which greatly lower the noise floor of the stereo.
4. Periodically clean and service your equipment. Use dry materials to keep the dust level down and apply Caig ProGold on all contacts with pipecleaners.
5. Don't listen to so-called expert opinions only (unless I am talking). Get the dealer to loan you equipment and listen for yourself and see if it suits your particular tastes. Everyone has a different version of what good sound is for them.
6. Most importantly, buy music you like, but listen to new things now and again. I can't tell you how much great new music I have discovered because some geeky Stereophile reviewer raved about it and I decided to give it a shot. A lot of great music out there never gets the press it deserves.
Anyway, this is probably a longer reply than required, but at a minimum, the referenced books are great starting points.

Back to the original post. I'm a mid-fi kind of guy with a Toshiba 4700 dvd-a player and no bass management yet. The moment I played my first dvd-a disc I was amazed at the sound. I have since bought about 20-30 discs and am still amazed at the sound. I have thought about getting a pioneer elite 47 combo player so I could venture into SACD, especially since I heard they released a Stevie Ray Vaughn disc! The 2 channel purists can continue to be set in their ways. The which is better SACD or DVD-A people can continue to argue. But I'm gettin' older by the minute so I'm just gonna enjoy what is available without getting all hung-up about it.

Brian,
As much as I am tempted to lure you over to the dark side of Super Audio. I have a better idea. Check out the titles you like most and see which are out on SACD and which are out on DVDA. It is my personal opinion that Super Audio has got the most momentum, but it is still too early to tell. There are more Super Audio titles (approximately 700 versus 300) than DVD Audio, but some like the DVDA pop title selection, although this may change soon if you are a fan of the Rolling Stones, The Who, or CCR, new SACDs aout soon for each. They also just announced three more CCR albums to come from Acoustic Sounds, so the total is five and the early word is they are simply perfect - thank you Steve Hoffman!
If you can purchase a combo player like the Pioneer, that is great. The only thing I would caution is that the Super Audio output is poorly implemented so direct format comparisons are not valid. You could buy a Sony 775 for around $180 street and just add Super Audio capability as an extra source as well.
Oh, the SRV discs are excellent! Broadman is still on the money for music selection.
Hope that helps,

 

[KeithH]

Lee,
Wahoo!
Mike,
Couldn't Stand the Weather is excellent on SACD. A must-have if you like Stevie Ray Vaughan.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I just bought it.
As well as Glenn Gould performing Bach's Italian concerto and Partitas on SACD, Fiday Night in San Francisco by Paco deLucia, Al DiMeola, and John McLaughlin on SACD, and three DTS discs: Handel's "Water Garden", Handel's Messiah, and Santana's Abraxas, which I already have on SACD and CD as well.
I like music.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Fiday Night in San Francisco by Paco deLucia, Al DiMeola, and John McLaughlin on SACD

One of those rare instances where the recording matches the incredible musicianship.
Absolutely superb!