judmarc
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2011
- Posts
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Thanks for the responsiveness and the poll. I always want to learn more, so I'd be very interested in understanding more about why DSD is a flawed format (if the machine translating Mike's statements into non-"cursive" can hold out long enough before burning up 
.
1. Are you familiar with SACD? DSD? Yes. Familiar with the formats and have read a little about what they are.
2. Do you own any SACDs? Yes, at this point by accident. That is, an artist I love (Jordi Savall) is now releasing his discs in SACD/CD hybrid format, so if I want to hear more of his stuff, it's in that format.
3. If so, what percentage of your collection is SACD vs CD or files? Just a couple SACDs of thousands of discs (most of the Savall I own is older, pre-hybrid), so less than 1%. I have a bunch of rips, some downloaded hi-res PCM, and a couple of downloaded albums in DSD format. Probably 75% CDs, 20% CD rips, 5% downloads of which the vast majority is hi-res PCM and less than 1% is DSD.
4. Is SACD/DSD decoding an important consideration when you're looking for a DAC? Not completely sure what you mean by "SACD decoding" - something using the HDMI output of an Oppo player? Heard that may kinda suck re audio quality. I don't know how much of your market is comprised of audiophiles with Oppos itching to plug the HDMI output into a DAC. (Got an Oppo myself but wouldn't be interested in using the HDMI output unless the audio quality was right.) DSD decoding, yes. This gets us out from under the near-impossible situation Sony has created for SACDs, and goes along with the general music and audio industry movement from discs to files. I'm always driven more by artists than formats, and I've heard enough people sound good enough on DSD downloads that I want to be able to hear more. (Check out the Blue Coast Collection. Remember Glen Moore of Oregon? There's about 10 seconds of his bass playing on the final track of the Collection, just enough to really make you want more of that beautiful sound. Of course that's not all of the Collection that's good. I like most of the other artists as well, and it sounds very, very well recorded to me.)
5. If you owned a DAC that could be upgraded to playing SACD/DSD, what would you pay for the upgrade? I'm thinking along the same lines as Anaxilus, $200-250. As someone else pointed out, there's the Mytek at $1400-$1600, so if you were adding this capability to the statement DAC you'd have to consider the quality and price of the competition. Among the segment of folks who are really into DSD (*big* threads on Computer Audiophile forum and elsewhere about this stuff, but I don't know how many people in your market that would represent), the Mytek is kind of the only game in town right now under the multi-thousand dollar mark.
Thanks again for the poll - appreciate the chance to blabber, and the other replies are really interesting.
.1. Are you familiar with SACD? DSD? Yes. Familiar with the formats and have read a little about what they are.
2. Do you own any SACDs? Yes, at this point by accident. That is, an artist I love (Jordi Savall) is now releasing his discs in SACD/CD hybrid format, so if I want to hear more of his stuff, it's in that format.
3. If so, what percentage of your collection is SACD vs CD or files? Just a couple SACDs of thousands of discs (most of the Savall I own is older, pre-hybrid), so less than 1%. I have a bunch of rips, some downloaded hi-res PCM, and a couple of downloaded albums in DSD format. Probably 75% CDs, 20% CD rips, 5% downloads of which the vast majority is hi-res PCM and less than 1% is DSD.
4. Is SACD/DSD decoding an important consideration when you're looking for a DAC? Not completely sure what you mean by "SACD decoding" - something using the HDMI output of an Oppo player? Heard that may kinda suck re audio quality. I don't know how much of your market is comprised of audiophiles with Oppos itching to plug the HDMI output into a DAC. (Got an Oppo myself but wouldn't be interested in using the HDMI output unless the audio quality was right.) DSD decoding, yes. This gets us out from under the near-impossible situation Sony has created for SACDs, and goes along with the general music and audio industry movement from discs to files. I'm always driven more by artists than formats, and I've heard enough people sound good enough on DSD downloads that I want to be able to hear more. (Check out the Blue Coast Collection. Remember Glen Moore of Oregon? There's about 10 seconds of his bass playing on the final track of the Collection, just enough to really make you want more of that beautiful sound. Of course that's not all of the Collection that's good. I like most of the other artists as well, and it sounds very, very well recorded to me.)
5. If you owned a DAC that could be upgraded to playing SACD/DSD, what would you pay for the upgrade? I'm thinking along the same lines as Anaxilus, $200-250. As someone else pointed out, there's the Mytek at $1400-$1600, so if you were adding this capability to the statement DAC you'd have to consider the quality and price of the competition. Among the segment of folks who are really into DSD (*big* threads on Computer Audiophile forum and elsewhere about this stuff, but I don't know how many people in your market that would represent), the Mytek is kind of the only game in town right now under the multi-thousand dollar mark.
Thanks again for the poll - appreciate the chance to blabber, and the other replies are really interesting.
Keep up the good work Schiit!
