Newbie Post - SACD/DVD-A 10 years later

[pharsyde]

On the topic of SACD. Does anyone know what happens if you play a multi-channel SACD on a player that's hooked up to a stereo amp

interesting. I tried this upon receiving a couple of SACD's in the past. Admittedly, was pretty green @ the time (still am in many regard) comprehending the incredible audio power I could unleash. : ) Tried on a dated SACD player from Pioneer over three channel .. * thinking the CD would down mix ie: run the 5 channel into 3 (very naive of me at the time, simple lack of exposure really) .. the end result (from my re-calling) .. you will lose the full effect if you attempt over MC out, with anything less than 5 channels.

However, playing over 2 channel amp .. there is a separate, as you say, 2 channel stereo layer (as normal). i do believe there will be an enhanced 2 channel output with the SACD .. verses standard CD's, of which .. there are varying degrees of mastering quality, spec ..etc .. again, as i understand it. Indeed, this audio, HT hobby can be a complicated realm - i have learned to just enjoy the end result, verses having to dissect to the "nth" degree, if i can resist.

I'm no expert. This was my experience having briefly played around with it, others will certainly tweak, or add to my comments as required. (from what i can recall, well over a year ago now - however i will soon be implementing a 5 channel layout - with my new Oppo...yay !!)

good question

[Donnie]

Thanks a lot for the response!

[Suave]

On the topic of SACD. Does anyone know what happens if you play a multi-channel SACD on a player that's hooked up to a stereo amp

Most SACDs contain audio in three formats: high res stereo, high res multi-channel and CD-quality stereo. Every SACD should be clearly labeled and tell you which audio formats it contains. Your SACD/universal player should allow you to select between these formats (some players have a little indicator on the display to tell you which one is playing but some don't).

So if you've got an SACD player hooked up to a a stereo amp, just make sure that you're playing back the SACD stereo format.

[Donnie]

Awesome! Thanks for the clarification.