I recently started acquiring some SACDs to play around with my Oppo DV-980H and I'm blown away by the sound quality. It's likely the format that just shines, but I also think that the mastering for these recordings is done with a little more care.
Use this thread to discuss equipment, recordings you like or just your enjoyment of SACD.
I've got a Sony DVP-S9000ES which plays stereo SACD's and CD's. I'm satisfied with it and have heard no other source component yet that sounds better; however, re-mastered stuff like Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, does not seem to sound any better on SACD than it does on CD, which is pretty bad-the trumpet sounds like finger nails on a chalk board; and, great sounding CD's do not seem to me to get better when purchased in SACD format. This makes me think what's important is the mixing and mastering more than what media the material is stored on. If it sounds good on CD it will sound good on SACD and if it sounds bad on CD it will sound bad on SACD is what I've become conditioned to believe. At any rate, I've got a few SACD's which sound really good, and I'll post a list of those here later. Today, I'm hoping that multi-channel BD audio will take off. The universal BD player with USB input seems to make a lot of sense. I've purchased a few MC BD's like Diana Krall's, Live from Rio and Tom Petty's MOJO which are the most life like recordings I've ever heard, quite remarkable.
I'm still using the Marantz SA8001 I picked up a few years back. Terrific sound and it's reliable. No plans to upgrade until it dies.
I haven't been buying as many discs as I had been, but will get back into library-building next year when I'm not shoveling cash into a house and car. (Should have each, and paid off, withing a few months.)
The place I plan to hit hard is Berkshire Record Outlet. Lots of inexpensive classical SACDs and I'll buy all the ones I don't have. Another goal is to get all the Red Book ripped lossless to a server and only have SACDs on the rack.
It's a thread for the high-end forum instead all these odd stupid threads there.
I'm a huge SACD fan since I've heard the first original DSD recordings on my Cary 306 SACD. I've realized how imperfect all PCM recordings are.
The SACD demise is one of the biggest omissions for the audiophilies.
It's too little, too late now, but for a few weeks, Barnesandnoble.com was selling all of the Living Stereo Hybrid SACDs for $5.99 each, plus free shipping and a code for another 10% off. The deal ended Monday.
That's kind of the catch-22 with SACD players. Budget units don't have the guts to really get the most out of the format, since external DACs are out of the question. But they're what most people hear SACDs on, leaving them to wonder what the big deal is.
I can personally recommend the Oppo line... a used BDP-83 could be had for around $300, sounds great with SACDs, and holds its own with redbook. I use a BDP-83SE as my "reference" player. It's a transport only 90% of the time, but it sounds fantastic as a SACD player.
Every SACD player I've owned (4 or 5, I guess) has the normal assortment of digital outs, but the SACD layer is copy-protected and is not output via optical or coax.
HDMI output, on the other hand, works great when used with a receiver/preamp with HDMI input and onboard DAC. My home theater/family rig currently has an Oppo BDP-83 (non-SE) that feeds a Marantz SR5005 via HDMI. Sounds fantastic... kind of a toe-tapping mid-fi rig that's perfect for DVDs and casual listening.
Sorry if I'm missing the intent of your post... are you saying that some SACD players allow you to use optical/coax digital outs with the SACD layer under certain circumstances? If so, I am not personally aware of them.
Interesting find. I knew the ps3 played sacd, but when i was glancing over the wiki for sacd and saw that the ps3 allowed digital out over optical. Wonder if it was downmixed.
I'm another owner of the DVP-S9000ES. It's still working fine although the disc drawer seems slower every year...!
My concern over SACDs is the amount that seem to be just dropped on the new format without actually being some kind of hi-res format. Some of the smaller labels continue to take the time and effort to produce *real* SACD versions, which I think is cool.
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Bumping my XA5400ES right now!
