Relief? The New Digital Players

I think it's going to be YEARS before both hardware and software manufactures make a new format widely attractive. So having conviction in this belief, I purchased a Levinson transport and DAC (used, but excellent) early last summer. So far I see NO reason for having any regrets-- this is the best sounding digital music that I have ever heard. Ben; upsampling is the same thing as oversampling, which has routinely been used in CD players for years. The ONLY reason to purchase an outboard upsampling device is if your CD player does not have very good DA Conversion, eg Levinson gear oversamples at about 346kHZ and is excellent, but does it internally. Any good high end CD player should not need an out board upsampler. I can't see that many SACD titles will ever be available. DVD-Audio has the best chance of succeding in a big way because of the success of DVD-Video-- especially those players that also accept CD. But it's going to be a long time before there will be many DVD-A discs available. The "mass market" is going to like CDs for years. And, the presence of DVD-A discs may bring the cost of CDs down which will make them even more attractive? The above is all IMHO. Does it make any sense? Cheers. Craig.

Craig-yes I appreciate the oversampling/upsampling situation-seen the debate on here about it and in the audio press.However my take on is twofold it'll be sold as new technology and in essence it will allow(or at least claim) the Levinson type audio quality at a price acceptable to the average Joe. Likewise if you can kill two birds with two stones by using the DVD/Bel Canto approach then it's potential sales will be (are?)massive. I agree totally with your other comments. I would guess outwith the purists that the audio market is as likely to follow fashion/trends as any other. I expect the label upsampling to be a very fashionable phrase in the next couple of years..... Ben

Dekay - we must be reading different reports on SACD. Reviews I've seen in the audio mags have been mostly positive and often glowing (Stereophile, TAS, Ultimate Audio, etc..). The reason I'm holding off is the tiny number of titles available and the high cost of SACD discs. If Sony continues at the paltry rate of 10 new titles a month at $30 each, the format seems doomed to fail. Another bad sign is that SACD players do not seem to be poplular with Sony dealers. I could only find one shop in the S.F. Bay Area that carries the SCD-1 and they were geared towards selling big screen TVs, not high end audio.

I have heard the SACD format and found it to be quite good - ablbiet it was a sample disc. My feeling is that SACD will fail as a "mass-market" format, while DVD-A will become the "mass-market" format of the future. The price will probably be such (in a couple of years) that it would be a no-brainer for someone who is in the market for a DVD video player to buy a player that has DVD-A capability built-in - esp. if there is not much of a premium in price. My biggest fear, and one I don't see being discussed here oddly enough, is that DVD-A will be mainly used for multi-channel audio - NOT super high quality 2 channel. Everything I have read about DVD-A (in the marketing hype) is that you will get "music" in a 5.1 or 6 channel arrangement - similar to Dolby digital or DTS. I'm sure the recording engineers will be employing this surround technique when they make the software. With this "fear" in mind, I think the SACD format will have a "niche" market for us 2-channel folks. My thinking is that (in the future) I'll have two digital playback systems. One will be for all of my current 16 bit, 2-channel discs and the other will be a DVD-A, where I can watch movies and listen to the newer recording format - presuming bands record that way and (future band's) music is worth a crap! My advice - get the best digital system you can afford today if your in to good 'ol STEREO!

Hi Robert: My first impressions of SACD came from posts at this site and as I mentioned a few dealers (two to be exact). Since then I have been going through the threads at Audio Asylum and have been getting favorable views of the format and a better understanding of the cost of the equipment. I would now be interested in auditioning an SACD player. Unfortunately the $1500.00 Sony looks to be a top loader from the photos that I have viewed. My cats like to sack out on the top of the CD player and a top loader would not be an option for me. My smallest and "best sounding" cat has been nicknamed "Sandbag". I also kind of understand (I think) that many of these will be universal players and will do it all. As long as the one I pick is a step up from my CAL Icon II in musicality when playing standard CD's as well as doing the new format thing as an additional improvement I figure that I can't really lose. The SACD's at $30.00+ would be a treat as apposed to the norm as long as they remain at such prices. Right now as it stands "there are no treats". The views in this thread have helped straighten my thinking on the subject of SACD and hopefully I will be able to curb my fears of the other formats (DVD-A, and any others) mentioned that I know nothing about with added knowledge. By the way the more expensive versions that I have seen on the web are awsome looking players and would really place my cats on a pedestal.