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MULTI-CH SACD'S on 2CH SOUND STRANGE?

I HAVE A 2CH SACD PLAYER. SOMETIMES SACD's sound pretty good, but in several cases, usually with orchestral pieces, for some reason the melody carried by the string section gets drowned out by the horns/brass instruments. the effect is unnerving, like i am hearing the background or supportive musical lines as the dominant voice and the theme as the supportive or background voice. i have tried switching the phase, and even going to the redbook layer (if there is one). Naturally these are Hybrid Multichannel Discs that can be played on a conventional, 2CH SACD, and 6CH SACD. I have even updated the firmware on my SACD player (EMM Labs) but to no avail. Am i the only one who has this problem? Funny thing is, the redbook cd's i have always thought sounded great still sound that way, and small ensembles/chamber music on SACD sound amazing. but it would seem i am getting some of the other channels mixed up with the main-front-L&R channels.
WHAT is wrong with this picture? Thanks for your feedback.
french_fries
french_fries OP
815 posts
 
UPDATE******
OK, an interesting thing happens when i keep pressing the "M" button on the EMM player. one mode is rebook, next mode is 2CH SACD, and there is a THIRD MODE not mentioned in the manual- MULTI-CH SACD. WHICH WORKS- SORT OF.
you get the front 2 tracks of the multi-channel layer. the REDBOOK layer is quite a bit louder than either of the SACD choices. but i found that the player NOW sounds quite a bit better after having experimented by switching amongst the THREE choices. this has to be done while the disc is not moving of course, and SLOWLY to give the machine a chance to perform this function. so anyway, on 2CH SACD the discs i used to have issues with (indistinct sound) sound much better NOW. PRIOR TO THIS i refrained from monkeying around with the switches and just let the player make its selection automatically between redbook and 2ch sacd.
Customer service at EMM didn't know about the multi-ch selection either.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Given the problem, it makes complete sense. Given also that your player is only 2 channel, there is really no way that you could have known. Its amazing how they can have that 3rd option an not mention it.

You mention the volume level differences between CD and SACD. I'm pretty sure thats normal. On most multi format players, the volume differences between formats is dealt with internally so that they are level matched. Doing that degrades sound quality (I have no idea by how much). Ayre gets a lot of complaints about this with their player. People call in thinking that there is something wrong with the machine. Thats just how they make it. I'm not 100% certain its the same with your EMM, but I'm pretty sure it is.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,533 posts
 
When all else fails, read the instructions.
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