[ctviggen]

One of the problems with these SACD v. Redbook (or DVD-A v. Redbook or a competition between the various surround formats) is that there's a lack of material that is recorded for both SACD and Redbook and that's mixed the same.  If you record the session and put it on Redbook but then completely remix it for SACD, you're not comparing the same material.

[doug s.]

One of the problems with these SACD v. Redbook (or DVD-A v. Redbook or a competition between the various surround formats) is that there's a lack of material that is recorded for both SACD and Redbook and that's mixed the same.  If you record the session and put it on Redbook but then completely remix it for SACD, you're not comparing the same material.

the problem w/sacd & dvda (imo), is that there's a lack of material.  period.  until it's the main software f/s in the typical borders books, tower records, amazon.com, etc - count me out - not interested.

ymmv,

doug s.

[rmihai0]

No - SACD is not having any future.

[TheChairGuy]

I recently bought a SACD.mods modded Sony 222es carousel (from bundee1 here on AC).  It sounded pretty awful the first 100 hours - turned out tho it went thru 2 owners in 2 years, it wasn't broken in.  

Once I got back past the digital/Blackgate/nastiness...I sat down to listen.  I have 6 SACD's here, none of which seem to be very well recorded/optimized for SACD(none are DSD recorded).  I got a chance to A vs. B Norah Jones 'Come Away with Me' with the CD layer played on my boffo, tricked out, Empirical Audio modded Sony 7700/MSB Gold Link III/P100 Power Base, with 192K upsampling thru MSB's proprietery network....about $4200.00 worth of damn fine redbook.

...and I compared it to the SACD layer played on the  $440.00 modded Sony.

The Sony sounded a bit better - I'm a believer now!  For 1/10 the cost of good redbook, you get better music.  Neither quite up to the highest standards of TT/analogue, but damn, so good for such little moola'...and so convenient (the Sony being a nifty 5 disc carousel unit).

Redbook, on the Sony 222es, was slightly less detailed, more closed in, less dynamic, and didn't have the spine-tingling highs that Steve Nugent can coax from redbook players, versus the boffo redbook rig...but was quite listenable all the same.

So, maybe the software will soon meet an untimely end, but I'll happily load up a couple hundred SACD's before that time..

Anyhow, good luck on your choice...enjoyable (hardware) hi-fi can be found for less money everyday...  

[Bingenito]

Just my opinion which is based on personal experience over the past few years of comparing CD-SACD on mid- high priced gear.

I like SACD and actually had a decent sized collection which is not an easy thing to do because of the limited availability of music.

* In comparing SACD to CD on the same player SACD always wins and usually by a good margin.

* Comparing a Teac Esoteric DV50 on SACD to a Sim Audio Eclipse LE playing the same track on CD the Sim wins hands down.

Both of these players are costly so my recommendation for someone on a budget is to get a CD Player that makes them happy and is a good transport. You can always add a DAC later. Even if you go with an audio PC you can leverage the DAC so there is room for growth.

Again just my 2 cents.

[kaxixi]

So in the end, I went ahead and purchased a stand-alone SACD player--the sony scd-2000es.  Nothing fancy, but enough to compare.  It should come soon. After a while, I will post a comparison with my redbook frontend (CI Audio DAC).

I did a bit of reading and asking around and the one thing people seem to agree on is that building a DAC that decodes DSD (SACD) is much easier than building one that decodes PCM (redbook CD).  The details are beyond me, but this may explain why many posters seem to think even cheap SACD players sound good.

Also, I highly recommend the MTT recording of Mahler's 6th.  The sound is phenomenal, and the performance is worthy.