Question about dvd-audio and HDCD (1 Viewer)

[ChuckM]

1. Is it possible to find a small stand alone dvd-audio and/or sacd player without having to have the dvd player as well.
2. My current DVD player plays HDCD and I was just curious what they are.

 

[Craig Robertson]

sony makes SACD players that are not DVD players, they do also play CD's.
HDCD is an encoding method that uses the existing CD standard to increase apparent resolution. the discs are playable on a regular CD player and you may have some HDCD discs in your collection and not even know it, look on the backs of your CD's and you may see the HDCD logo. HDCD decoding is done at the DAC, so you must be using the analog outs of your player to get the benefits of it.

 

[TimTurtino]

The HK AVR 525 advertises the ability to decode HDCD. I'm not saying this proves anything (unlike some on this board, I don't believe that the presence of a commercial product purporting to do something proves that this something is necessary or even exists), but I tend to believe that anywhere the DAC is located, it can theoretically do HDCD decoding.

Me

 

[Craig Robertson]

The HK AVR 525 advertises the ability to decode HDCD. I'm not saying this proves anything (unlike some on this board, I don't believe that the presence of a commercial product purporting to do something proves that this something is necessary or even exists), but I tend to believe that anywhere the DAC is located, it can theoretically do HDCD decoding.

i can't comment on the AVR525's abilities, but the last part is correct. if you have a DAC in your rcvr/pre-pro that is capable of HDCD decoding, you can use the digital connection to your rcvr/pre-pro.
the four possibilities:
if the CD player has HDCD and the rcvr does not, you must use the analog connection.
if the rcvr has HDCD and the cd player does not, you must use the digital connection.
if both have HDCD you can use either analog or digital.
if neither have HDCD, you ain't getting it no matter what you use.

 

[Jeffrey R]

The HK 520/525 do have HDCD decoding, and it works exactly as you would expect. When you have your DVD or CD player hooked up to the receiver using a digital connection, playing an HDCD decoded disc, the HDCD decoder in the receiver kicks in (the logo shows up in the receiver's display).

 

[KeithH]

Chuck, all DVD-Audio players play DVD-Video discs as well. So, if you buy a DVD-Audio player, perhaps you would be upgrading your DVD-Video player at the same time.

As Craig said, Sony makes SACD players that do not play DVDs, but they do not offer as many models as they used too. The only such non-DVD models available currently available from Sony are the SCD-C222ES changer ($500 retail, ~$350 by mail from authorized, discount mail-order dealers) and the SCD-XA777ES single-disc player ($3000 retail, ~$2000 by mail).