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SACD- my intial thoughts....

Having now given my Sony DVP 900 close to 350 hours break in I thought I would report back with my findings.
First off cleary this Sony machine is not at the top end of Sony SACD players but from what I can gather it's fair to consider it a mid-range player.
As an aside it's a great machine in terms of build,picture quality and seems to have a very good transport.
As a CD player it's decent.
From my limited listening experience on SACD I have came to the conclusion that it is a format that has potential but does not exhibit sonic differences that blow you away.
The presentation on SACD is smoother, less edgy but to my ears doesn't offer much more detail.
In some ways it is preferable to CD however I do find on some tracks CD sounds better wether that's because I'm used to CD sound or due to something else isn't clear to me.
The latest Stones CD/SACD hybrids show the effect up clearly,to my ears there really isn't much to choose between the layers in any sonic aspect.
The CD layer has a bit more spikiness or edge.
I have had two friends remark that the CD layer is actually slighty more suited to the Stones sound.
I concede perhaps the Stones aren't the best band to show off sound reproduction but there is the odd really well recorded track where SACD doesn't really come through superior on any aspect of it.
Whilst I have only heard about 25 different artist's on SACD and some dozen or so discs, to me the key to any new format is early on recognising this is clearly an improvement from what I've heard before.
Perhaps my expectations are too high but to me SACD has major problems in surviving and growing.......
ben_campbell

Showing 2 responses by pardales

pardales
652 posts
 
that a well made sacd player will sound excellent on sacd and excellent on redbook by virtue of its excellent construction and attention to detail -- So, a Sony SACD 1 should sound better then a SCD333ES on redbook and SACD. Better quality, better sound, right?

I understand that there are exceptions to every rule, and comparing different technologies gets us into the apples and oranges thing. My specific point is, that we should not expect a revolution out of a $500 player just because its SACD. It takes a lot (parts, engineering, good recordings, etc.) to make good music. That's my two cents....
pardales
652 posts
 
It stands to reason that a well made sacd player will sound excellent on sacd and excellent on redbook by virtue of its excellent construction and attention to detail -- So, a Sony SACD 1 should sound better then a SCD333ES on redbook and SACD. Better quality, better sound, right?

I understand that there are exceptions to every rule, and comparing different technologies gets us into the apples and oranges thing. My specific point is, that we should not expect a revolution out of a $500 player just because its SACD. It takes a lot (parts, engineering, good recordings, etc.) to make good music. That's my two cents....
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