SACDs and ML

[Rik_Rankin]

Is there anyone else on here who got involved with the SACD format early like me? If so, how many SACDs do you have and what do you think of the format? It has been a mixed bag for me with only about 30 of the 100 I have sounding really good.

 

[aliveatfive]

I was an early adopter. I probably have about 40-50 titles divided among stereo and multi-channel. The best of these are very good. One sacd (on Telarc) called "Nice 'N' Easy," (Nelson Riddle's arrangements of Sinatra hits) is scary good. The imaging is so real you can hear the space in which it was recorded. Instrumental timbres are right on also. It's a great demo disc.

Others are fair and a few are poor. Some re-masterings of previously recorded material sound good and others don't. Summary: SACDs are a crap shoot and I'd still rather listen to vinyl.

 

[MiTT]

I was an early adopter. I probably have about 40-50 titles divided among stereo and multi-channel. The best of these are very good. One sacd (on Telarc) called "Nice 'N' Easy," (Nelson Riddle's arrangements of Sinatra hits) is scary good. The imaging is so real you can hear the space in which it was recorded. Instrumental timbres are right on also. It's a great demo disc.

Others are fair and a few are poor. Some re-masterings of previously recorded material sound good and others don't. Summary: SACDs are a crap shoot and I'd still rather listen to vinyl.

Agreed, re-mastered material is especially difficult to gauge, whereas I have been very impressed/lucky with material recorded directly in the DSD environment. Notable exception has been the remasters of the RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence material which pretty much sound scarry good. The MO-FI stuff all sounds very good as well.

I too was a pretty early adapter. I have about 300 SACD's now. I recently upgraded from a Sony ES 9000 to the mighty Esoteric DV-50S and have been listening to more SACD's than ever before. The Esoteric is a big step up, but like you aliveatfive - I still prefer my vinyl setup.

 

[aliveatfive]

Agreed, re-mastered material is especially difficult to gauge, whereas I have been very impressed/luky with material recorded directly in the DSD environment. Notable exception has been the remasters of the RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence material which pretty much sound scarry good. The MO-FI stuff all sounds very good as well.

I too was a pretty early adapter. I have about 300 SACD's now. I recently upgraded from a Sony ES 9000 to the mighty Esoteric DV-50S and have been listening to more SACD's than ever before. The Esoteric is a big step up, but like you aliveatfive - I still prefer my vinyl setup.

Tim -
I also have the Esoteric DV50s. I wonder if that's the reason our reaction to SACDs is similar. I just re-read your post and also noted that, like you, my first SACD player was a Sony ES9000. Small world! Any reports on the Esoteric DV 60 yet?

 

[tonyc]

I have several "universal" players. The two best-Lexicon RT-10 and Ayre C5xe sound wonderful or bad on SACD, depending on the recording. I have about 60 SACD's almost all pop or rock. I also have about 60 DVDA's. Both formats can sound really good. I am very saddened that SACD isn't going to be supported on either of the two new video formats and I am particularly ****ed at Sony (I once gave away a betamax at a garage sale). I really like the good surround mixes on my ML system!

 

[MiTT]

Tim -
I also have the Esoteric DV50s. I wonder if that's the reason our reaction to SACDs is similar. I just re-read your post and also noted that, like you, my first SACD player was a Sony ES9000. Small world! Any reports on the Esoteric DV 60 yet?

Small World indeed. I also found it interesting that even though we both are using what would be described as a very High End digital player, we both still prefer our vinyl playback systems. As good as the CD and SACD playback is (and I believe it is very good), vinyl still has more detail, air around the instruments and a much larger soundstage.

I haven't heard the DV-60 yet, nor have I read any reports. I was able to pick up the DV-50S for almost half price because Music Direct was clearing them out to make way for the DV-60. I have yet to use it for DVD Video or Audio, although I do have some Classic 24/96 DAD's that sound very good on it.

Anyone have some good DVD-A disc's to recommend? I almost picked up the Flaming Lips "Soft Bullitin" at Tower last night, but opted for a few other things instead. It's one of my favorite albums, so I'm curious what it might sound like on DVD-A.

 

[aliveatfive]

Small World indeed. I also found it interesting that even though we both are using what would be described as a very High End digital player, we both still prefer our vinyl playback systems. As good as the CD and SACD playback is (and I believe it is very good), vinyl still has more detail, air around the instruments and a much larger soundstage.

I haven't heard the DV-60 yet, nor have I read any reports. I was able to pick up the DV-50S for almost half price because Music Direct was clearing them out to make way for the DV-60. I have yet to use it for DVD Video or Audio, although I do have some Classic 24/96 DAD's that sound very good on it.

