Coping in an Age of Uncertainty


there have been numerous threads here, i know, about sacd v. dvd-a, upsampling, oversampling, etc. a number of these threads have included discussions of which, if any, new digital format will replace what we now call “redbook” cd’s. i don’t wish to rehash these discussions. rather, i’d like to hear from others how they are coping with the “age of uncertainty” in the realm of digital audio. is it better to “roll the dice” and invest in sacd or dvd a? ignore the contenders for the new and get the best possible out of redbook cd’s? buy with upgradeability firmly in mind? follow another path? i don’t post this query out of mere curiosity. i really haven’t figured out what course i should follow. i’d appreciate your giving me a hand. -kelly
cornfedboy

Showing 3 responses by dekay

I just went for improving the sound of standard CD playback within my budget. I have only used CD as a source for the past year, so it is all pretty new to me. My "big" investment was a used Bel Canto DAC which I run from a CAL player. I buy most of our CD's on the used market (just picked up seven today) and will continue to fill our music library in this manner. If I were paying list price for CD's we would probably only own 10%, if that, of what we have accumulated in the past eight months. In the same vein we also have well over 200 feet of book shelves in our apartment (filled mostly with books purchased on the used market). We do not have a lot of main stream "hits" in our music library, but we do have a wide selection of interesting music to chose from. I would love to have the option of playing the SACD disks that I hear sound wonderful (I have only auditioned the first top loading model that was available in my area and did not care for the sound in either format, though I don't beleive that it was properly run in). I have yet to see any feedback as to the new players sounding as good as or better than my CAL/Bel Canto combo when performing standard CD playback, which is why these players do not interest me. To be honest I really can't stand the sound of most CD players anyway, with the exception of a small handfull of them, my combo included. The part of the unit that plays movies/vidios is also of zero interest to me unless it would assist in playing a musical format in the future. If a reasonably priced multi player unit came out that sounded as good as or better than (to me) a Theta Miles, Resolution Audio CD50 or Linn Numerik (for example) when playing back standard CD's, plus sound super with SACD, then it would interest me.
I am stunned at the response to Kelly's thread. I had dumbly thought that I was one of the few still stewing on this issue. Of interst to my situation are the posts that say use the 9000ES as a transport -w- an external DAC (to boost standard CD playback) and enjoy both worlds. The only problem that I still have is that there are very few SACD disks that really interest me. It is, IMO, the resposibility of the manufacturers (not the consumers "sitting on the fence") to make this format readily available in all types of music. Without plentiful source material to listen to in SACD, what is the point? I play a lot of old crappy sounding CD's on a daily basis, because they have the "music" on them that I want to listen to. SACD source material is like having only one pair of shoes - they get old very fast.
Jsbail: If I were interested in, or needed a DVD player (because I already have a DAC that I like the sound of) picking up the 9000ES would be a no brainer. If I were in the market for both playbacks - DVD/CD-w-DAC - (SACD would just be the icing on the cake). We have played less than 10 videos in 10 years, which is why DVD does not interest me. I would like to eventually use my CAL player, as a stand alone, in another system and will take a look at what's available then (as I would need another player/transport). Now to drive everyone crazy: Has anyone seen the Japanese (domestic) version of the 9000ES with the champagne front cover and case? There were a few auctions of this model on Ebay a while back and it was very striking (more so than a black box), IMO. I wonder if a dealer could order this version (which looked similar to the top of line Marantz model)?