$120 or $400 Sony SACD Player?

[hifitommy]

is what some people go for. i enjoy surround providing it doesnt do unnatural tricks like put guitars and other instruments behind me. at real music performances, the music happens up front for the most part with ambient cues emanating from the rear with occasional occurrences of distinct items from the rear.

tomitas music is a good example of this. he puts us deep in the soundfield many times. this can mostly be recovered with the difference signal embedded in stereo when extracted and placed to the rear using dynaquad or DPL. spending the big bucks on MC isnt necessary to enjoy the music, but certainly can be entertaining.

i advocate enjoying the music first, and letting the sound be a support to this end, not the means to it.

[Woochifer]

is what some people go for. i enjoy surround providing it doesnt do unnatural tricks like put guitars and other instruments behind me. at real music performances, the music happens up front for the most part with ambient cues emanating from the rear with occasional occurrences of distinct items from the rear.

tomitas music is a good example of this. he puts us deep in the soundfield many times. this can mostly be recovered with the difference signal embedded in stereo when extracted and placed to the rear using dynaquad or DPL. spending the big bucks on MC isnt necessary to enjoy the music, but certainly can be entertaining.

i advocate enjoying the music first, and letting the sound be a support to this end, not the means to it.

I agree with you about the end goal, it's about the music first. In that respect, multichannel remixing has some compelling things to offer, even if you don't necessarily like the surround effect itself.

As I've mentioned earlier, multichannel remixing requires that the soundtrack go all the way back to the original multitrack master. This is an opportunity to eliminate a lot of the sound degradation and heavy-handed processing that might have accompanied the original two-track mixdown. The Concord Jazz SACDs in particular have noticeable contrasts in how the two-track and 5.1 layers sound. Aside from the obvious difference in the instrument placement and the soundfield, the 5.1 tracks sound much cleaner and more natural. If anything, it highlights how much processing went into the original two-channel tracks, which would have sounded fine to me if I hadn't heard how much the remixed version improved the sound quality.

Another advantage, particularly with multitracked studio recordings, is that spacing the instruments into five channels can really open up the details of the individual sound elements. Tracks that might sound compressed and muddy in the two-channel mix, can sound much better articulated in the 5.1 mix. On a lot of my multichannel discs, I now hear things in the music that I had not picked up on before.

I understand how unsettling surround music can sound with instruments mixed into the back, but I think if the mixing is done well, 5.1 can create a huge amount of depth and a more stable image. 5.1 can work so long as the mix does not overly segregate the sound elements to the point that it sounds like five point sources. If the mix balances out the channels and does creative combinations with the different sound elements, the effect can be that you don't even notice the sound -- it's just a total immersion.

[shokhead]

Instruments and backup vocals in the surrounds are what makes it go for me as Donald ***an's discs do this so well.

Is that stupit or what i cant put Walter Beckers partners name.

[Feanor]

I think this part is where SACD may turns me off. If material was recorded for 5.1 system, I dont think it would sounds as good in my stereo. I understand that on SACD, there are 2 sections. One for 2 and other for MC. Are there codes on back of SACD case that states how music was recorded? I am not so certain that I would be able to tell such a huge difference, but it makes me think....... I think I should just enjoy it though.

In general, SACDs are clearly label as to whether Hybrid, (CD as well as SACD layers), Stereo DSD, and/or Multichannel DSD. Almost all newer SACDs are Hybrid and most are Multichannel, though some reissues are not because the original recording tapes were not multichannel. Multichannel DSD without also Stereo DSC is extremely rare.

Of course, select Stereo DSD to play on your 2-channel system.

[hifitommy]

cant post? donald ***en-morph-the vinyl is something to own if you like the steely dan sound.

yeah, that IS stupid!

[Feanor]

is what some people go for. i enjoy surround providing it doesnt do unnatural tricks like put guitars and other instruments behind me. at real music performances, the music happens up front for the most part with ambient cues emanating from the rear with occasional occurrences of distinct items from the rear.

tomitas music is a good example of this. he puts us deep in the soundfield many times. this can mostly be recovered with the difference signal embedded in stereo when extracted and placed to the rear using dynaquad or DPL. spending the big bucks on MC isnt necessary to enjoy the music, but certainly can be entertaining.

i advocate enjoying the music first, and letting the sound be a support to this end, not the means to it.

It's all about enjoying the music. Of course, you can enjoy music from a clock radio. Then again you might enjoy "hi-fi" more -- I guess you're looking for that aspect, right ?

The thing is, MC isn't just about amusing effects; it's very much about higher fidelity to the live experience. And many MC recordings actually deliver this. They tend to be recent recordings intentionally recorded with multichannel in mind. Soundstage, imaging, and the sense of "being there" are astonishingly enhanced with well-made multichannel recordings on a half-decent system.

[jrhymeammo]

Just an update, I ended up returning CE-595. It was fun for awhile, but I found sound presentation to be tiring. If I still had my MC setup, I probably would've been well entertained. Thanks to all the members who provided info.

-JRA

[shokhead]

What is sound presentation? Sounds like a neat thing. Maybe i have it if i knew what it was.

[jrhymeammo]

What is sound presentation? Sounds like a neat thing. Maybe i have it if i knew what it was.

LOL. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I think I meant to write about infervency of SACD format. Yes, Infervency..... Try using that word with confidence, nobody would question you. Wait it is a word? Ahh geez........