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Stereo SACD vs. digital

I use a Sony 9000ES CD/SACD/DVD player that feeds into a Proceed PAV (preamp) and PDSD (surround processor). Amps are 2 and 3 channel Proceeds, driving a pair of KEF 104/2s that are supplemented with a Velodyne HGS-15. Only 2 of the 3 channels are used for stereo; surround processing is turned off to prevent derivation of a center channel through a KEF 200C.

I can select analog pass-through or digital processing from the remote. Although the 9000ES enjoys an excellent reputation as a CD/DVD player, it seems to me that the sound is more open and transparent if I defeat SACD, and thus the Sony DAC process, and let the Proceed DACs do the conversion. Both sound very good, one just sounds better. I'm curious if others have similar observations.

db
donbellphd

Showing 2 responses by donbellphd

donbellphd OP
205 posts
 
Gee, guys, that was the point of my post. CD sounds better than SACD because the Proceed does the digital to analog conversion for CD whereas the Sony does it for SACD, so any added value of the SACD layer seems mitigated by the Sony's inferior DACs. The theoretical advantage of higher quantization may not be realized nor perceived. As I said, both are very good, one seems better.

db
donbellphd OP
205 posts
 
The bottom line is that only digital data is on the disk, and it needs to go through digital to analog conversion at some point. SACD predisposes that conversion be at the SACD player. Except for very high-end players, I suspect the DACs in a good processor are superior.

db
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