SACD Opinions: Gimmick? Like it? Don't? Why?

Trelja: I'm glad that you continue to post here. You consistently sum up my thoughts and feelings in a very short, simple and accurate manner. Kudo's to you for knowing what to say and how and when to say it.

Kana: While most folks here know that i am basically a "fan" of J. Peter Moncrieff and IAR, i have to disagree with him here on a relative basis. As a general rule, i personally think that relatively inexpensive SACD players with a good SACD recording is noticeably superior to the average redbook player that costs more money. That is, when comparing redbook to SACD. As Joe ( Trelja ) stated above, SACD sounds more like "flowing music" rather than someone going through the mechanized motions of trying to make music.

In absolute terms of the best redbook recordings and machines vs the majority of SACD players and SACD recordings, that "may" be a different story. Dollar for dollar though and where the mass majority of "audio geeks" are spending their money, i do think that SACD is a step in the right direction. I also believe that it will get better with time. After all, look how long it took to fully develop vinyl and redbook. I wouldn't think that SACD would be all that different, other than the fact that technology is currently growing at a much faster rate. Having said that, even the current offerings better the first generation machines and SACD is still in its' infancy.

Then again, this is just my opinion, which i continually subject you people to on a regular basis. Thanks for not having me tarred and feathered : ) Sean
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Ritteri: I have a very transparent, revealing high-end setup with a Wadia Transport, dCS upsampler and dac, Innersound monoblocks, and ML CLS IIz electrostats. Yes...there are stunning CD players......but SACD through a decent multichannel setup will knock your socks off. The sense of space in well made recordings is quite amazing.

Sean- I'm not fan o J.P.M., but his article makes me think
that we haven't heard the true potential of 24/192 PCM recording yet. Due to Sony/Philips' financial muscle, there's been more focus on SACd by hi end equipment makers.

I'm looking forward to Classic Records'24/192 releases next
month. Right now I'm enjoying redbook on my power dac.

I have a sacd-1 I do feel sacd sounds better it should it sample`s 56 times more than a cd filling in the voids giving it more detail and depth in the music. Here`s were I get into trouble my vinyl rig most definently is better, that`s just my 2 cent`s. David

Kana: I agree that "redbook" is capable of pretty darn good performance if EVERYTHING is done properly. Since that is rarely the case, we are left with something that is far from perfect. As such, taking steps to provide better performance is always welcome in my book, regardless of the format chosen.

If the sampling rate is stepped up, as Cylinderking mentions, there are less "holes" to fill in or "empty spaces" for the player itself to interpret. Taking that a step further, going to a higher sampling rate while minimizing or removing filtering from the signal path can create a FAR more realistic presentation. Not only is the recorded data spit out in a more flowing manner with less "guesswork" involved, there are less problems with in and out of band phase-shifts taking place. Since very few manufacturers are bold enough to build such a product, most redbook based systems suffer drastically. Once you hear the difference that such a design makes ( if well implimented ) in terms of liquidity, air and harmonic structure, you won't be going back to "mass produced" redbook machines any time soon.

SACD, on the other hand, addresses both of these problems ( sampling rate and filtering ) to some extent right off the bat. Since most machines designed to play SACD will conform to the majority of these standards, that gives it a head start / upper hand right off the bat. Less is open to interpretation of the machine / circuitry itself and the side effects of filtering have been further reduced. Having said that, i don't doubt that a "really tricked out" SACD player would sound really, really good. That is, if one could find a recording that was up to snuff to demo such a piece of gear. Sean
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