SACD Players Under $2000 With Best Redbook Sound

Sorry, but you're mistaken. The UHP-H1 can upscale to UHD but it isn't a UHD player, that is, it won't playback UHD discs.

 

How do the new Sony's compare with the Oppo 105D in terms of 2-channel audio?

 

That's a good question. Kal Rubinson did a short review of the Sony UHP-H1 in Stereophile's Music in the Round #81 linked below. Below is a portion of Kal's thoughts on the analog audio outputs. So I doubt the UHP-H1's analog outputs would compare very well to those of the 105D.

The UHP-H1's analog audio outputs were serviceable. Bass power and extension seemed lacking; the midrange and treble were clean and detailed, but with a hint of glare. The digital outputs, however, were much, much better, and competitive with Oppo Digital's more expensive BDP-103 ($499).

Music in the Round #81: Classé Sigma Mono amplifier, Sony UHP-H1 universal player Page 2

 

Was the BDP-103's digital output as good as the 105's? I know the analog was not.

 

The SQ of the HDMI output of the 103 is just as good as 105D. At least in my system as I have the 103 and 105D in the same rack.

 

My mistake, I was confusing it with the UBP-X800, which does indeed lack analog audio of any kind.

 

My personal experience would lead me to recommend two players that may be harder to find (one at least has been discontinued some years):

Sony XA-5400ES
Denon DCD-A100

They both have excellent Redbook and SACD playback for the price, are well-built and dependable machines. I felt the Denon sounded a bit better, and it also has a 32 bit DAC that can be accessed via coaxial and optical to great result.

 

How about the Marantz sa-8005? Great Redbook, imo.

 

It sounds virtually identical to the sa-8004 the OP says he wants to replace.

 

Have you compared them?

 

Yes. The 8005 has greater flexibility as far the USB flexibility re hi rez, but the overall sound, which is the OP's issue, is virtually identical for CD. BTW,I agree the redbook playback is first rate for a $1200 player.

 

Looking at the Marantz SA8005 and SA8004 on the Marantz site the specs look very close if not indentical. It appears that the same DACs and HDAM modules are used on both players. I've never had a Marantz player in my system. But I've always wanted to try one as they're very highly regarded.

Marantz US | SA8005
Marantz US | SA8004

 

Correct. I have the 8004, and its lack of ability to accept 192 from the front USB was addressed in the 8005, a worthwhile change.

 

Digital is digital, 1s and 0s, bits by bits. The digital output of one unit is not going to sound better than another unit.

 

If the bits are the same, I would tend to agree-- the bits is bits school of thought. But a lot happens before the bits go streaming out -- transports, clocks, jitter, read errors, error correction, RF interference. All equipment is not equally adept at making sure that the bits on the source are the same as the bits that eventually go out.

 

D'accord.

 

The two Pioneer Elite players I've picked up used seem to sound really good with CD and other formats.

 

I'm sorry. All of those things are myths created by people who try to treat digital as if it were analog. All these terms are nothing but marketing gimmicks trying to get you to think that all of this stuff happens so that you will spend lots of money on their equipment to get "better" sound. Honestly, if you had high resolution digital files saved on a thumbstick, do you think they're going to sound better on one brand than another??? No. It's all digital.

 

Best sounding red book players in that price range are Arcam and Bryston.
Arcam also has SACD.

 

Now I understand and I've "seen" you comments and read the arguments but having "heard" that marketing hype and on this occasion I will trust my ears.

Even if what you say is 100% true it still seems odd to recommend the Sony for any stereo SACD set up (especially one without a DAC) given it requires HDMI to output SACD and there are very few DACs out there for such a thing and those that can are very expensive.

 

USB mass storage =/= transport w/moving parts. Are you suggesting that all disc transports are perfect and free from error 100% of the time? Are you suggesting that interference and digital noise don't exist?

For what it's worth, you're wrong. I'm an audio engineer and I've studied these things. Now, if you were to suggest that the possible technical difference could not be heard, then we would be on to something.

 

JediJ, are you agreeing with John1026 that DACs sound the same? Somewhat unrelated point, but for people like me who don't use digital or optical outputs, it's clear that the analog circuitry in a CD player matters a lot. For example, The OPPO 105d is twice the cost of of the 103d, and if I'm not mistaken, the difference is almost entirely due to the upgraded analog circuitry.

 

That's not the point he was making. He was suggesting all digital outputs are created equal. They are not. I don't think he was arguing all DACs sound the same; if so, that's even wrong-er.

The 105D uses a more expensive ESS Sabre DAC, while the 103D makes do with a Cirrus Logic, but you are also correct that the analog circuitry is heavily massaged in the 105 as compared to the 103. The point of getting a 105 over a 103 is almost entirely down to analog outputs. If you're just going to use digital, there is no point in the "upgrade" as there is difference in performance (in output; the 105 also has an asynchronous USB input for use as a computer sound card).

 

I have listened to CDs using the digital output of my PS3, SACD player and CD recorder deck. They were hooked up digitally to my receiver. The CDs sounded the same on all of them. Which is expected, because instead of using the DAC of the player, I'm using the DAC of the receiver. Digital is digital. Playing music on a Memorex CD-R isn't going to sound worse than a Sony CD-R.