Anyone have some good DVD-A disc's to recommend? I almost picked up the Flaming Lips "Soft Bullitin" at Tower last night, but opted for a few other things instead. It's one of my favorite albums, so I'm curious what it might sound like on DVD-A.

Tim -
As far as DVDa's are concerned, the best I've ever heard are from aixrecords.com. Their offerings are rather limited, but the stuff they do is very well done. I met the owner (chief mover-shaker?) of the company at the last Stereophile show in NYC. He was very knowledgable and helpful. I wound up purchasing about 3 or 4 DVDa's. The only trouble with them is that you must have your monitor turned on to navigate the menus. The problem: 2 decent formats that are too similar to exist in the marketplace simultaneously. That and lack of manufacturers's support.

 

[chris03053]

Esoteric Rules!

Hey guys. Didn't know there were more Esoteric users.

 

[chris03053]

I got into SACD and DVD-A kinda late. I have only about 20 and it's a combination of both formats.

When the new format came in the picture it gave me an opportunity to get into different types of music.

Hope they don't discontinue them. I'm not done yet.

Is there anyone else on here who got involved with the SACD format early like me? If so, how many SACDs do you have and what do you think of the format? It has been a mixed bag for me with only about 30 of the 100 I have sounding really good.

 

[wipper snapper]

Willie Nelson and Friends Alive and Kickin is a pretty darn good dvd-a.

 

[MiTT]

Tim -
As far as DVDa's are concerned, the best I've ever heard are from aixrecords.com. Their offerings are rather limited, but the stuff they do is very well done. I met the owner (chief mover-shaker?) of the company at the last Stereophile show in NYC. He was very knowledgable and helpful. I wound up purchasing about 3 or 4 DVDa's. The only trouble with them is that you must have your monitor turned on to navigate the menus. The problem: 2 decent formats that are too similar to exist in the marketplace simultaneously. That and lack of manufacturers's support.

Yeah, shoot, I keep forgetting that in order to play a DVD-A I need to have the dang thing hooked up to a monitor!

In my current setup I have a 2 channel, audio only room. I'll be building a dedicated Audio/Video room soon. In the meantime I may pick up a few good DVD-A's just in case the format disappears all together. Shoot, wish I'd have picked up that Flaming Lips one the other night.

 

[DTB300]

Yeah, shoot, I keep forgetting that in order to play a DVD-A I need to have the dang thing hooked up to a monitor!

Some people have gone this route (see link) to have a dedicated monitor for the DVD-A players instead of worrying about a TV hookup:

http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_you_need/special

 

[MiTT]

Some people have gone this route (see link) to have a dedicated monitor for the DVD-A players instead of worrying about a TV hookup:

http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_you_need/special

That's a great idea, thanks! You're right, all I really need is an interface to the internal menu's.

May have to swing by Costco or Best Buy today and see if I can find something small like that.

 

[edwinr]

I've got say... 20 SACD's. And a couple of DVDA's. My SACD player is a Sony, but most of my listening is CD via my belt drive CEC CD player. Some of my SACD's are outstanding in sound quality - the rest are average. It's a shame SACD didn't take off. There is/was a lot of potential with this format.

 

[DTB300]

It's a shame SACD didn't take off.

For anything but Classical music the format did not seem to catch on. But in the Classical genre the releases keep coming at a pretty good pace with no sign of slowing down.

Dan

 

[MiTT]

Hey guys. Didn't know there were more Esoteric users.

Yup, maybe we should start an Esoteric sub-chapter of the Martin Logan club, maybe even with a secret handshake!

 

[theWB]

My favorite multi-channel SACD is Roxy Music's Avalon.This is the disc I pop in when showing off the surround system.

 

[MiTT]

My favorite multi-channel SACD is Roxy Music's Avalon.This is the disc I pop in when showing off the surround system.

Absolutely Excellent album, a true classic. In my mind something akin to "the Dark Side of the Moon" of the 90's. Great sounding album anyway, and a very good remaster to multichannel SACD.

In fact now that you've reminded me I'll be spinning it tonight!

 

[chris03053]

Ah, yes yes. The secret handshake.

maybe even with a secret handshake!

 

[amey01]

I was an early adopter too, but it has been a very mixed bag. What SACD player do you have? - I have a Marantz 8300 universal and it is fantastic, but the SACDs I own are really below par in my opinion.

For starters, I only own about 20 SACDs - finding anything remotely worth listening to is a challenge in itself. Secondly, most of the recordings are really below par.