[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGI I have about 20 or so HDCD titles in my CD library... but I never did listen to it in its HDCD decoded form. The only time I tried it was via Windows Media Player which I only noticed subtle difference since Windows Media Player cannot bypass the dreadded upsampling of the windows mixer unlike using APE (Monkey's Audio - a lossless compression format) being played back via Winamp thru the ASIO driver. The reason why I wanted to give HDCD more chances is because of some 192kHz/24bit mastered CDs that I have (the CD is in itself the same old redbook CD - 44.1kHz/16bit - but it was processed by using a 192kHz/24bit DSP - I think XRCD2 uses simliar processing as well) I'll also look into the suggestion of Denon. How much do they go for on the street? (are we allow to discuss street price here? if not, please let me know the MSRP instead)

You should hear your HDCDs on a bona fide HDCD player; it's an effective system. The artists who chose to employ HDCD coding were generally more concerned about their recordings' sound than was the rest of the pack. And the Pacific Microsonics HDCD decoding chip decoded other redbook CDs very well as well. I know I was surprised to find I already owned several dozen HDCD recordings. My first HDCD Denon was a 5-disc changes that went for @$300 street and sounded very good. Current HDCD Denons range from that price to @$1,000 and up.

 

[SGI]

Old Pa, I don't have a delicated HDCD / Redbook CD Player right now. I'm still using a Philips DVD727 DVD player to play standard redbook CDs. Although it has 192kHz/24-bit DAC (like they all do nowadays) but I don't know how well it is designed/implemented. I have no reference to compared the sound of the DVD727 to. From what I heard from my 192kHz/24bit mastered redbook CD, I can notice a substantial difference from regular pressed redbook CDs... so I would expect HDCD to have a good difference in sound since it has an extra 4 bits of information per sampling compared to non-HDCD redbook CDs.

This brings me back to wanting the ability to have HDCD Decoding and SACD Playback. Sound Quality is the most important thing to me. I'm willing to increase my current budget of under $350 if I see fit - just like I did when I doubled my initial budget when I bought my speakers and receivers. I'm looking into the spec and reviews of various Denons (such as 1920, 2200, 2900 and 2901) just to compare. Too bad I do not have time to go and audition them for myself. (All of my gears so far are bought unheard... but so far, I'm satisfy with them - compared to what I used to have!)


-=SGI=-

 

[Drag0n]

Maybe a Marantz 8260,and or of their universal player offerings? Has an excellent Stereophile review.

 

[pawlowski6132]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n Maybe a Marantz 8260,and or of their universal player offerings? Has an excellent Stereophile review.

The Marantz SA8260 is pretty good for SACD. Redbook is average.

I'm REALLY enjoying my Cary 303/300 which has Redbook & HDCD. The Cary 306 has SACD & HDCD & Redbook.

This WILL BE my next source. Hope you can try it too.



Cary 306

 

[palchiu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawlowski6132 The Marantz SA8260 is pretty good for SACD. Redbook is average. I'm REALLY enjoying my Cary 303/300 which has Redbook & HDCD. The Cary 306 has SACD & HDCD & Redbook. This WILL BE my next source. Hope you can try it too.

Did you compare 303/300 w/ other CDPs?

I also put 306 in my upgrade list, but I didn't heard any Cary before.

 

[pawlowski6132]

Quote:

Originally Posted by palchiu Did you compare 303/300 w/ other CDPs? I also put 306 in my upgrade list, but I didn't heard any Cary before.

I had the Marantz, then a Musical Fidelity A3.24/Sony DVP-S7000 (DAC/Transport) combo and then the Cary. As you would expect, out of this lot, the Cary is tops in fidelity and features.

Others brands I was considering in my research were Accuphase, Meridian and Wadia. Based on feedback, research and anticipated synergy with my amp I just went with the Cary 303/300. I like the tube output option and the the built in analog attenuator so I can run it without a preamp. I heard this sounds really transparent.

I haven't read one bad review or opinion of this player so, I wasn't nevous about buying it without compariing it to others. So far so good! Listening as I type as a matter of fact.

 

[Beauregard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n Maybe a Marantz 8260 ...

FWIW, a poster on Audio Asylum said that Marantz had non-working display models of stereo and multichannel units that will replace the 8260 at January's CES.

Also, I'd be cautious about buying a used one; they have a history of disc reading problems.

I've had mine for a year and love it - despite the fact that it's going back for warranty repair eventually because of sporadic probs reading discs. It made me a believer in the SACD format though I ain't enough of an audiophile or have enough experience to offer worthwhile SQ comparisons with other units for redbook or SACD playback.

Best,
Beau

 

[Bones13]

Although I listen to music primarily from a computer source, I bought the Samsung DVD-HD950 for listening to DVDa and SACD, and of course to listen to CDs as well.

I can confirm that the 950 will play SACD thru the analog out jacks.

I have really enjoyed playing DVDs from this box to my widescreen PC monitor, and listening to the audio via my Raptor/650s. No bone shaking of my home theatre sytem at home, but very enjoyable.

Looking into to modding this box - powersupply/output stage/clock. A very small, nice looking, and usable DVD player, not audiophile I am sure, but being a computer listener, I really did not want to allocate poly-K $ on a player.

 

[BigD]

I have been following this Samsung HD-DVD960/1080 for sometime. It's really interesting to upconvert to 1080p via HDMI...I don't know if there's really picture and image improvement though.

Only the 1080 model carries SACD/DVD-A capability, but the 960 seems to be the economical choice around $170.

I'm also thinkin bout Toshiba SD-6980 due to its universal capability and great pricing ($150). Only it upconverts to 1080i. If there's difference at all between 1080p and 1080i via HDMI??? Anybody have this Toshi???

I don't know if I really want to spend mucho denaro when the Blu Ray is on the horizon, true High Def player.