Msnbc.com does article on SACD and DVD-Audio! (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Check out this article on SACD and DVD-Audio on msnbc.com:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/810537.asp?pne=msn
In the article, the writer comments on the Sony SCD-C555ES and DVP-NS755V! Here is what he wrote:

The first SACD tester machine that entered my home is the one I eventually purchased. The Sony SCD-C555ES is a huge black box with a 5-disc carousel and enough bells and whistles to choke a horse. I never thought I’d use all the features included inside, but recently I’ve been proven wrong. More about that in a minute.
The 555ES, with a suggested retail price of $800 is in the middle of Sony’s SACD/CD player line. You didn’t expect Sony to send me one of their $3,000 or $5,000 models did you? Doesn’t matter. The 555ES is hot stuff! I’ve been using it as my primary playback device for the past 3 months and I can happily report that CDs sound a lot better than on my old highly-modified CD deck — and when the material permits, it’s capable of breath-taking music reproduction of SACDs. (See Rolling Stone discs above). Also as reported above, I’m not a big fan of 5.1-channel music reproduction so all those features built-in to the 555ES don’t really interest me.
The latest SACD player I’ve been listening to is Sony’s DVD-NS755V. As you might guess from its model number, this is a progressive scan DVD player that also plays back SACDs, CDs and DVD-As in the somewhat lower-fi Dolby Digital format.
The 755V is thin and light. There are provisions on the back for you to plug it into your stereo (two or 5.1-channel) as well as your TV, monitor or home-theater system. The 755V automatically determines what kind of disc you want to play and plays it. DVDs look great (on my current low-tech living room setup). DVD-As sound OK. but nowhere near as good as they could sound if you have a dedicated DVD-Audio player. CD reproduction sounds good too; SACD playback (in stereo or multi-channel mode) sounds great. Not as refined as with my 555ES — but then again — the 755V has a street price of only $249.
That means you get SACD, CD and progressive DVD playback for under two-and-a half bills. I’ve even seen the 755V selling for under $225 on the Web. There’s also an older Sony single-disc DVD/SACD model still available (DVP-NS500V) kicking around for under $200 - but I think the 755, with its progressive DVD features, is the better buy. Either way, it’s a great way to get into SACDs without shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars. I’d even go as far as to say that the 755V would be the cornerstone of a great stereo costing $1,000 or less. More about that in an upcoming report.

Very cool! My only real issue with the article is that they show the 1986 ABCKO CD of Let it Bleed, not the new SACD. Oh well.

 

[ReggieW]

Keith,

what did the article say about DVD-A?

 

[KeithH]

Reggie, not to be evasive, but I provided the link to the article in my initial post.

 

[Micahel C]

Very cool! My only real issue with the article is that they show the 1986 ABCKO CD of Let it Bleed, not the new SACD. Oh well.

Keith, Good catch on the photo. I didn't even notice this when I first read the article early this am.

 

[KeithH]

Micahel, thanks.

 

[Lin Park]

My issue with this article is that he makes such a big deal about SACD having a leg up because of it's relationship to regular CD's and speaks of Sony's CD/SACD players. No mention is made of the fact that all of Sony's CD/SACD players have been discontinued and I think a large number of the members here believe that you don't want any video circuitry in your CD player (i.e. no DVD/SACD player is going to cut it for audio).

I do agree that SACD seems to have the advantage now but wish that everyone in the industry would take the time to read the current Stereophile's "As We See It" column. Just to summarize it says that both DVD-A and SACD need to give the customer what they already have with CD from a flexibility standpoint while improving on the sound quality. I think SACD has a huge advantage here with hybrids because you can still rip songs from them to make your own compilations or play them in your car's CD player while enjoying improved quality on the SACD layer in your home system.

It's going to be interesting to watch how all of this pans out over the next few years.

Lin

 

[Greg Hamilton]

Scratch that.. I figured out what the review was saying about DVD Audio on the 755V..

