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SACD and DVD-A: Apples and Oranges?

It seems to me that SACD and DVD-A are going for different markets. Comparing them, especially the question on "Which will survive?" seems fruitless. Both could survive, or neither.

SACD is aimed at correcting the problems we've had all along with CD sound. SACD provides a quality 2-channel digital source at a reasonable price. I wager that the typical $250 SACD player playing SACD's sounds as good or better than a typical $1000 CD player playing CD's. Hybrid disks provide backward compatibility. Multi-channel capability is there if desired. By reducing the entry price of a decent sounding player, SACD can bring hi-fi to the masses.

DVD-A is aimed at the thousands (or millions) of average Joe's who already have a 5.1 DVD setup. These guys are wondering why movies come in Surround Sound but music CD's are still 2-channel. The DVD music section in th local music store is growing every day. DVD-A provides a way to hear Metallica or whatever in 5.1 sound. DVD-A is off to a slow start for several reasons. The biggest problem, in my mind, is that the single-wire digital interface doesn't exist. It still takes 6 I.C.'s to hook up DVD-A to a receiver.

Seen this way, both SACD and DVD-A are good things but SACD is aimed more at the 2 channel audiophile market.

Agree?
pmi_guy

Showing 1 response by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I quickly determined that you need both SACD and DVD-A to get access to a reasonable catalog of discs, and at least one relatively inexpensive universal player is available (Pioneer DV45A). Both formats can yield excellent results.

I expect that DVD will get a big boost from auto sound systems, where speakers in the rear have long been standard, and the acoustic environment is very well controlled.

As to speaker spacing, I don't think there is a problem. Even inexpensive players make provision to introduce different amounts of time delay in the different channels so as to compensate for non-equal speaker distances. It's part of the setup procedure, along with volume matching.
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