AudiogoN Forums: Want to get excited about SACD again??

Want to get excited about SACD again??

First the good news:

The new Verve re-release of Diana Krall's "When I Look In Your Eyes" finally gives us a real shot of the "analog like" potential of SACD. You may want to pick this disk up if you have a SACD player.

Now the bad (potentially good) news:

One of the reasons this disk sounds very good..and the other Verve/Krall SACD release doesn't (and I'm not talking sujective music content) is that this is a SACD only release, ie: no redbook layer.

Think about it, this only makes sense. Go to the Audio Research site and read their logic about their new CD player the CD3. ie: just do one thing well. And Ayre, Classe and other high-end audio companies are bringing out CD only players and addressing the multi-format compromises/concerns.

With all of the jitter and bits/reading concerns that any digital machine can have, it just makes sense that if we had SACD only machines (this way they could have better audio stages...etc. instead of time/money being spent on covering all bases) and SACD only disks (no problem with lasers picking up bits from too many layers)

I know, I know that Sony, and others, feel that these multi format machines and multi layer disks are the safe way to market these things. Well they are shooting themselves in the foot...or maybe the head...because if they don't release the machines and software that will show off what this format can do..well it will die. Because the very people that have tried to support the format are being given hardware and software that is not showing off the formats best.

So, give me a SCD-1 without the CD hardware, and instead put in better caps, resistors and a discrete jfet audio stage running in class A. Then give me SACD uncompromised software to play on it....even just two channel...no multi-channel. If multi-channel was important to audio..this could have been done on redbook cds for some time. This multi-channel is just Sony's knee-jerk reaction to DVD-A...and they are just missing the piont that it is a MOVIE thing not a MUSIC thing.

Sorry to ramble...but I feel SACD will fail...and it's not because it isn't better...this SACD only Krall disk shows this....it's because of this multi-multi direction that is, likely, doomed.

Whatjd (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

11-29-02

Responses (1-32 of 32)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

11-29-02 I can agree with that and have myself stated that i wish the ... Brianmgrarcom

11-29-02 Whatjd your points may well be valid but you are looking at ... Ben_campbell

11-29-02 Brianmgrarcom, went to your system page...what a great looki ... Whatjd

11-29-02 Ben, i agree with your thoughts. however, it could be this v ... Whatjd

11-29-02 Whatjd-maybe but i'm still not so sure-i think the problem l ... Ben_campbell

11-29-02 Hi ben, you might try the diana krall "when i look in ... Whatjd

11-29-02 Thanks for the kind words jim. (btw, i just added two new p ... Brianmgrarcom

11-29-02 Is there any evidence that sacd players pick up bits from th ... Calanctus

11-29-02 The player will not pick up bits from the cd layer when play ... Ghostrider45

11-30-02 I'm excited about aerosmiths "big ones" cd. super ... Cdc

11-30-02 Ghostrider45, thanks for your answer. here's hoping you are ... Calanctus

11-30-02: Zaikesman
Having seen no evidence at all that dual-layer technology can hurt SACD fidelity, I have to say that I couldn't disagree more with your premise. Sure, one-format machines might be fine, and even desirable, for high end companies to manufacture for audiophiles, but what will cause the format to fail more surely than anything else imaginable, is if the mass-market software is not backward-compatible with consumers' existing CD-playing hardware. If what you secretly wanted to do was kill the emerging format tomorrow (and there might be legit reasons for wanting that, but that's another topic), there would no more certain way to accomplish this than to tell consumers that they must pony up for new machines first, and that neither their new or their old machines would be able to play the other kind of disk, so that they would either need two libraries as well as two machines, or that they would need to purchase their entire libraries over again, something not even possible as things stand today, multi-channel or no. Forget it, unless you restrict you wishes to audiophile labels only, but even then, where's your evidence?
Zaikesman (Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

11-30-02 Whatjd-unfortunately diana krall isn't really my cup of tea. ... Ben_campbell

11-30-02 Ben, i agree that ms. krall is not for everyone...inc. me. ... Whatjd

11-30-02 I have both diana krall sacd discs and both sound superior t ... Czbbcl

11-30-02 Czbbcl, imo, you are a bit deceived in believing the scd-1 c ... Brianmgrarcom

11-30-02 Sacd is already failing commerically...which is why they are ... Phasecorrect

11-30-02 Brianmgrarcom i have heard them all. chuck Czbbcl

11-30-02 Brianmgrarcom i have heard all the players that i mentioned ... Czbbcl

11-30-02 To each their own chuck, i have had the scd-1, 508.24 and em ... Brianmgrarcom

11-30-02 I agree it is a matter of personnel taste at this level of p ... Czbbcl

12-01-02 On the front end, i have a wadia 7/9 combo for red book, and ... Ghostrider45

12-02-02 When testing between a sacd and cd of the same title, you re ... Whatjd

12-02-02 It would be hard for me to get excited again, since i never ... 914nut

12-02-02 Wait a min....anyone that's nuts about the 914 should be fin ... Whatjd

12-03-02 As a matter of fact, whatjd, i have a '73 914 with a 911 3.0 ... 914nut

12-03-02 I already am very excited about sacd, which becomes more eco ... Madisonears

12-03-02 Actually madisonears, all of the above is based on sonic qua ... Whatjd

12-03-02 Just heard sacd for the first time through a $1,000 player o ... Socrates

12-04-02 The more i listen to my own system, with different sacd play ... Pardales

12-04-02 The irony of all of this is that the best digital audio is f ... Phasecorrect

12-05-02 I'm excited about direct-broadcast music. comparing a burned ... Cdc