[Vertigo-1]

Alright, I said in the past I could care less. I thought that because it'll never become mainstream, SACDs aren't worth it.

I'm now all comfy and cozy at home, listening to my first SACD ever, the Titanic SACD soundtrack with my R10s. And I am beyond floored. I am speechless. And just laughing to myself all the while. I've already got this soundtrack on CD...and oh my god, it is SO, SOOOOOOO much better on SACD. I thought I had already heard Celine Dion singing "My Heart Will Go On" in all the ways ever possible already. But nothing prepared me for how insanely REAL she sounded off the SACD. Her voice is so, SO much more airy and sweet and delicate, it just leaves me laughing in complete disbelief.

I could care less right now if SACDs died off tomorrow. I'd simply go get my favorite SACDs I've eyed and live life happily hearing getting eargasms out of them.

But Ohhhhh no. I'm behind markl very firmly now. If there were a poll tomorrow that decided the fate of SACDs vs. DVD-A, I'd friggin' yank every damn person in this city and make them vote for SACDs with a bazooka pointed to their head!

And then point a nuke at the rest of the U.S. and make everybody else vote the same!

SACDs is VERY real folks. HDCDs still had me guessing about the sonic benefits. There's no guessing around with SACDs. IT IS THAT GOOD!!!

With SACD players dropping in price like dead flies (NS500V costs a mere $300), you owe it to yourself to get a SACD player and check this format out! You will NOT regret it.

[size=medium]LONG LIVE SACDs!!![/size]

 

[mcbiff]

Which player do you have?

 

[jaskin]

Hey vert,

RELAX!

Just came from the Chesky site saw a few SACDs there then read your post. LOL. Fell like gettin a SACD player now.

J

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Have you compared SACD to DVD-A then

 

[chadbang]

But how do you really feel about it, Vert?

BTW, I could never afford it, but someone has a Sony 777ES sacd player up for auction on ebay until Nov. 26

 

[DarkAngel]

Yes SACD can sound fabulous, keep this in mind though:

1)Very few titles available, mostly jazz and classical, almost no rock/alt releases. Probably couple years away from main stream
pop releases.

2)Even though prices have come down, you pay much more than CDs @$18-25, those devoius music companies can drain your wallets again first you bought record version, then CD version, then SACD version.......hit you up 3 times, what a business!

3)The new SACD recordings that are DSD mastered surpass all
mediums, even the venerable LP/Turntable, many are just breathtaking on a high resolution system and sound completely natural. Older master tapes that are converted to SACD however
are a mixed bag........I would like to hear others opinions on these, the ones I've heard magnify master tape hiss etc while providing more detail, I don't know if I prefer them over old CD version in all cases.......these were mainly Sony classical music titles. I would be interested how the SACD versions of old jazz classics sound compared to CD versions. What do members here think?

I will probably wait at least another 2-3 years before even considering SACD, let the title list grow and SACD prices come down, players are already very affordable now. MY CDs have never sounded better thanks to upsampling DACs, I am rediscovering my entire collection.......only took 20 years to
make a great sound CD players!

 

[ppl]

WHAT!.... Wait 3 years to upgrade to Better Sound. Do it Now. Life is so Short to Deny ones self, the Pleasures of All Comforts and Experences this World makes available. Now it is true all of us are at some point will be Denied some of things the Pysical Plane has to offer, But Not to Take Advantage of somthing Available to us that one get's pleasure or satisfaction out of seems like a strange Concept to me.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vertigo-1 But Ohhhhh no. I'm behind markl very firmly now. If there were a poll tomorrow that decided the fate of SACDs vs. DVD-A, I'd friggin' yank every damn person in this city and make them vote for SACDs with a bazooka pointed to their head!

So you compared SACD with CD, and as a result you think DVD-A should lose? Dude, you need to compare CD with high-rate PCM. Get I, Robot from classicrecs.com on DAD and compare that with any CD version.

I'm not saying DVD-A should win, I personally hope they both ...erm... survive (it's not winning if they both win).

But I'll say it again -- it doesn't need to be a format war! We just need to enough people to be interested for the upgrades to survive!

EDIT: But on the other hand, if they insist on watermarking DVD-A's, I think they should lose.

 

[markl]

"But Ohhhhh no. I'm behind markl very firmly now. If there were a poll tomorrow that decided the fate of SACDs vs. DVD-A, I'd friggin' yank every damn person in this city and make them vote for SACDs with a bazooka pointed to their head!"

