HDCD & SACD....The Same Thing?? (1 Viewer)

[John Doh]

On the Sammy DVD player (931 I think) it says it has DVD-Audio and HDCD capability. Is HDCD the same as SACD? Thanks!

 

[FeisalK]

short answer - no it's not

long answer - HDCD is a bit higher resolution (20bits) format than normal Redbook CDs (16bits) both at the same sampling freq 44khz. You can still listen to HDCD encoded material on normal CD players without HDCD decoding (of course not getting the benefit of the extra resolution)

http://www.hdcd.com/about/whatisHDCD.html

By most accounts HDCD sounds better than normal CDs (even on players without decoding) although not quite as good as SACDs

 

[John Doh]

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[FeisalK]

too many formats around nowadays

HDCD sounds like it could've been a winner except that SACD and DVD-A came along.

for DVD-A remember that you got to connect the ANALOG outputs to your receiver or you will be listening to the dolby digital or DTS tracks (not that they're bad, but its not DVD-A)

 

[John Doh]

You mean just the left and right channel RCA cables for audio? What about using the optical or coaxial cable output to the receiver? Will that be in DVD-A?

 

[FeisalK]

The optical / coax output to the receiver will only carry Dolby Digital, DTS or normal CD audio.

At the moment, on most players DVD-A is decoded in the player itself and only goes out through the 5.1 channel analog outputs

 

[Jack Briggs]

You following what Feisal is saying, John? With only a very scant few exceptions, a DVD-A player's (when playing DVD-As) output must be connected to your processor via analog inputs, and that means five connections (in addition to the sub connection for the .1 "LFE").

 

[FeisalK]

hmm John are you sure (1) it IS the 931, and (2) it says it's DVD-A compatible (though it does on the website)?

if it isn't in fact the 931 - ingore the rest of this post

if it is, you might have a problem?

The DVD HD931 back panel image on the website



doesn't look like it is DVD-A capable :frowning:

the tech specs aren't helpful either, a 'X' for headphone - meaning no headphone jack, a 'O' for DVD-A meaning yes and a '-' for 5.1 Analog outs.. what's that mean?

 

[Brian L]

HDCD sounds like it could've been a winner except that SACD and DVD-A came along.

FWIW, there was an article years ago in Audio magazine (now defunct) that analysed wave forms that were encoded with HDCD vs. standard redbook.

IIRC, they concluded that it was not all its cracked up to be, and actually added distortion to the signal. I don't know if there was any conclusion on whether or not it sounded better, but they had real issues with processing.

Having never owned a HDCD capable device before last Friday, I have never listened to a HDCD disc correctly decoded. Now that I do (a NAD 762 receiver) I need to go through my discs and find out which are encoded and give them a listen.

Personally, I do have SACD. I expect any improvement HDCD may make to be minor compared to what a true hi-rez format can do.

BGL

 

[Brian L]

HDCD sounds like it could've been a winner except that SACD and DVD-A came along.

FWIW, there was an article years ago in Audio magazine (now defunct) that analysed wave forms that were encoded with HDCD vs. standard redbook.

IIRC, they concluded that it was not all its cracked up to be, and actually added distortion to the signal. I don't know if there was any conclusion on whether or not it sounded better, but they had real issues with the processing.

Having never owned a HDCD capable device before last Friday, I have never listened to a HDCD disc correctly decoded. Now that I do (a NAD 762 receiver) I need to go through my discs and find out which are encoded and give them a listen.

Personally, I do have SACD. I expect any improvement HDCD may make to be minor compared to what a true hi-rez format can do.

BGL

 

[John Doh]

Jack,

So does this mean that in order to play DVD-A and SACD, you have to run speaker connections from the DVD player directly to the speakers themselves? Or do you mean a speaker connection goes directly to the reciever? I don't know that I have ever seen individual speaker connections go to the receiver from a separate audio/video source. Am I on the right track here? Also, clear this up for me... is DVD-A something you experience through a DVD movie, or is DVD-A just an audio signal from a music artist. What about SACD, just audio or audio on top of video? I won't listen to audio discs at all on this system so is DVD-A and SACD for me? MP3's give me my music fix. Thanks!

 

[Chris Tedesco]

Heck,

I'll just wait abit until things get a little clearer with this format. Say...3 years?????

 

[FeisalK]

Brian,

would love to hear what HDCD does for you. Although I love multichannel - it's in the HT area and I mostly listen to two channel in the study; thinking about a multichannel system there but in the meantime it's good ol' stereo

Chris,

with SACD II just around the corner, it's not about to get any clearer

 

[CurtisC]

John,OK kinda short story,dvd-a or sacd player or a multi player(if it don't say dvd audio or sacd on the front of player it won't play em'.The player will have 2 front,2surr,1center,1 sub rca output plugs in rear.The avr or pre/pro needs a 6 channel input(rca plugs),ext-in,2fr,2surr,1c,1sub.You would need 6 individual rca cables to connect dvd to avr then select ext. input.An optical or coax cable will not carry dvd-a,sacd,they only carry dd,dts,or 2ch audio.Last,dvd-a, sacd are really audio formats,dvd-a has some video(maybe a song or two and some artist info.These formats at present are mostly to provide superior audio quality in 2ch or 6ch surround,which they do.

 

[John Doh]

Curtis,

Thanks for making that clear. Now I understand what these formats mean and how they connect. I won't use this system for music only so I can now make an informed purchase. Thanks man!