SACD...Are You Going For It?

Yes, any means of backing up your SACD software(right now at least) will lead to a bit of generation loss no matter how you slice it. One of the reasons(I would think) is the original master tape sound quality of SACD's. Sony and Philips know it sounds that good, or there would probably be a digital out on the players... but on the other hand, I read an article stating that Sony would be using FireWire EEE1394 for digital ins/outs on the latest ES preamp and SACD player. I can hardly wait for a DSD Multi-Track recording interface and DSD-R to be available(I know, wishful thinkin'). I've copied LP's to 24 bit(down to 16 for CD mastering) Pro Tools that sounded better than a lot of CD's I've bought. Ditto for LP's to a Metal cassette and Dolby S. I guess it's all in the hands of the engineer...I'd even settle for completely flat digital transfers from original first generation masters...we can master them ourselves ; )=

 

Sure, I'll go with SACD. As soon as they A) stop this multi-channel nonsense B) remaster the entire Beatles catalog on this format and C) a decent audiophile quality manufacturer makes a machine that plays cds, cdrs, cdrws, sacds, dvds, and dvd-audio that sells for under $1000.

 

I'm already on board with SACD, but still buying redbook CD's (some sound pretty damn good on an SACD player.)

Oh yeah, I'm still sticking with vinyl too. Don't see that changing either.

Replacing everything to SACD is gonna be near impossible down the road, after all there's still stuff that still hasn't made it on to CD yet.

 

A)I don't really see what multichannel mixes have to do with it. If you don't want to listen in multichannel, don't listen in multichannel. All SACD's have a dedicated stereo mix.

B)They probably will.

C) Asking for 'audiophile quality' in a machine that does all of that is like asking McDonalds to serve food comparable to Chez Panisse. There are already so-called 'audiophile quality' universal players being manufactured right now, but they usually have a compromise in quality on one format or the other, like converting the DSD bitstream to PCM before D/A conversion.