SACD vs DVD Audio

[shado]

 

[Al ears]

............... and the answer to the non-existant question is SACD by a knockout.

(due, if anything to the amount of available source material)

 

[HDNumpty]

Who cares?

 

[unfocused]

Who cares?

lots of people, including me

 

[Frank Harvey]

A well mixed 5.1 album can be very enjoyable, and quite an eye opener with regards to how much more information (sometimes instruments!) there is on the disc. I'm picking up a few here and there to try out, although I'm avoiding paying a fortune for them.

 

[jetjohnson]

For my money DVD-A has the edge sound quality wise ....although if it's about what's available SACD wins hands down. And as for who cares ...many audiophiles do! - there a quite a number of surround discs that sound fantastic ...check out a few of Steely Dan and Donald Fagen's recent albums to hear how good 5.1 audio can be.

Let's just hope that multi-channel Blu Ray audio discs can fill the gap left by DVD-A.

 

[Al ears]

Here's us all wittering on and we still don't know what shado's original post might have read.

My opinion is that DVD-A died a death because it was simply inferior to the established SACD format pure and simple.

Is have quite a few SACD's both stereo and multitracked and still buy them now and again.

I'm not about to get into BluRay audio just yet as I feel its not going to take off.

Come back shado and repost your question.

 

[BigH]

The problem with SACDs is the cost in the UK they are often 4x or more expensive than the standard cds. It is also debatable how long the format will last, if I were you I would go for a blu-ray DVD player which will play both cds, sacds and dvds..

 

[shado]

sorry orig post read was soundbar versus hifi in context to DVD Audio and SACD

Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle orchestra via CA 751BD and Cyrus 8XPd/KEFs (DVD-A)192k/24bit is wow, CD 48K/16bit via CD6SE is great and via Sonos 256 is still acceptable track - Someone to watch over me.

Rosemary Clooney White Christmas SACD hybrid sounds good through both 751BD/Soundbar & Cyrus CD/Amp/Kef slightly better via Cyrus. Same with SACD of original Jeff Wayne War of the Worlds, richard burton vocal more natural via Hifi route.

However Celtic Spectacular SACD from Telarc was more enthusiastic via soundbar as the blue light on YSP 2200 lit up most likely through trickery of HD surround format but nevertheless v impressive

 

[fr0g]

One problem with SACD is it isn't easily backed up.

A problem with both is selection. My tastes are mainly obscure. No hope of finding a disc in these formats.

The only advantage of either is surround. Sound quality is equal assuming the same master.

Both are (as good as )dead anyway.

 

[Al ears]

'as good as dead anyway' ??

That's what they said about vinyl!

 

[dariushifi]

You can burn your own DVD audio CDs.

It can be filled with hours of hi-res music. In some cases it may be very handy.

 

[fr0g]

'as good as dead anyway' ??

That's what they said about vinyl!

Vinyl at least has a point...ie...

Touchy-feelies who want big versions of artwork and want to get as close as possible to the potential quality of 128K MP3 by spending thousands on cartridges and tonearms...etc and DJ's who like to scratch something real. They're the musical equivalent of Instagram...cool and retro, or naff and second rate depending on your viewpoint.



But SACD or DVD-A are dead ducks. Nothing to see here.Please move on.

 

[lonely boy]

Please move on.

Wish you would bud.

 

[Al ears]

+1 to that.

 

[fr0g]

Fair enough, I deserved that.

But the lack of ability to back-up seriously put me off SACD. It's a shame that there is no multi-channel download option (as far as I am aware of).

 

[GSB]

As for sacd's,is there a good site anyone can recommend for purchasing?

Iv'e looked on amazon/fleabay(uk) but wondering if there's a dedicated place.

cheers

 

[Ian986]

I have about 5 of each I can't say any format is better than the other only thing I can say is you can back up SACD to I tunes but only at standard cd quality

I really enjoy listening to 5.1 music blu rays all seem to be live and not as good quality

 

[Al ears]

Fair enough, I deserved that.

But the lack of ability to back-up seriously put me off SACD. It's a shame that there is no multi-channel download option (as far as I am aware of).

I am not too sure why you would need to back-up an SACD if you hold the physical item in your hand.

(Or maybe I do )

It's not as if it is a downloaded file that may corrupt.

 

[fr0g]

Fair enough, I deserved that.

But the lack of ability to back-up seriously put me off SACD. It's a shame that there is no multi-channel download option (as far as I am aware of).

I am not too sure why you would need to back-up an SACD if you hold the physical item in your hand.

(Or maybe I do )

It's not as if it is a downloaded file that may corrupt.

I play everything from a NAS drive. I rarely use a CD player these days, and when I do it's more for nostalgia. I buy mainly downloads too from the likes of Boomkat (in FLAC format).

And I have everything backed up. So SACD is rather a pain. Yes the CD layer can be copied, but not any surround SACD layer, which kind of defeats the object.

 

[shado]

Frog what it boils down to is an Active speaker set up vs Passive!

From my point of view my amp is capable of handling MP3 formats up to DVD audio without prejudice, you can tell noticeable differences between itunes/WAV/DTS/DVD(A) but all formats are still enjoyable plus I want to digress back into vinyl. I am intrigued by what Active is shouting about in the digital arena which I am sure I will purchase idc but can they handle anologue formats as well?

 

[Al ears]

Help, help! We have been hijacked by the Active...sorry 'powered' speaker brigade!

What that has do do with the original post.

 

[Watsy1958]

If you have a hi end 5.1 system like myself then you hear the sound quality difference between sacd and dvd audio its so much of a difference sacd is just garbage, quality is just not there...Far as finding good dvd audio if you lazy and cheap of course you wont have a collection.

 

[CnoEvil]

If you have a hi end 5.1 system like myself then you hear the sound quality difference between sacd and dvd audio its so much of a difference sacd is just garbage, quality is just not there...Far as finding good dvd audio if you lazy and cheap of course you wont have a collection.

Hi Watsy, and welcome to the forum.

BTW. What system do you have?

 

[pete321]

sacd is just garbage, quality is just not there...

just shows how peoples tastes are different. I happen to think both are great compared to most CD's. My preference is with DSD (SACD), to my ears it gives a more natural and less clinical sound than hi-res PCM (DVD-A).

I now use J.River to convert all my PCM FLAC files to 5.6mhz DSD to playback via my DAC.