New(er) digital recording technology

jrdmcdnld · Post by **jrdmcdnld** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:50 am

http://www.dmprecords.com/technology.htm

This has me anctiously awaiting my first listening test with DSD. Anybody hear this technology yet? Is it as good as they say? It makes sense that it would be better. Supposedly, there is no filtering on the A/D conversion. Awesome!

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:23 pm

hi jrdmcdnld- DSD also known as SACD does indeed sound amazing.
Realize you must have a really good system that can support DSD's capabilities.An entry level DVD player (that also plays SACD), will not sound like a better dedicated SACD player.The analog output devices required to give this format justice are in more expensive dedicated SACD players not a $500"Universal" DVD player.Also your playback system will need to be full range to really hear the range of resolution this format is capable of.
SACD is an amazing format but it is not being supported officially by Sony(it's their technology)so it's kind of a bastard child now that most companies are not fully embracing.
But if you ever want to hear something amazing I used to have a SACD Stravinsky conducting Stravinsky ,the Rite of Spring(Columbia Symphony Orch)it is AMAZING!!!!

KG

jrdmcdnld · Post by **jrdmcdnld** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:40 pm

Great info, KG. I suppose with the popularity of mpeg, this is never really going to catch on. D*mn.

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:58 am

I work in the HiFi as well as Pro-Recording Industry(FocalPro&Shunyata Research)......on the HiFi side people are going with better CD players that have upsampling Dacs,the technology is getting cheaper so people can get players that sound Very Good in the $1500 range that would cost $3-4000 or more a couple of years ago(prices are dropping about every 6-12 months)........the Dacs upconvert the CD's to 24/192 or higher ,some also have tubes and they really make the CD sound Very Good,more dynamic range,better S/N ratio,less harsh ,less grainy and more spatial imaging.the beauty of this approach is everyone has CD's you don't need a new format.(the last format war SACD vs DVD Audio and both formats died)
the cheaper"Universal " DVD players that play SACD will usually sound OK on SACD's (not amazing) and really sound bad on redbook CD's....
the technology that goes in to the better players is pretty amazing
see : http://www.teac.com/esoteric/index.html
The Engineering expertise that these manufactures utilize is pretty amazing! They use very good analog output devices which are costly as well as better drive mechanisms ,the case is designed to reduce vibrations etc... the circuitry,transformers ,power supply etc..are all the best of the best.thats why these players cost as much as they cost.
Budget players sound like budget players because of all of these factors.
Some of the better SACD players will play SACD and Upsample CD's and sound Incredible on both mediums but their better players range $4500 and skywards.
But if you hear a good SACD on a good system you will be amazed how good it can sound and yes it will usually sound much better than a upsampled CD.
The sad truth is there are not enough people out there on the consumer level who are going to invest in a stalled but very good medium or a really good player(the cost) the catalog is too limited ,it is not even supported by the company that started it(Sony dropped it) the amount of sales don't make enough profit for the manufactures of the disc and the players to justify the medium on a mass level.
Also some brands of CD players get cranky with dual layer disc's and can not be used.
DSD aka SACD is a Great Sounding format but it seems to be a dead end on the commercial side of things...............

KG