Newbie Post - SACD/DVD-A 10 years later

[Suave]

Nine Inch Nails released the first Blu-ray disc in audio only of their instrumental album "Ghosts I-IV"

I'm a pretty huge Nine Inch Nails fan but appearantly not huge enough - I didn't know that they had released this disc. Trent Reznor has released a number of SACDs and DVD-Audio albums (which I own), which sound really awesome in surround because his "trippy" music naturally lends itself to these formats. I've also got his Live Beside You In Time Blu-ray (with video). I have the "Ghosts I-IV" CD, but I can't say that I like it enough to pick up the Blu-ray version.

I do agree with you on the players - it would be nice to see some of the higher-end manufacturers step up to the plate with their offerings.

If you listen to the Ayre player Mike, let us know what you think!

[audit13]

I have a couple of hybrid SACDs (Roxy Music's Avalon and Carole King's Tapestry) but I only have an old Pioneer universal dvd player. I noticed that Sony's new BD players (bdps370 & 470) support SACD. I can't find any reviews but at least Sony is still supporting the format.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...specifications

[Suave]

I've enjoyed multi-channel sound from SACDs and DVD-Audio discs every since the formats came out. And for the longest time I used an inexpensive Pioneer DV-563-A universal player to play these discs.

Recently I upgraded to the Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD universal Blu-ray player and the improvement in the sound quality is remarkable!

It's great to see that Sony's new player offer SACD playback.

[audit13]

Yeah, these new Sony BR players claim to output DSD via hdmi. I have an Onkyo receiver that accepts DSD via hdmi but it converts DSD to pcm to analog. Some say the DSD to pcm conversion degrades the signal but I can't really say since I don't have a receiver that can decode DSD to analog without going through pcm.

[Suave]

I can't comment on how DSD to PCM conversion degrades the signal but I can tell you that from my experience that sending DSD from your player to a capable AV receiver makes a huge difference in the sound performance.

I currently use a Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD universal blu-ray player to send DSD to a Pioneer Elite SC-07 A/V receiver and the sound from SACDs is just excellent!

[audit13]

I decided to purchase a Sony bdps-370 for $200 + tax to check out the sound on my multichannel SACD collection which consists of about 10 discs. Since I'm outputting multichannel dsd to my receiver, I didn't think the Oppo BDP-80 would sound radically better for $100 more.

All I can say is wow. It's amazing how good these re-issues can sound in 5.1. I have a couple of DVD-A discs by Fleetwood Mac and I'm tempted to return the Sony to get the Oppo BDP-80 to get access to Fleetwood Mac's high-res audio tracks.

It's such a shame that SACD is so hard to find in Toronto. I've ordered a couple from Amazon.co.uk and saved a bunch over ordering from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.

[Suave]

Congrats on the purchase of the SACD player audit13!

I think that most of us that enjoy multi-channel music felt you did when we first discovered these new formats. Re-issues of music recorded years ago can sound incredible in high resolution. While some albums remixed in 5.1 can sound artificial or gimmicy, others can sound truly wonderful. Discovering these well mixed albums can be a lot of fun!

I agree that SACDs and DVD-Audio discs can be hard to find in Toronto. That's why I buy a lot of these on ebay.

Here's one in the Toronto area (Markham) that does have a good selection of SACDs/DVD-As:
Living Sound Stereo
www.livingsoundstereo.com

[audit13]

Many of the SACDs I currently own (Roxy Music's Avalon, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Quincy Jones Greatest Hits, Carole King's Tapestry, The Police Greatest Hits) were purchased from a trip I made to the US in 2008. They were hybrid discs that I played on a CD or Blu-ray player.

I'm wondering if I should get the Oppo BDP-80 for $100 more to play the 2 DVD-A discs in my collection (Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and Fleetwood Mac's Say You Will).

I also picked up Steely Dan's Gaucho, Diana Krall's Girl in the Other Room, and Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms on SACD from amazon.co.uk for a good price.