Sacd

[bonzo]

Hi, never heard a SACD before. Are they really that superior?

So, if a CD player like Audio REsearch CD7 cannot play SACDs, does that mean a lesser CD player that can, will sound better than the CD7 if SACDs are played on it (though it might not be as good with CDs)?

 

[Gordon Gray]

Hi bonzo,

Depends. All other things created equal (transfer done properly, playback gear reasonably the same), the answer is definitely yes.

More bits means more density means more musical information that one hears. And generally speaking, the sound is smoother with less apparent digital artifacts (read less apparent noise / harshness), better dimensionality, dynamics, and a more satisfying (getting closer to the musical event) listening experience.

I have many Pentatone and Channel Classic SACD's. All are classical music and all are superb.

Having said all that, SACD's is very much a niche market (and some may argue a dinosaur technology given the advances in digital streaming) and if you are not a classical / jazz fan, I'd pass due to lack of material.

GG

 

[bonzo]

I like Jazz and Classical. I could get a cheap SACD player or one on demo and try it out. But how do I know which SACDs are good, for the same album, there are many SACDs with varying prices. How can you make out which is well re-mastered and which isn't, without buying it and trying it out

 

[MrBT]

Www.sa-cd.net has huge database with a lot of reviews for nearly all SACD releases.

Don't get scared off with SACD prices, still you can get good titles for relatively cheap.

 

[Pneumonic]

Hi, never heard a SACD before. Are they really that superior?

So, if a CD player like Audio REsearch CD7 cannot play SACDs, does that mean a lesser CD player that can, will sound better than the CD7 if SACDs are played on it (though it might not be as good with CDs)?

Not necessarily.

The main advantage of DSD (the format of SACD) - over it's PCM counterpart, is that there is no need for DSD to implement decimation (during recording) along with interpolation/oversampling (during playback) filter processes to the system. Since filters can have an audible effect (ie time smearing and ringing) on an audio signal it is argued that not having such filters in place can result in a sonic benefit.

However, current filtering technology has advanced to the point where any time smearing/ringing artifacts have been mitigated down to inaudible levels. So, this argument for DSD may be moot.

As is the case with all of audio, pay attention to implementation more than anything. In the case of PCM ..... it really boils down to how well the PCM processes have been implemented at both the ADC and DAC stages of the recording/playback processes being employed.

 

[Pneumonic]

More bits means more density means more musical information that one hears. And generally speaking, the sound is smoother with less apparent digital artifacts (read less apparent noise / harshness), better dimensionality, dynamics, and a more satisfying (getting closer to the musical event) listening experience.

Yet, SACD (DSD) uses just 1 bit believing that it's easier to get an accurate sample value (of either a 0 or 1) with a 1 bit system than it is with a multi bit system ...... which has a much larger margin for error due to the numerous possible sample values (16,777,216 such values for a 24 bit system as an example). Of course, they also need to sample at very high rates to pull this off properly.

I see no value in higher than 16 bit bit depth at the playback stage in PCM. Recording stage, yes, due to possible truncation issues eating up bit depth. Having a larger dynamic range is good when recording.

 

[bonzo]

How do SACDs of older Rock and Blues artists compare to the CDs, as the CDs were usually produced in a not so great format

 

[Pneumonic]

How do SACDs of older Rock and Blues artists compare to the CDs, as the CDs were usually produced in a not so great format

Again, presuming fully capable playback gear is being used, it depends on how well/bad the recording was transferred/mixed/mastered to arrive at their desired output form.

 

[bonzo]

If anyone wants to sell classical, jazz, or opera sacds, let me know. Postage to London

 

[amey01]

If anyone wants to sell classical, jazz, or opera sacds, let me know. Postage to London

Do you have an SACD player now? Why not just download 24/96 (or 24/192 or even 32/384) files?

Heck - there's probably even more DSD files on the internet than there were SACDs ever produced!