Your right about how much better SACD is than CD. Too bad greed killed the SACD.
1. Artists representative insisted on triple royalties for each hybrid disc -- one for the CD layer, one for the 2-channel SACD layer, and one for the multi-channel CD layer.
2. Record companies, in their endless and misguided attempt to prevent copying, wouldn't permit SACD with digital transfer, so it could only be played through analog cables, necessitating 6 cables for multichannel.
3. Sony jacked up the price on SACD, instead of offering all records as hybrids, complicated by the 3-royalty problem, and, further, by putting some discs out as hybrids and others separately as SACD-only or CD-only.
As for players, your probably good with the Sony. I have been using a Sony DVP-S9000ES for over 5 years and it does sound good. I think I'm switching to a Marantz
DV8300, as it plays multi-channel, CDR, and DVD-A, which the 9000ES does not. The 9000ES was a rare value when it came out. Built like a tank, you can now find it for less than $400, used, on audiogon. If it needs repair, Sony has a flat fee of $133 for factory repair, regardless of the problem.
DVD-A was a bigger failure, probably due to the format war with SACD and the dumb idea that you needed to have a video interface to access a menu in order to make the selection to play the disc.
TOO BAD! SACD is much better than CD, especially newer discs that were recorded with DSD (Direct Stream Digital).
(Footnote: Still, it's not vinyl!)
1. Artists representative insisted on triple royalties for each hybrid disc -- one for the CD layer, one for the 2-channel SACD layer, and one for the multi-channel CD layer.
2. Record companies, in their endless and misguided attempt to prevent copying, wouldn't permit SACD with digital transfer, so it could only be played through analog cables, necessitating 6 cables for multichannel.
3. Sony jacked up the price on SACD, instead of offering all records as hybrids, complicated by the 3-royalty problem, and, further, by putting some discs out as hybrids and others separately as SACD-only or CD-only.
As for players, your probably good with the Sony. I have been using a Sony DVP-S9000ES for over 5 years and it does sound good. I think I'm switching to a Marantz
DV8300, as it plays multi-channel, CDR, and DVD-A, which the 9000ES does not. The 9000ES was a rare value when it came out. Built like a tank, you can now find it for less than $400, used, on audiogon. If it needs repair, Sony has a flat fee of $133 for factory repair, regardless of the problem.
DVD-A was a bigger failure, probably due to the format war with SACD and the dumb idea that you needed to have a video interface to access a menu in order to make the selection to play the disc.
TOO BAD! SACD is much better than CD, especially newer discs that were recorded with DSD (Direct Stream Digital).
(Footnote: Still, it's not vinyl!)