Is a standard digital connection anywhere is sight for DVD-A and SACD? (1 Viewer)

[JimmyK]

Anyone know if there will be a standard digital connection available for multi channel DVD-A and SACD in the forseeable future?

The lack of this feature is the main reason I've not bought into either format.

I know some companies have their own proprietary digital connections, but this is not a real solution IMO.

JimmyK

 

[Mark Hedges]

I don't think the record companies will ever allow it. They don't want to make the same (percieved) mistake they made with CD's.

 

[John Garcia]

The lack of this feature is the main reason I've not bought into either format.

This is really not a good reason to miss out on two amazing formats.

It is my understanding that both formats exceed the bandwidth of existing standard digital connections by a large margin.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Yeah, but will it ever be fully utilized? It’s a know fact that the overwhelming majority of regular CDs are limited to 12-bit resolution at best – because of the quality (or not) of studio equipment.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Doug_B]

This is really not a good reason to miss out on two amazing formats.

I agree with the last quote, but more info is in order first. Jimmy, what are your requirements wrt hi-rez music listening? What aspects of your requirements make you believe that a digital connection from source to an external processor (whatever you envision handling the signal) is the best or only implementation for you - music quality, cost, component simplicity, bandwidth mgmt, other?

Personally, I'd rather keep the functionality / processing in a high quality source(s); availability is now. However, I would be intrigued by a future solution in the guise of a high quality external processor (e.g., an external Super-DAC(s)) that could handle all of these music formats, which would then require such a digital connection. OTOH, I would question if an upgrade of my HT controller (AVM 20) to support such a digital connection and associated processing of hi-rez would meet my quality needs, assuming the interface was supported and such an upgrade would be developed.

 

[John Kotches]

Firewire equipped products are shipping right now.

HDMI equipped products will ship in late 2004.

Cheers,

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Is HDMI the standard that all new SACD, DVD-Audio, and unversal players will have?

I thought HDMI v.1, if you add uncompressed video (especially 1080p or greater), still doesn't have the bandwidth when coupled with high resolution audio.

Have they come out with HDMI v.2, which supposedly fixes that oversight?

Dan

 

[John Kotches]

Dan,

That's why I said "Late 2004". HDMI phase II silicon is slated for release in mid 2004, by the time that gets into a shipping product, it will in all likelihood be CEDIA (September) or a little later before anything ships.

Cheers,

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Thanks for the tip!

Dan

 

[JimmyK]

Doug,

There are few reasons why I would prefer a digital connection and why I am not motivated to jump through the necessary hoops to have DVD-A or SACD at this point.

BTW, for reference, I am using the Anthem AVM20 pre/proc in a 5.1 configuration. As you know, the AVM20 has a blank slot for a possible future upgrade to firewire which might be used for DVD-A and SACD decoding. I am confident that if/when Athem provides this upgrade it will be of very high quality.

I am currently using the AVM20's 5.1 analog (set to analog-DSP mode) inputs for a Yamaha DSP1 processor that I still use. It would be rather cumbersome (and an additional expense) to have to use some kind of switcher (and all the extra cables needed) to give me an additional 5.1 input.

Then there is the issue of bass management. I like the way my AVM20 handles bass management, allowing me to customize crossover settings for optimum performance in my particular setup. Also, using a direct digital connection would minimize the number of D/A and A/D conversions that take place.

Also, there simply aren't a whole lot of titles available that interest me that I don't already have on CD. And then there is the issue of recording quality. In my experience with CDs, many, if not most recordings are simply not recorded very well. So the limiting factor in far too many cases is the recording itself, not the medium it's delivered on. From the posts I've read on this forum, that also seems to be the case with DVD-A and SACD.

I would be much more motivated to try DVD-A and SACD if we did have a simple digital connection, there was a bigger/more diverse selection of titles, recordings/mixes where done well, and software was less expensive.

Just my humble opinion.

JimmyK

 

[Doug_B]

Jimmy,

We have differing opinions on the AVM20. From the get-go, I preferred the sound of my CDPs (with redbook) going out analog w AVM20 set to analog bypass versus the CDPs going out digital and the AVM20 doing the processing. As a result of this and the fact that bass response in my room was not good where I was sitting no matter where the mains were situated, I needed bass mgmt outside the AVM20; thus, the ICBM.

I eventually bit the bullet and got extra cables for multi-player hirez input to the AVM20, but I am sympathetic to the complexity of more cables and switches. I don't even listen to multich hirez that much anyway.

In any case, I'm putting all my eggs into a modded universal player. I'll eventually also get a separate 2ch preamp, thus bypassing the AVM20 for all music except multich. I'm guessing that this solution will beat a future AVM20 upgrade to firewire and associated hirez processing, at least in my system. In any case, such a solution is available to me now. I could choose to give a future AVM20 solution a shot as well.

So the limiting factor in far too many cases is the recording itself, not the medium it's delivered on. From the posts I've read on this forum, that also seems to be the case with DVD-A and SACD.

I generally agree with this. Realize, though, that the existence of these hirez formats (and the fact that they support multich) is resulting in a lot of remastering of existing material that may not have been remastered otherwise. With the new technologies used to perform such remastering and the right folks at the helm, a superior product is produced. This is true even for redbook output; if they were the fruit of the SACD mastering process, for example, they usually sound damn good as well.

Doug