SACD hypotheticality

admin_exported

New member
Aug 10, 2019
2,556
4
0
Visit site
So just hypothetically if I were to invest in a new SACD player for my system, because I've come to the conclusion this 80 quid XE670 I grabbed off ebay is rather poo, what should I check out? Price is not something I would be overly concerned about, I am more fixated on not buying something that becomes wasted electronics given the rest of my kit, so 10 grand Krell jobbies probably aren't for me. I would, however like it to also play CD's well because that is still the majority of my collection (if I forget about those gigs of mp3's..). So what sort of price range of CD/SACD player would 'fit' with my system (see sig) well? and which sort of brand would match well with them? Myself, I and me are guessing I'd want to buy something at around the just-under-a-grand point so I get maximum performance for my price given the rest of my components - but I was looking for a 4th opinion as myself, me and I have often made bad deductions in the past;)
 

Andrew Everard

New member
May 30, 2007
1,878
2
0
Visit site
I'd be thinking in terms of the Marantz SA-15S1, which is an excellent CD/SACD player and costs just under a grand.

BTW you have mail re the Pirates competition - can you respond please?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Then again, is SACD worth it? How many SACDs do you have? Is it going to die out like HDCD?
Actually i have quite a few SACDs, not because I have a SACD player, but because I reckon the quality of the CD layer is better on it because of the higher accuracy required to make the dual layers. I've never tried to compare them with the vanilla cd versions tho.
 

Anton90125

New member
Sep 1, 2007
18
0
0
Visit site
[quote user="peteAllen"]Then again, is SACD worth it?[/quote]

In purely sound terms yes. The quality of SACD is significantly better then the normal CD. The price of SACDs hava also come down alot which makes them better value

[quote user="peteAllen"]Is it going to die out like HDCD?[/quote]

A very good question. I think only time will tell. If manufactures keep making players with cd/sacd capability as standard and the price and availability of SACD discs gets better then there is every chance it will survive as more people realise how much better SACD is. IMO its about 90-95% there compared to LP.

The best SACD I have is Dave Brubeck Time Out with the magical "Take Five"
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
I'd be thinking in terms of the Marantz SA-15S1, which is an excellent CD/SACD player and costs just under a grand.

BTW you have mail re the Pirates competition - can you respond please?
[/quote]

So that would suit me pretty well then? I'll have to look it up... this review: http://www.tech.co.uk/home-entertainment/hi-fi-and-audio/cd-players-and-recorders/review/marantz-sa-15s1 that I googled while writing this post. Sounds good, but it is criticised for lacking in detail, soundstage is important to me (I like to point at my sounds;). Do you agree with that conclusion? It does also mention great bass depth, which is a definite plus for me. Another thing is that I've seen these superclock mods for this player while looking for information, would that be a good way to eliminate these accused drawbacks? sounds like it to me... would make it more expensive but it sounds like it would be worth it...

I can't help but feel like a total n00b actually because I can't work out how to check PM's on here... scratch that I just checked my personal email...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROCK ON! and thanks a lot what-hifi team!!!!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="Anton90125"][quote user="peteAllen"]Then again, is SACD worth it?[/quote]

In purely sound terms yes. The quality of SACD is significantly better then the normal CD. The price of SACDs hava also come down alot which makes them better value
[/quote]

I don't dispute that the sound quality is much superior to redbook CD, but it seems to me that Classical is the only genre that is fairly well represented by SACD material, Jazz there are a few but not enough. I probably have about 40 SACDs, but out of over 2000 CDs that's not worth having an SACD player, and i'd expect that you'd be paying extra to get a SACD player that has equivalent CD sound per pound as a normal dedicated CD player.

As you say, another thing about SACD is the price. It's a catch 22: if they are more expensive, it may not catch on; if they are the same price, then what is the incentive to the record label to go to all that trouble? Especially when so many are happy with 128 mp3 :(

[quote user="Anton90125"]The best SACD I have is Dave Brubeck Time Out with the magical "Take Five" [/quote]
Cool. I recommend the Jazz at the Pawnshop collection, and the Pentatone label for classical
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="peteAllen"]Then again, is SACD worth it? How many SACDs do you have? Is it going to die out like HDCD?
Actually i have quite a few SACDs, not because I have a SACD player, but because I reckon the quality of the CD layer is better on it because of the higher accuracy required to make the dual layers. I've never tried to compare them with the vanilla cd versions tho.[/quote]

