SACDs

[cheld]

Originally Posted by Goldensuitcase

Is SACD still the best way to listen to musiv if available in that format?

Sometimes yes sometimes no. It depends on a lot of factors. What tapes did they use? Did they remix or just remaster? Does the mastering have good EQ? Did they use too much noise reduction? Is the dynamic range compressed all to hell?

[cheld]

Originally Posted by John72953

The Emotiva ERC-1 does NOT play standard SACD...it will play Hybrid SACD's though.

Emotiva's preamps and processors don't support DSD either. I went to Emofest last year and Big Dan told me they considered the licensing costs too high.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by Goldensuitcase

Is SACD still the best way to listen to musiv if available in that format?

All I know is when coupled with my Pioneer stereo amp and SACD player, I've never heard music sound so good. So much so that when I go back to listening to regular CD's they sound like crap

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by cheld

Emotiva's preamps and processors don't support DSD either. I went to Emofest last year and Big Dan told me they considered the licensing costs too high.

yeah i heard that, but, i find that rather odd, in my basement office i have a small secondary HT setup and i have what would be considered an entry level receiver in it since the system is so small. i have the Onkyo 308 receiver in it, cost me $229.00 and you can get it today for under $200 at newegg and guess what, it has DSD support for my SACD's that i play from my oppo 80 so i just can't believe that it would cost that much.

Yes, i've heard dan talk about it before but i'm just saying, if Onkyo can offer it on their "cheapo" entry level receiver i would think that emo should have been able to get it on their flagship pre-amp considering how many of their users own SACD players. I also understand that they won't be offering it on the
XMC-1 either, again, that's too bad for SACD owners because it takes away their choices.

i have listened to SACD's both ways, streamed DSD to my pre-amp (both systems main and secondary) as well as have the oppo convert it to PCM and stream it and they both sound great, at times DSD sounds better (not by much) but i like that I have the option since most (almost all) SACD's are mastered in DSD. just never understood why emo wouldn't give their customers that option and almost all upper end receivers & pre-amps do.

[dobyblue]

The 308 doesn't support direct DSD > Analog conversion though, you need the higher-end Onkyo's for that. All DSD is converted to PCM in the 308.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

The 308 doesn't support direct DSD > Analog conversion though, you need the higher-end Onkyo's for that. All DSD is converted to PCM in the 308.

Silly question....why use HDMI at all? Just use analog outs...

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Silly question....why use HDMI at all? Just use analog outs...

Because a large majority of players don't perform DSD>Analog through analog either, but instead go DSD > PCM > Analog.

With Oppo only their newest players support DSD>Analog directly through the analog outputs.

From: OPPO Service [mailto:service@oppodigital.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 1:14 PM
To: dobyblue
Subject: RE: 981H

Steve,

The only players which will support DSD direct to analog are the BDP-83 and the BDP-83SE. All of our other players will convert DSD to PCM using 24-bit/88.2KHz processing.

Setting the speakers to LARGE with Subwoofer to ON will disable all bassmanagement on the player.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
OPPO Digital, Inc.

[Jwilly019]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Because a large majority of players don't perform DSD>Analog through analog either, but instead go DSD > PCM > Analog.

With Oppo only their newest players support DSD>Analog directly through the analog outputs.

Is it safe to assume the -93 and -95 also support DSD>Analog directly as well?

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Jwilly019

Is it safe to assume the -93 and -95 also support DSD>Analog directly as well?

That would be my guess, yes. They're pretty quick to confirm if you send customer support an e-mail.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

That would be my guess, yes. They're pretty quick to confirm if you send customer support an e-mail.

Ah. I just looked in my Pioneer VSX-32 manual and found "DSD PCM - lights during DSD to PCM conversion with SACDs"

However that's just when playing via HDMI. If I run analog outs from my SACD player to analog in's on the Receiver will it still be converting to PCM???

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Ah. I just looked in my Pioneer VSX-32 manual and found "DSD PCM - lights during DSD to PCM conversion with SACDs"

However that's just when playing via HDMI. If I run analog outs from my SACD player to analog in's on the Receiver will it still be converting to PCM???

If you're just running multi-channel analog ins with no processing by the receiver and the SACD player supports DSD>Analog there would be no PCM conversion. If it's the Oppo 83/93/etc then there should be no PCM conversion unless you're implementing bass management in the player.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

If you're just running multi-channel analog ins with no processing by the receiver and the SACD player supports DSD>Analog there would be no PCM conversion. If it's the Oppo 83/93/etc then there should be no PCM conversion unless you're implementing bass management in the player.

Well I have a 'Pure Direct' mode which is supposed to bypass any processing...

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Well I have a 'Pure Direct' mode which is supposed to bypass any processing...

I just realized that you only have stereo analog inputs on the 32 and 33 models, that is quite peculiar that they would remove the multi-channel analog inputs.

So if you're listening to stereo SACD's in analog then yes you should be fine in PURE DIRECT mode providing your player supports DSD>Analog like the Oppo players previously mentioned.

[Pondosinatra]

Just picked up a box set containing all 9 Beethoven Symphonies

[CatBlu]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Just picked up a box set containing all 9 Beethoven Symphonies

Sweet! I have all 9 of Beethoven symphonies by Paavo Jarvi. The SACD format really brings them to life

[djflex40]

I my oppo bdp 83 for my sacds and it performs awesome

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by cetb

Sweet! I have all 9 of Beethoven symphonies by Paavo Jarvi. The SACD format really brings them to life

This is the one I got:

BEETHOVEN**SYMPHONIES 1-9 (Bernard HAITINK) - by the London Symphony Orchestra.

[CatBlu]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

This is the one I got:

BEETHOVEN**SYMPHONIES 1-9 (Bernard HAITINK) - by the London Symphony Orchestra.

I'll have to put this on my wish list. Would be nice to compare the two in style and tempo. Just wish that I had more time to listen to music - I mean really listen with no interruptions like work. This work thing just takes away from the fun time. But has to be done so I can afford more music.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by cetb

I'll have to put this on my wish list. Would be nice to compare the two in style and tempo. Just wish that I had more time to listen to music - I mean really listen with no interruptions like work. This work thing just takes away from the fun time. But has to be done so I can afford more music.

It's a vicious cycle

[Pondosinatra]

Well the writing is pretty much on the wall. I love SACD, but it's very much a niche product.

With Blu-ray audio becoming more prevalent I wonder if I should rethink my setup.

Currently I listen to SACD's through a dedicated stereo amp. In the future I was planning on having in-wall speakers for movies and a dedicated pair of speakers for music.

But with Blu-ray audio it'd go through the in-walls. Question....is it possible to get music on Blu-ray that's in DTS-HD and in Stereo? Or will stereo options always be just DD?

Personally I prefer my music in stereo and it would suck if I'm forced into 5.1...