Turntable or go into SACD, Simon Yorke vs EMM Lab

Just relax and avoid the SACD hype. The rush to want to get on the wagon is not rational. Your TT will sound better. In fact, DVD-A sounds better.

Redbook is very good (SACD is marginally better, so what?), so why get into it. Wait 5 years or so. I'm guessing it will probably be over a decade before we really see what and if a new format is going to emerge. And there is no guarantee that a new format won't take the place of SACD. SACD has been out 4-5 years and look how slow it is moving.

Hi Ceol,

After 100 years Vinyl still sounds the best. And it has been around over 100 years. That tells me that sound quality is not the priority to profit driven companies. Convenience seems to be the idea. It went from Vinyl "best" to CD "worse" to mp3 "even worse" all due to convenience.

That's my hesitation. I hope SACD or moreover DVD-A (which sounds better to my ears, but has dismal software, even worse than SACD) does become mainstream because I would like better sound that's more convenient. But audiophiles don't drive the marketplace.

SACD is still up in the air after 4-5 years after release. My guess is it will still be for the next 5 years. So in making a decision which way should you go. Buy SACD player and hope to find enough music that you like to listen to? Get vinyl which will be around until something better comes along (nothing on the horizon) and get a CD player as backup (covers most recorded music) -- it's ultimately up to you. I've made my choice.

Just to add that if you are into classical -- you can go to goodwill and pick up an enormous amount of LPs $1 or $2 each. As with all formats some are recorded incredibly well (Decca especially) and some are not even worth listening to. But at a buck a piece its better than spending $25 and find out you got a bad SACD remaster (which they do make - not all SACDs sound good)just like CD and Vynil.

I guess the question you have to answer is do you want to have 3 different front ends and 3 different forms of software? Of course the hybrid option helps that a little. But 3 quality front ends and no guarantee about the future? Hope you have a lot of money to spend.

Digital is not the future. It is the present. Everything is already digital. And guess what digital is trying to approach? Analog -- so why is digital the direction instead of analog (which is what we hear in) CONVENIENCE nothing more.

How do you get better than analog with 1s and 0s????

It's like trying to make a perfect circle with legos. You can keep adding smaller and smaller legos and it will continue to become smoother, but it will never actually make a perfect circle.

CD "SMOKED" your $30k vinyl rig? CD sounds better than vinyl? Are you sure you weren't the one smoking?

I think you're a little late on this post. dgad already made his decision.

Well put Raul,

If Meitner products are as good as mentioned then why are we having a format war, and why are people still purchasing TTs. If the Meitner can make CD sound better (or extremely close) to any other format available, then all the problems are solved. SACD is a moot point. No more format war. Analog has finally been surpased, and is a dead product finally after over 100 years. Thanks to Meitner products.

I don't buy it, but if they came up with a way to soften the digital edge then that's great. And I am looking forward to more improvements to redbook since that is the last hope before mp3s become standard.

If you don't think Mp3 s and other digital none disk formats are the future than you are in a fantasy world. Just look at the trends. CD sales as opposed to I Pod sales CD going down -- I pod and other players are selling like mad. What non audiophile is going to say "gee, I guess I'll trade this little thing that holds 1000+ songs that I can swap on the internet for free or get for a buck a song for a bulky CD player at $15 each to hear 2 songs on a CD I like?

Rob

Dougdeacon,

I can accept your criticism. I am a bit antagonistic. And I haven't heard the Meitner, but I did have a reason for jumping in on the discussion. My main point was to contrast the enthusiasm. Not just to be a prick, but because as you said the claims were emotionally charged and got to the point where it sounded like Meitner was the front end King and all other formats and front ends pailed in comparison. I had to challenge that.

If I had $12 grand laying around (which I don't) I would probably take a serious look at it EMM. I'm all for the best sound. And I do appreciate all that I have learned. This is my favorite thread right now.

Whether or not I've heard the Meitner, my main argument (which still hasn't been asnwered) is how with the limitations of RB can it sound as good or better then an analog wave (vynil) without any phase shifting tricks. Or what about other $12,000 CD players, are they not as good as the meitner? Is this a revelation or is it just excitement over a great sounding new product?

Rob