I don't get it.. The Sony 755V is capable of playing DVD Audio? No where does Sony make mention of this. Could somebody please clarify?

Also, are there any dedicated DVD Audio players out there? Or is it the nature of the beast to have DVD Audio combined with video (DVD)?

thx. -gh

 

[KeithH]

Greg asked:

Also, are there any dedicated DVD Audio players out there? Or is it the nature of the beast to have DVD Audio combined with video (DVD)?

No. It's the "nature of the beast" for DVD-Audio to be combined with DVD-Video. It's smart marketing. I don't think DVD-Audio-only players would sell well. Audiophiles would buy them, but that's it. Likewise, I don't feel SACD-only players would sell well. Such "single-minded" components might be better than the multi-functional components we have now since "extraneous" features can lead to compromised performance, but I would only expect the unifocused components from boutique companies. That said, I am not sure that any component manufacturer could release a DVD-Audio-only or SACD-only player. It is probably part of the format specs. to be backwards-compatible (i.e., DVD-Audio with DVD-Video and SACD with CD). If so, then perhaps one of the well-known component modders (Richard Kern, Dan Wright, Ric Schultz, etc.) will transform stock components into DVD-Audio-only and SACD-only players.

 

[David Coleman]

I don't know the article seemed to avoid talking at all about DVD-Audio!

 

[Marty M]

No mention is made of the fact that all of Sony's CD/SACD players have been discontinued and I think a large number of the members here believe that you don't want any video circuitry in your CD player (i.e. no DVD/SACD player is going to cut it for audio).

Lin, you make some good points, but you have to remember who the audience is when MSNBC runs a feature like this. The audience is J6P, who has no clue what SACD or DVD-A are. This was a good way to expose the "un-exposed" to these new formats.

 

[KeithH]

Yeah, the average buyer has no concept of compromised audio performance with DVD players. If the average buyer were to look for an audio-only component, it would be because he or she simply didn't want a DVD player (i.e, "Why should I pay for something I don't want?"), not because he or she would be thinking that the DVD feature would adversely affect the audio performance.

 

[John Kotches]

Keith,
Other than a passing reference to DVD-Audio, this looks like a great job of marketing by Sony's SACD department. There is but a passing reference to DVD-Audio, then it's all SACD.
The guy clearly doesn't have a grasp on DVD-Audio, as evidenced by this paragraph:

DVD-Audio discs contain a super-resolution two-channel audio mix and a 5.1-channel surround mix. DVD-A discs must be played on a DVD-Audio player. Some discs also contain a standard Dolby-digital music mix and can be played on any machine that can handle DVD-Video discs.

Neither mix is required, although including both is usually the case.
Further, every DVD-A disc must include either a stereo PCM track (as high as 24bit/96kHz) or a DD2.0 (or higher # of channels). This insures backwards compatibility with the targeted audience (DVD owners).
The author also neglects to mention that Sony has not released hybrid titles in any quantity (I don't want to say zero, because they might have put out one or two).
This is an extreme disservice to refer to this as an article on SACD and DVD-Audio
Regards,

 

[Steve-T]

I had read this article as well and was disappointed at the treatment of DVD Audio. He also quickly wrote off 5.1 audio because he could not get used to it. I wonder if people said the same thing when stereo became available decades ago. Just because the writer does not like the format is no reason not to explore it.
The article needs to be placed in a commentary area not billed as news. There is too much bias here.

 

[Lewis Besze]

This report has been brought to you by Sony Music Group!
"We will keep your discs spinning"!

 

[KeithH]

Yeah, the article is seriously lacking in the DVD-Audio department. No question about it. I was disappointed about that upon my first read. Still, I was excited to see the article in the first place. It's still stupid that they show the '86 version of the Let It Bleed CD.
As I read the article, I wondered if the writer went out of his way to dumb it down for the average reader or if he simply did not know what he is talking about. His descriptions were either incorrect or overly simplistic for someone with an extensive vinyl collection and a heavily modded CD player. :rolleyes