Pioneer DV-45A Native SACD?

I'm looking hard at getting one of these, but am concerned it converts the bitstream to PCM, then to analog. Earlier Pioneer universal players did. A dealer says the DV-45A doesn't, that it does SACD natively. The specs on the Pioneer website are somewhat ambiguous and I've so far been unable to reach anyone knowledgeable at Pioneer by phone.

So anyone know? Anyone have the machine and want to offer an opinion? I, myself, am a veteran listener with fairly good ears. My current CD rig is an Anodyne Research FET-Tube DAC, run through a tube linestage into a pair of Grado Reference cans, so it's a fairly revealing setup.

Oh, as Columbo would say, one more thing: Can the surround and other modes be set on the Pioneer without using a video monitor--at least after choosing the defaults? As Marshall Crenshaw would say: "I hate TV!"


Thanks in advance,

Marshall<But I do work in TV>

 

Welcome to the club, Marshalla! Water's a little on the chilly side this time of year, so no jumpin' into Steve's pool! Hyperthermia is not conducive to thread hopping.

To answer your question, I don't know how the conversion works, exactly, but when the player was demo'd for me I didn't hear anything amiss in either SACD or DVD-A format. Since the player plugs into the 5.1 analog inputs on a receiver or amp, it should be no different than any other multi-channel player of either format. It's advantages are a)price, b)nice sound, and c)everything in one unit. Disadvantage: you do need a monitor setup to use the menu, but not just because of the DVD-A aspect. In SACD, it has 5.1 and stereo default modes; if you have it set for stereo, you get stereo playback only; if you have it in 5.1 SACD mode, it plays 5.1. The player does default to stereo if that's all an SACD disc has; but if it has both hi-rez layers--and several also have a redbook layer--you have to access the menu to play either hi-rez, and although I'm not sure, you may have to do something in the menu if you want to hear the redbook(though why you would I can't imagine--if you're getting hi-rez, why lower yourself?).

Still sounds like a fine machine to own if you want to be able to do a little of everything without having to build an even more elaborate setup to accomodate both formats with separate players.

Up front you should know I'm a collector by nature, not a tech expert; we have some of those here, and hopefully they can take the time to come in and give you more elaborate info and advice.

Welcome and happy holidays,

ED

 

Folks have been saying that Pioneer players convert PCM to DSD for SACD output. I know in the earlier Pioneers, that was true, until savy consumers caught on to it.

Happy Holidays!

 

Guys: Thanks for the quick, cheerful and friendly replies, but. . .

Does anybody out there actually KNOW the answer? Not to be a curmudgeon or anything. It's certainly nice to meet you all, too.

Marshall

 

Marshall,

I think you might find a definitive answer to your question by doing a search in the archives of either this forum or the forums listed below:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/search.php?

Check this one first........ just search for PCM to DSD or DSD to PCM

if your not satisfied then try the first link. Mr. John Kotches over at the AVS forum will know for sure. He is a highly regarded reviewer.

http://db.audioasylum.com/default.pl?forum=hirez

Good Luck!

 

Gary, thanks. I stumbled onto the AVS site a few moments ago and am digging through it now. I'll report back.

Marshall

 

Hi Marshall,

It will be interesting to see what you find out. There appears to be much confusion regarding the native mode of the Pioneer universal players.
Whether they convert DSD to PCM or visa versa or perhaps run in two entirely independent modes.

 

I'm interested in finding out the answer too since I got the DV-45A a few days ago.

I bought it because I'm so in love with all my DVD-As (I've bought every one I'm even remotely interested in) that I thought it might be nice to have the Burr-Brown DACs and SACD capability at such a reasonable price.

I'm very happy with its DVD-A performance (much quieter between chapters and a bit better sounding than my Toshiba SD-4800), but I'm not nearly as bowled over with the "Willy and the Poor Boys" SACD I have...It does sound better than my ZYX remaster, but it doesn't hold the same magic for me as my DVD-As. I'm sure there's more to SACD than what the DV-45A provides, or there wouldn't be any hi-rez wars at all.

I don't have any experience with any other SACD players or with any other discs, and the machine's pretty new, so I'm withholding judgment for now, but I won't be surprised to find out it does convert to PCM.

Crap,
Jason

 

I would like to know this as well.. just for personal sake. We have two AX-10's in the studio at the station. They do convert to PCM on DSD playback then to analog to balanced outputs.

You can't tell the difference on the air, obviously....

You can tell the difference between hi-rez and redbook though... so long as you are listening pretty well. No increased freq res.. but nicer reverb decays, audio is cleaner, crisper and more life like. Steves CCR hybrids sound awesome.

 

A universal player will compromise the sound iregardless. I use a dedicated
SACD player and also my regular DVD player. If and when the time comes
I will probably trade in my regular DVD player for a DVD- A player.