Sacd

[langn08]

Hey guys, My birthday is comming up and am throwing around the idea of an SACD player. Can someone shed the light as to some pro's & con's? Any units I should stay away from? Any help would be appreciated.

[solarrdadd]

Oppo BD-83, it will give you both high resolution audio formats SACD & DVD-A, it will give you up to 7.1 analog out, it will give you SACD output in it's native DSD format via HDMI and of course it's the best blu-ray player on the market for double it's price and will also give you blu-ray audio medium that plays in the lossless formats of Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD-MA and Uncompressed PCM. I proudly own one and I have quite a nice collection of all of the mentioned audio formats listed above.
Best of Luck!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

Oppo BD-83, it will give you both high resolution audio formats SACD & DVD-A, it will give you up to 7.1 analog out, it will give you SACD output in it's native DSD format via HDMI and of course it's the best blu-ray player on the market for double it's price and will also give you blu-ray audio medium that plays in the lossless formats of Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD-MA and Uncompressed PCM. I proudly own one and I have quite a nice collection of all of the mentioned audio formats listed above.
Best of Luck!

Unless his Yamaha can also accept native DSD over HDMI, it won't give him that benefit. Both the player and receiver have to have this capability.

If he is looking for simply an inexpensive, yet solid SA-CD that outputs in it's native DSD, has 7.1 analog, plays CD, DVD and DVD-Audio, but not Blu-ray, the Oppo DV-980H for $169.99 is a great choice as well.

John

PS~ Sorry solarrdadd, wasn't trying to critisize.

[langn08]

Originally Posted by John72953

Unless his Yamaha can also accept native DSD over HDMI, it won't give him that benefit. Both the player and receiver have to have this capability.

If he is looking for simply an inexpensive, yet solid SA-CD that outputs in it's native DSD, has 7.1 analog, plays CD, DVD and DVD-Audio, but not Blu-ray, the Oppo DV-980H for $169.99 is a great choice as well.

John

PS~ Sorry solarrdadd, wasn't trying to critisize.

Soooo I take it my Yammy will not accept DSD over HDMI... Is it worth getting the SACD player in this case? I am looking for somthing that will give me a great audio experience compared to just my 2L recordings blu and CD's.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by langn08

Soooo I take it my Yammy will not accept DSD over HDMI... Is it worth getting the SACD player in this case? I am looking for somthing that will give me a great audio experience compared to just my 2L recordings blu and CD's.

In my opinion? YES!

The A Guide to SACD sticky is a great thread to read through at your leisure. I had a lot of questions about SA-CD earlier this year, although my launch PS3 60GB could play it.

John

[D]

Might want to check out www.fidelisav.com in the pre-owned section, Sony 9100 ES. Great player, great price.

[langn08]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. How will SACD compare to DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (192kHz/24-bit) that the 2L recordings give me?

[Johnny Vinyl]

I would say very favourably, equal to and maybe better than, but don't quote me on that as I have never heard a 2L recording.

I can add this however. I own 28 Concert Blu-ray's, most of which have highly rated audio quality, but when I want to really listen I will play my SA-CD's.

John

[rded]

Originally Posted by db01

Might want to check out www.fidelisav.com in the pre-owned section, Sony 9100 ES. Great player, great price.

Wow D! I checked out the link and that Rega Plane CDP is really an attractive deal Pardon me lang08, I just get giddy when I see a good deal like that.

But to answer your question, my answer is NO: SACD is not worth it IMHO as A)its a dead format and B)depending on what kind of music you listen to, you may not find the particular artist and genre with SACDs. IMO, SACDs are great if you're into Jazz and classical music.

CD(redbook) is still my preferred medium at this point and to my ears SACD sound is brittle...although the guys here have been harassing me about getting a TT for a while now

[Johnny Vinyl]

FYI - Top 5 Selling SA-CD's are:

Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon
Dire Straits: Brothers In Arms
Roxy Music: Avalon
Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue
Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates

John

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by rded

Wow D! I checked out the link and that Rega Plane CDP is really an attractive deal Pardon me lang08, I just get giddy when I see a good deal like that.

But to answer your question, my answer is NO: SACD is not worth it IMHO as A)its a dead format and B)depending on what kind of music you listen to, you may not find the particular artist and genre with SACDs. IMO, SACDs are great if you're into Jazz and classical music.

CD(redbook) is still my preferred medium at this point and to my ears SACD sound is brittle...although the guys here have been harassing me about getting a TT for a while now

Wow! I'm really surprised by your assessment of that Rhett! Like really! How are you by the way? Nice to see you a little more.

