I am kurious, oranj - re: SACD/PS3/CD/Lossless/DAC sound off!!!

[Charlie Jefferson]

A quiet day here at GrangeLoo High School, so my mind lolled around the notion of what would sound better? My Allman Brothers SACD played in, 1) my PS3 optically connected to my DAC 2) my CD player coaxially connected to DAC 3) Lossless files streamed to AE and optically onto DAC. Any one? Theoretical reasons? I can do the practical later on, but for now, it's back to reading The Grauniad and drinking stewed Assam.

 

[Andrew Everard]

In none of the above cases will you be getting SACD quality, only the CD layer, so I'd suggest they will all sound very similar, but would probably go for 1) or 2).

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Is the CD bit of the SACD inherently different to the standard CD in playback SQ terms?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Some cynics say the CD layer of a hybrid disc is worse than average, to make the step up to SACD seem even more dramatic....

 

[Andrew Everard]

...While others say yes, the SACD layer can offer better quality than CD, as well of course as the option to listen in stereo or up to 5.1-channel sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Charlie Jefferson:A quiet day here at GrangeLoo High School, so my mind lolled around the notion of what would sound better? My Allman Brothers SACD played in,1) my PS3 optically connected to my DAC2) my CD player coaxially connected to DAC3) Lossless files streamed to AE and optically onto DAC.Any one? Theoretical reasons?I can do the practical later on, but for now, it's back to reading The Grauniad and drinking stewed Assam.I've tried all three. And the winners were:

=1 Airport Express and CD to DAC

3, by a massive margin, the PS3.

Swapped the PS3 and the results were:

=1 Airport Express, Macmini, CD to DAC.

More or less what you'd think, really.

 

[Anonymous]

Charlie Jefferson:Is the CD bit of the SACD inherently different to the standard CD in playback SQ terms?

It may well sound different to the standard CD available as it is often a different mastering. This may or may not be an improvement depending on your personal preferences. The companies that release SACDs are by nature more likely to do a remaster that is more sympathetic to the sound of the original master tapes - although there is no certainty of this.

 

[the record spot]

Indeed, as anyone who's ever heard the 2007 SACD mix for Genesis' "A Trick of the Tail" will testify to almost readily!