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SACD Source recording

Some recently acquired SACD are sounding better...maybe they are learning how to make them.

I can recommend DG 474 639-2 Bach Violin Concertos, Hilary Hahn. As I listened to it, and appreciated the excellent sonics, I perused the liner notes, and there in black and white is something that I had heard mentioned before. The source recording for this DSD disc is identified as 24-bit PCM. Of course this is just like a DVD-A, except that with the DVD-A one extra conversion to DSD is avoided. I bet that most SACD have been mastered on 24-bit PCM equipment, but not every disc manufacturer is up front about it.

I have no complaints about the sound, but I think that Sony and the SACD crowd should tone down the hype about DSD, and recognize DVD-A as equal.
eldartford
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eldartford OP
4,262 posts
 
Guss2...The DVD-A which have particularly impressed me are Tacet discs of classical chamber music. These are from a german audiophile outfit, and will set you back almost $30 a copy, but are well worth it IMHO. I think that these exploit the full potential of multichannel, which I gather is not your bag, but the audio quality ought to be good for a stereo downmix, although I have not actually tried that.

There are few 24-Bit 192 KHz Stereo DVD-A released, but there surely is a lot of potential in that format.
guss2
50 posts
 
Eldartford,I don't totally disagree with you. SACD's derived from PCM masters can sound excellent. I just read my post again and I'm sorry if it came off a little knee jerked. I listen to a lot of classical and there are more Pure DSD's in this genre than most, but I prefer analog masters to PCM. This does'nt mean I've given up on DVD-Audio,not at all. Since I'm a stereo guy, do you have any recommendations for me that could knock my socks off. I've heard "The Nightfly" is great and I'd love to get the new "Sinatra at the Sands". What do you think? Any others? Gary. P.S. I may start a thread on the subject.
eldartford OP
4,262 posts
 
Guss2...Boy! It doesn't take much to set the SACDS crowd off! All I said is that a SACD which is made from a 24-Bit 96KHz master cannot be superior to a DVD-A except with respect to differences in the way a particular disk is mastered and the quality of the player used.

"Pure" DSD recordings are not common, and there is a lot of 24-bit mastering equipment out there which record companies are not going to scrap any time soon.
guss2
50 posts
 
That's right, it is my opinion. I guess I'm part of the SACD crowd because I prefer it to DVD-Audio, but I certainly would'nt ask you to recognize SACD as being equal to DVD-Audio, would I? That would be much too presumptuous of me. For the record, I prefer pure DSD recordings to all others. Most of my best SACD's are classical(Telarc), but I agree with Imin2u about Beck's "Sea Change", it's excellent. I really wish we could get more 24 bit 192Khz recordings on DVD-Audio, because I'm not set up for multi-channel and I want the best they can give in stereo. Gary.
imin2u
392 posts
 
Nothing beats the Beck SACD "Sea Change" in the acoustic pop category. All rock on DVD-A is mushey in comparision. No vote on classical yet but Orff is kicking butt.
eldartford OP
4,262 posts
 
"SACD croud"...I really didn't want to get another SACD vs DVD-A contest going. If you think SACD sounds better that's your opinion. In my opinion the differences are mainly due to how the particular discs were made, and your discs may very well favor SACD. Mine have favored DVD-A, but there are enough good SACD in my collection to indicate that this is a disc-by-disc thing.

My point is that if SACD sounds better, it can't be because 24-bit 96KHz PCM code is deficient, because many SACD have been through that format on their way to your player.
guss2
50 posts
 
I'm with Tireguy. I own 2 very good players(1 DVD-Audio and 1 SACD), and I much prefer SACD. I just don't get into the whole multi-channel music thing. I'm not saying that I won't, but it is just not for me at this time. I do like DVD-Audio in stereo and do agree that it beats Redbook easily, but it is not musical the way SACD is to me. So don't tell me I have to agree with you, because I don't. Gary.
quadophile's avatar
quadophile
418 posts
 
I have gone through the entire catlog of SACD's available at this time but over 95% are reissues which means remastering but not recorded through DSD.

I am now wondering how many times I must buy the Tapestry album or the Beatles albums. Some of the albums I have in two or three formats. If it was just one format I would have more music at my disposal.

Alas, we do not make that decision! The way new formats are added, I wonder how many my kids would have to deal with.
tireguy
1,964 posts
 
When I hear DVDa come close to the sound of SACD I will acknowledge it is a promising format- in the mean time, it remains useless to me. Oh it may also help when/if there are more then 500 titles available. At my current rate of music purchasing, I will have over 500 SACD's by the end of next year!
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