Glad you like SACD. I also would like to know which player you got. BTW, I think DVD-A has nearly as much to offer as SACD. If either format goes down, and only one emerges as the standard, we all still win IMHO.

Again, there are people out there who will invest $300 in a pair of interconnects, yet still pooh pooh the value of the new formats. It's just bizarre! Go listen to them, then decide if you can possibly live without them.


markl

 

[Tim D]

They were advertising Sony SACD on my pop fm radio station. I laffed my ass off when the advertiser mentioned "soundstage" and details. Not that it was funny...it just SOUNDED funny coming from a pop station for which the majority of listeners would say "What" IMHO. I mean even I am not used to HEARING that word being said, more like reading it all the time and understanding it...but you rarely see any "mass" advertisements for audio ever use that word cause most people don't even know what it is.

Than they said it made music sound better than ever as only experienced live or in studio quality blah blah. And finally listed pop SACD's like Train and J-Lo or whoever.

It was funny, but at the same time I was happy that it was being advertised to the "pop" masses just because it means better software and hardware for cheaper in the future if successful.

 

[Vertigo-1]

No I haven't compared SACDs to DVD-As. But I agree with DustyChalk. I'd be happy living in a world where both DVD-A and SACDs live side by side. I haven't exactly seen some sort of deadline where one must be chosen officially, and as far as I can tell both sides have officially gone golden and are coming out with albums, so maybe we will live in a world where they're side by side. It seems as though both sides have already gone too far if anything to go back. DVD-A seems to have the software advantage, while SACD has the hardware advantage. If they can make DVD-A players more mainstream, I'd be happy getting a cheaper DVD-A player to add on to my system just to play that format.

Pioneer is going to come out with a player that'll play both SACDs and DVD-As, although not as well as the dedicated players...but if we see more players like it coming out, the formats can't help but survive!

 

[markl]

You're being awfully coy about which SACD player you got... Stop teasing us and spill the beans!

markl

 

[KR...]

I'll get a SACD player once all the bands that I like start being released in that format. For now, there's only a handful of SACD that I would want to get. And they are all overpriced, I can buy two CDs for the price of one SACD.

The redbook part of all the current Players, even the super pricely ones, still can not hang with the top CD players. So you will still need two sources, if you are an auidophile.

Therefore, for now it's just still not worth it. I rather buy a great high end CD player for the vast ammount of CDs I have and plan on getting.

 

[markl]

If everyone waits for their favorite album to come out on SACD before buying a player, that is the death of the format. You've got to buy-in to it now in the hopes that the "groundswell" of support for the new hardware and the CONCEPT of high-resolution audio ensures the format's success. If we audiophiles and music-lovers drop the ball on the new formats, they'll never make it with the general public and they ain't coming back.

markl

 

[Vertigo-1]

Quote:

The redbook part of all the current Players, even the super pricely ones, still can not hang with the top CD players.

This one I've found to be more of a preference thing than anything, after spending countless hours researching CDPs at Audioasylum. I heard the SCD-1 and find it hard to believe there's something out there that can get better than it. Coincidentally, I read yesterday at audioasylum a thread where a person stated in Japan, a well tuned up CD system actually sounded better than a SACD player. And this was a mass audition too, where many people listened to both...and many people thought the CD player was the SACD player. Now, the kicker is, that CD system consists of parts I never even heard of, and costed well over 10k. The SCD-1 could be bought new for $2800. Essentially you could think of SACDs as bringing those 10k sources down to a more reachable level. Yes you pay more for the medium, but then again, look at the money you'd save over getting that 10k source.

Of course, I agree that until it becomes more mainstream and nonetheless the prices drop further, it wouldn't be worth it to the general public. Strangely though you see people still paying $20-30 for a DVD, and yet tell them to spend $20 on an audio disc and they'll squeal. Of course this is because DVD has no close competitor other than VHS which is by far inferior, while SACD has to deal with CDs.

I think Sony has something really great going here with their players...they esentially are going with bang for the buck at any price level. Go with the 333 and you have a CDP that can compete with anything in the $500 price level. Go with the 9000ES and you have a player that has so much diversity in being able to play four different formats at top notch levels that it's a no brainer at the $1000 level. And go with the $2800 SCD-1, and you have something that has people mentioning 10k sources in the same sentence with it. We're in that age where people won't think about getting a CDP without considering how "Sony's also include SACD for the price". And as many people have said, if SACDs died tomorrow, you'd still end up with a great CDP (not the best, but great nonetheless) for all those price points. I certainly thought that way when I went out source hunting.

Sony is good.