No question that the selection of SA-CD is greatly geared towards Jazz and Classical, and sadly....it is a dead format. However, there are some great recordings in the other genres available, and in my opinion they are superior to the basic Redbook CD equivalent. Although arguably not in every case.

And lastly...yes, the TT harassment will continue!

John

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by langn08

Thanks for the suggestions guys. How will SACD compare to DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (192kHz/24-bit) that the 2L recordings give me?

I have not done that comparison but the Neil Young Archives BD sound amazing and is recorded at 192K/24bit 2 channel PCM. I think probably as good if not better then my SACD's but I really can not do a direct comparison what it would sound like on SACD.

As far as the other comment about is it worth it to get an SACD player if your receiver will not receive DSD, I still think YES. Most receivers that can accept DSD still convert it to PCM anyway.

I own quite a few SACD and still actively buy and enjoy them. I wish the format was more popular or I wouldn't mind if BD audio also became a normal standard for all releases. I do not know which would be better for audio quality but my hunch thinks BD would come out on top. For sure it is more flexible for features.

But for now, I buy audio on CD, SACD, and BD.

[mdabb]

Originally Posted by rded

Wow D! I checked out the link and that Rega Plane CDP is really an attractive deal Pardon me lang08, I just get giddy when I see a good deal like that.

But to answer your question, my answer is NO: SACD is not worth it IMHO as A)its a dead format and B)depending on what kind of music you listen to, you may not find the particular artist and genre with SACDs. IMO, SACDs are great if you're into Jazz and classical music.

CD(redbook) is still my preferred medium at this point and to my ears SACD sound is brittle...although the guys here have been harassing me about getting a TT for a while now

You have lost your mind But yes the SACD format is currently driven by Classical & Jazz with new stuff that comes out on a regular basis. Rhett, maybe you aren't listening to good SACD's because I do not think they sound brittle in the least. In fact a good recording on SACD is to die for, very convincing and life-like. Try and track down acoustical music on SACD and hear what I'm talking about.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy my CD's and a great recording is a great recording. I still listen to CD's the most, but if I can find what I like on SACD for a reasonable price I'm all over it. In the end, if a lot of what you like is available on SACD, I say go for it as the sound quality is excellent !!!

[D]

Originally Posted by rded

Wow D! I checked out the link and that Rega Plane CDP is really an attractive deal Pardon me lang08, I just get giddy when I see a good deal like that.

But to answer your question, my answer is NO: SACD is not worth it IMHO as A)its a dead format and B)depending on what kind of music you listen to, you may not find the particular artist and genre with SACDs. IMO, SACDs are great if you're into Jazz and classical music.

CD(redbook) is still my preferred medium at this point and to my ears SACD sound is brittle...although the guys here have been harassing me about getting a TT for a while now

Yeah, Walter usually has some nice gear at good prices. And you do need a TT pal!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by mdabb

You have lost your mind But yes the SACD format is currently driven by Classical & Jazz with new stuff that comes out on a regular basis. Rhett, maybe you aren't listening to good SACD's because I do not think they sound brittle in the least. In fact a good recording on SACD is to die for, very convincing and life-like. Try and track down acoustical music on SACD and hear what I'm talking about.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy my CD's and a great recording is a great recording. I still listen to CD's the most, but if I can find what I like on SACD for a reasonable price I'm all over it. In the end, if a lot of what you like is available on SACD, I say go for it as the sound quality is excellent !!!

Sorry Rhett, but I have to agree with Andrew's reading of the matter.There are still literally hundreds of titles available that will satisfy the OP for years and decades to come.

In the end, I think BD Audio will eventually take over, but I take a back seat on offering commentary right now.

One thing I know for sure....we will ALWAYS have vinyl!

John

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by John72953

I would say very favourably, equal to and maybe better than, but don't quote me on that as I have never heard a 2L recording.

I can add this however. I own 28 Concert Blu-ray's, most of which have highly rated audio quality, but when I want to really listen I will play my SA-CD's.

John

Hey John, I agree with you on SACD's despite the fact that most (including you) say it's dead, there are still hundreds of selections that are available. Yes, it turned out to be mostly classical, jazz and some rock. what happend is that folks didn't want to spend money to get truly good, in some cases the best sound the medium offered and for the other guy, sorry, it's well over red-book resolution alone, and in most cases the mastering and arrangement too. don't get me wrong there are some SACD's that were not done well, but buddy, when they are done well they are incredible. remember, SACD's & DVD-A's went the way of the dodo thanks mostly to mp3 which is why cd's are on their way there too! people settled for cheap, portable medium and no one (except us) cared about quality high resolution audio. to show you that the thinking still exist, tell me how many of todays modern artist are trying to break their music into the HiDef world of blu? not many. with so many young folks owning ps3's i'm surprised they haven't tried to get into that market. I fear that this HiDef audio that we love may die out in a couple of generations simply because so many of us are willing to settle for loud crap being passed off for quality music.

to answer the other persons question, i have the "2L the Nordic Sound" and it came with 2 disc of the same thing one is blu and one is SACD understanding that they are different mediums with different resolutions i'll tell you that they both sound incredible for what they are. the nod is given the blu because of the higher resolution, but not being given by that much. you really won't be missing much with the SACD version. another reason for the OPPO is that he can have the ability to like i said before play all 3 forms of hi resolution audio, SACD, DVD-A & lossless on blu.

to each his own as they say and for me in the past year i have purchased 0 cd's but I have purchased 10 SACD's & 12 DVD-A's!

I take that back I did purchase 3 DVD's created by Monster Music with DTS 96/24 audio recordings and they all had hi-res stereo cd's with them too and they sounded great! they were "A charlie brown christmas", George benson & Al jarreau-givin' it up" & "Ray Charles, genius loves company" all on standard DVD's encoded in DTS 96/24 with companion hi-bitrate stereo cd's. so there! and don't get me started on my DVD-A's I got "The Beatles, LOVE" DVD-A and man the seperation and focus are incredible on some of those tracks!
Peace!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

I take that back I did purchase 3 DVD's created by Monster Music with DTS 96/24 audio recordings and they all had hi-res stereo cd's with them too and they sounded great! they were "A charlie brown christmas", George benson & Al jarreau-givin' it up" & "Ray Charles, genius loves company" all on standard DVD's encoded in DTS 96/24 with companion hi-bitrate stereo cd's. so there! and don't get me started on my DVD-A's I got "The Beatles, LOVE" DVD-A and man the seperation and focus are incredible on some of those tracks!
Peace!

I bought that same Monster recording, but have yet to break it open. It was $9.99 at BB much to my huge surprise.

John

PS~ Speaking of "unopened" media, I have like 40 LP's, about 15 BD's and about 5 CD's that I have yet to enjoy.

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by John72953

PS~ Speaking of "unopened" media, I have like 40 LP's, about 15 BD's and about 5 CD's that I have yet to enjoy.

Yet you will continue to buy before getting through all of these

I often have the same problem though I no longer have turntable but can include books.

[mdabb]

Originally Posted by John72953

Sorry Rhett, but I have to agree with Andrew's reading of the matter.There are still literally hundreds of titles available that will satisfy the OP for years and decades to come.

In the end, I think BD Audio will eventually take over, but I take a back seat on offering commentary right now.

One thing I know for sure....we will ALWAYS have vinyl!

John

Take that Rhett Teach you to talk about my bum on a public forum.

Rhett, have you ever tried SACD's on............. tubes



On a serious note it does seem like the love for audio quality and good music is going underground. As it isn't mainstream anywhere from what I can tell (do work a lot ). Our culture is all but gone I feel .........

[Hep]

I agree with most advice given so far. Here is my take...

SACD Pros
Audio Quality (far superior to CD)

SACD Cons
Dead Format (less opinion and more fact)
Limited Selection (admittedly my musical tastes veer toward the niche, or at the very least, not mainstream)

Originally Posted by mdabb

On a serious note it does seem like the love for audio quality and good music is going underground. As it isn't mainstream anywhere from what I can tell (do work a lot ). Our culture is all but gone I feel .........

I have had the exact same feeling over the past year or so; however, I think these thoughts are wholly premature. The current market conditions are unusual. The SACD vs. DVD-Audio skirmish split what interest there was in high quality digital audio, and ultimately lead to the current rotting stalemate.

Enter BD-Audio. IMO the market conditions are not currently favourable for any sort of large scale push toward this format. The cost/benefit ratio for a drowning music industry is not high enough while BD-Audio penetration is still in the teething stages. I’m eagerly waiting for the day that the figures turn around and BD-Audio finds a place in the broader market. We are starting to see the test cases coming, but I fear it will be a while yet before I see the music I listen to on the format (so far only NIN Ghosts on BD-Audio for me).

In the meantime, I’ll continue to collect the BD concerts that interest me, and bide my time until BD-Audio takes the world by storm (wishful thinking I know). But know this - those that are interested in high def digital audio are not all but gone, we are just waiting in the shadows for the clouds to clear.