Sacd - I Believe!

Bought a DVD player last week, and decided to see what the fuss was about with DVD-A and SACD. Picked up a Denon DVD-2900 as I'd read positive reviews about its value.

I'm listening to Jacintha's "Moon River" off of the album, "Autumn Leaves". Spine tingling. The body & depth is phenomenal. The piano is right in the room with me.

This is a format that I could get used to.

 

Hi Dale (I had a nose at your website).

Welcome to the forum

The Denon appears to be quite a machine! I use a dvd as a transport into a DAC and am planning to upgrade the DVD to a MOre solidly built universal player in the future. Are you using the DVD as your CD source? What's the rest of your kit?

What sort of improvement s did you find with the SACD layer over the standard CD layer? (assuming it's dual layer?). Also, is this a multi channel recording or a stereo one?

And going slightly off topic. That's some nice pic's on your site! Very picturesque

 

I'm using the Denon DVD player for DVD-A, SACD's and DVD's (I'm not big into television or surround sound - still a 2-channel dinosaur with a 14" television). I've yet to hear a multi-channel surround system that can match a quality 2-channel set-up, though that may come eventually.

I've an old Cambridge Audio Discmagic Transport and S700 Isomagic platform DAC for redbook CD's. I still prefer the sound of the CAudio to the Denon DVD for CD listening....but once the Denon breaks in a little more, we'll see.

Other inputs include an old Technics tuner and an even older "Studio" Pioneer turntable for LP's.

I'm a bit of a budget hi-fi enthusiast, so my equipment is somewhat cost-driven, but I love music and the components I have seem to work well together compared to many of the systems that I've listened to. Along with the front-end stuff, I've a Creek 5350SE integrated amp and Totem Forest speakers (w/ Wireworld Atlantis II cables).

I'm lucky enough to have a grand piano, my alto sax and the opportunity to hear live acoustic music on a fairly regular basis (including voice.....& not just my own!). My stereo is meant to be an extension of that enjoyment, and the sound of the SACD gets me that much closer to "real music".

The SACD layer, relative to the CD layer, better defines the space in which the music is being played. What can sound like engineered reverb on CD playback, becomes the boundaries of a room on the SACD. You can hear the "space". I don't know better how to explain it. Everything is more "real", fuller, more compelling. Acoustic instruments are more accurately reproduced, at least to my ear.

If you haven't yet listened to a well-recorded 2-channel SACD, you've really got to check it out.

NB: Glad you liked the photos.

 

I was similarly enlightened. I got around to trying out an SACD a few weeks ago and was gob smacked. I expected it to be of some improvement over redbook, but what I heard was far beyond expectation. Detail and separation were outstanding. This was on a £400 Sony DVD/SACD player as well.

Its here to stay thats for sure.

 

hmmm,
whenever i've heard SACD i've always been fainly unsettled by the sound it makes. overall i prefer DVD-A's (tee-hee) presentation and take on high resolution digital, althoiugh i'm not enamoured by the confusion of bitrates and mixes on one disk. in that respect sacd is clear winner.
at the moment i've not heard anything that makes me want to dump redbood and jump on the bandwaggon that's not to say i won;t in the future though.
cheers


julian

 

Good, all DSD, SACDs sound fantastic. Sadly these are thin on the ground. I own several SACDs made from older PCM masters - they sound worse than the CD issues!

Darren

 

The problem I have with these new formats is that however good they may sound, I just cant see joe public spending a premium on discs, because as far as he is concerned, CD gives perfect sound quality. IMO they are just not going to take off.

 

Not impressed that much with SACD at all, yes the mids can be awsesome, but it what about the rest? possibly 3 sacds players that cut it, but how much ???

1. Firewire DCS verdi/elgar/purcell
2, Dax Discrete
3. Accuphase DPV 85?

I have use of an SACD 1 (fully modded as a ref), great for purerist TT owners, Love life not hifi

 

I think that your trouble is that damn reference system you've got for Redbook CD's. Trade "up" with me, and then tell me how unimpressed you are with the SACD format.

.....c'mon, you want some Cambridge Audio ear-candy...I know that you do....

 

Dale, tis a very point sir , for a quite a few listeners, SACD is the way to go no doubt, and along with some reasonable multiformat players starting to get some where handy, then it is definately worth a serious listen for some.
The big problem is software for both sacd & dvda, simply not enough titles, that the music buffs with good systems enjoy, to warrant spending on either format, problem is is you have a sony 777es thingy, the sacd is ok, but the cd is no more than a CD72/82 or equivilent, bearing in mind the purchase price, If your moving up form say a cryus 7/8 then although the sacd is better, the red book is virtualy the same, and odds on most of the guys collection is CD/Vinyl, and sacd stack totaling under 20
When the software houses get their arses in gear and jump to which ever format, they decide on, then there will always be this problem, and the only winners (at the moment) are the big electronics manufacturers. shame but true.
Just for the record, some of the best mid band voicing I've ever heard was from an sacd player, texture and depth too Wm

 

...and is already overpriced compared to other forms of entertainment software

 

Spot on WM, I am just about getting to breaking point with many posts that rave about SACD. The point is that I simply can't see it taking off, it offers Joe Public NOTHING new, especially when heard through the kind of hardware many buy.

The only way I can see it working is if many manufacturers move towards making budget replay equipment and integrating SACD into the likes of mini/micro systems. All CD's (I mean everything new) must then have combined SACD (DVD-A)/CD layers so those with the hardware can enjoy superior (debatable from what I've read) sound, and those without can still enjoy CD. Then there's the issue of compression to make this achievable....

Good sound or nay, there's little point if there's no public interest and no software :banghead: