Herson + others curious about DVD-A or SACD. [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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N. Abstentia
09-05-2004, 08:54 AM
I finally got my DVD-A's and SACD's listed on my website with some reviews. The site is somewhat thrown together right now, it's a work in progress as we speak.

http://www.chuckamuck.com and go to the 'music' section.

N. Abstentia
09-05-2004, 10:12 AM
Sorry Hershon, spelled your alias wrong in the title :)

KRiTiKaL
09-06-2004, 02:02 PM
So is it better to get a CD player that does SACD and a DVD/DVD-A player or a combo unit? Also is SACD pretty much the same in sound as DVD-A, or is thier a clear difference? I am thinking of going with a multi-disc that supports SACD. Hmmmm....

Dusty Chalk
09-06-2004, 04:28 PM
I jumped around on this issue, and I think the answer is, "it depends on how many inputs you have". I, for example, ran out. I'm "in between pre-amps" at the mo, so only have my CD player hooked up, but at the time, had separates for everything. Still kinda do, sort of, so when I want to listen to something besides CD's, I either have to hook my headphone directly in to the headphone jack (such as when I want to listen to my computer), or pull out the CD player and plug in something else. (I am using a cheesy little single-input headphone amplifier as a pre-amp right now, until I get my next "real" pre-amp.)

If you only have one set of inputs, I recommend getting the best possible universal player you can.

If you have several, I recommend getting a decent CD player, a Sony for the SACD player (or the philips machine [963A or something like that]) and a DVD-V/DVD-A player for the DVD-A/DVD-V portion of your listening experiences.

There is a difference between SACD and DVD-A, but I don't know if it will be audible to everyone. SACD (DSD) is supposed to be more phase correct, but also contains an inordinate amount of ultra-high-frequency "hash". DVD-A is just higher (than CD) rate PCM, but the improvement is audible. But so far, from the reviews, very few universal players (short of the ultra-high-priced ones like the new Linn) play CD well. Something like Musical Fidelity's NuVista might do both SACD and CD well, but that's the exception, not the rule.

I don't know -- at one point I was going to try to trade it all in for a universal player, but at this point...I just don't know...

N. Abstentia
09-06-2004, 04:30 PM
Is there such a thing as a CD player that also plays SACD? In other words...a player that plays CD and SACD but NOT DVD?

Either way, the only way to go is a DVD/DVD-A/CD/SACD player. There is no real difference in the sound of SACD and DVD-A. Both are equally superb.

EDIT: Appearantly Sony makes some CD/SACD players that do not play DVD. Not sure what they were thinking there....of course it IS Sony

Dusty Chalk
09-06-2004, 04:40 PM
Is there such a thing as a CD player that also plays SACD? In other words...a player that plays CD and SACD but NOT DVD?

Either way, the only way to go is a DVD/DVD-A/CD/SACD player. There is no real difference in the sound of SACD and DVD-A. Both are equally superb.

EDIT: Appearantly Sony makes some CD/SACD players that do not play DVD. Not sure what they were thinking there....of course it IS SonyThey used to. I think they have since discontinued that line to concentrate on CD/SACD/DVD-V. They can still be had on the used market. (I have one.)

N. Abstentia
09-06-2004, 04:49 PM
If you have several, I recommend getting a decent CD player, a Sony for the SACD player (or the philips machine [963A or something like that]) and a DVD-V/DVD-A player for the DVD-A/DVD-V portion of your listening experiences.

..

I don't know if I can agree with that UNLESS you're talking about spending $500-$600 per component. To me it makes no sense to buy 3 $200 bottom end players (like Sony or Phillips) when you could buy one higher end unit from Marantz, Denon, or Onkyo for less than that $600 that will do a far better job on everything than the low end players.

I also strongly urge you to listen to the Marantz DV-6400 if you think a universal player can't sound good playing CD's!

Dusty Chalk
09-06-2004, 05:53 PM
Well, considering 99% of my listening is CD's -- the first priority is sounding good playing CD's. I'm currently using a Musical Fidelity A308^CR CD player. Sure I could get a universal player for the price I paid, but...why? I'll have to compromise on the CD playing.

The entry level Sony SACD player is better at SACD than most universal players.

I don't know about DVD-A. I'm really unhappy with my player at the mo. But considering the state of the DVD-A catalog, I'm in no rush to fix that particular problem.

N. Abstentia
09-06-2004, 06:13 PM
Now I'll DEFINITELY have to disagree about the Sony SACD player! It's okay for an entry level unit, but it was just outclassed by better universal players. In fact if I would have had to settle for the Sony to do SACD, I would have not went the SACD route at all. I would have waited until I could afford a good universal player instead of buying a crippling cheap player.

Kind of like what you said about your CD player..would you have been satisfied with a $99 Sony CD player? Probably not, you would have saved up for your Musical Fidelity :)

Stone
09-07-2004, 07:12 AM
I also strongly urge you to listen to the Marantz DV-6400 if you think a universal player can't sound good playing CD's!

I have the DV-8400 (IIRC) and I agree. I was running it through an outboard DAC for redbook CDs, but after doing some very non-scientific comparisons, I quit using the DAC. It has great sound even for CDs and Marantz specifically redesigned the sucker so it would. I'm very happy with this player, and 99% of my (digital) listening is redbook CDs too. But it should also be known that I only listen in two channel; I have no idea how this sounds in 5.1 or whatever for the hi-rez formats.

BillB
09-07-2004, 08:08 AM
I'm using a Denon DVD-2900 for DVD-A/V and SACD, my Arcam DiVA CD73 for CD's.

If most of your music is on CD a dedicated player is the way to go IMO. A decent universal in the $750-$1250 range will get you very good HiRez playback of both DVD-Audio and SACD.

Bill

N. Abstentia
09-07-2004, 09:32 AM
Problem is, if you have to spend $1250 for a good DVD-A/SACD player, the formats will not survive. No way, no how. I found it hard enough to justify spending $550 for the Marantz, but that's before I heard it's CD playback. I was also factoring in buying a seperate CD player, but after hearing the Marantz there was no need.

But $1250, then buying a dedicated CD player on top of that? Not for me. It does make more sense than buying some overpriced junk like Bose, though.

Javier
09-07-2004, 05:26 PM
own the pionner 59 tx two years now and it is pretty good in all departments but is supposedly better in the DVD audio department to my ears it does fine in the cd department until i have the oportunity to hear something in the high end department.