SACD is definitley worth it, one of the things that I never noticed until hearing an SACD/DVD-A is the amount of audio compression (not data compression, there should be a different term!) used on CD's, this is done to maximise the use of the format and avoid wasting accuracy because one part of the song is more quiet than another. This is completely unneccesary on SACD... so a properly mastered SACD will sound AWESOME next to a CD.. unfortunately not all SACD's are properly remastered in this way. For example the deluxe edition of the downard spiral by Nine inch Nails on SACD is remastered for 5.1 surround, but there isn't (listening in 2.0 mode) really any improvement in the sound quality. I suspect the main reason for that is the actual song being written and produced using 16 bit sampling so the most that could possibly be done is avoid potential cumalative errors when mixing down all the sounds samples into one - probably a negligable benefit.

The romeo and juliet sound soundtrack, however, in particular monagues and capulets.. absolutely awesome. When you listen to the loudest parts of the song loud enough to make you worry about neighbours banging on your door, the quietest parts sound like 'background music' volume level... and you can hear the levers on the oboe the dude is playing click in the auditorium or wherever it was recorded. It's not just that either though, when there is really loud stuff going on, you can still pick out the quiet parts - but that may be more virtuous of me upgrading my speakers and amplifier from my tannoy m3's and an 8000a to my current...
 

Thaiman

New member
Jul 28, 2007
360
2
0
Visit site
I have over 700 cds in my collection and never one minute thinking to change for a newer format! Yes, a dinasaur in some people's eyes but then if you ever heard my system you might know why :)
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Yeah, I agree with that sentiment Thaiman. I'm thinking of the 300 minidiscs that I ended up throwing out, it still haunts me.

I have a theory that high end audio formats will only come thru the back door, maybe some future hi-res combined video/audio standard when copyrighting is concrete so the record labels are happy, storage is peanuts, and nobody cares if a single track is 51 gigabytes.

Perhaps the music industry is teasing us all, like the TV industry is to get us to gradually, incrementally upgrade our tellies to flatscreen, then HDMI, then "Full HD". Btw my friend saw 3D television the other month and says it is AWESOME, I can't wait until we can all get one for less than a grand.
 

nads

Well-known member
Do younot think that SACD will get replaced very soon with audio on Blueray or HDDVD?

When was the last time you saw a SACD for sale?

I have a DVD player that will play CD/HDCD/SACD/DVD and the audio is as good as the CD player (which will also do HDCD) and all my music is on CD or Vinyl......
 

kungula

New member
Nov 18, 2007
10
0
0
Visit site
although I regret it that the SACD / DVD audio has been burried, I would not necessarily buy an SACD player anymore.
There is no new software available anymore.
But I still like to play my old stuff from Diana Krall & Pink Floyd.
I believe it is better nowadays to buy a good CD player and to wait for an BR player at reasonable prices to enjoy HD surround sound.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I'd put my money on HDCD. SACD died primarily because it came out as a Sony proprietary stuff.
A few years from now, everything will be released in HD Audio on HDCD in addition to regular CDs.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Yes but one thing that everybody has forgotten about SACD's is there is no such thing as an SACD burner or PC based player and no sign of any coming which makes it wonderful for record lables.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Sony didn't do it and others won't do it
emotion-5.gif
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
SACD is really dead for all but classical music. In my opinion buying another disc based player is not a smart move. Get a Benchmark DAC1 USB connect it to your PC and your HiFi system and never look back. With Linn Records offering 24/96 FLAC downloads and iTrax offering 24/96 wav downloads the future of HiFi is not disc based.

If you are stuck on disc based systems I don't think SACDs necessarily sound better because of the format. Most of them are produced so well that they sound good in many formats. For example the new K2 HD format that plays on standard CD players is said to sound better than SACD when compared against each other. I am guessing the K2 HD process is better not necessarily the format.

Just my opinion. What do you guys think?
 

Anton90125

New member
Sep 1, 2007
18
0
0
Visit site
If you listen to hybrid SACD (SACD + CD) you can easily tell the difference. They are both taken from the same master usually (Except for Dark Side of the Moon)

There is some wild conspiracy theories flying around that the CD element has been deliberatively modified to emphasize the difference between CD and SACD . There has been little to no proof of this just a lot anecdotal nonsense.

I have never heard a K2 HD disc to comment. If I find a K2 HD disc and a SACD disc both taken from the same master then I will be able to test it.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts