Sony to add DSD and Blu-Ray to Notebooks and PCs ?

Thanks joe, I didnt know that.

 

I thought I should post some info that I feel explains the purpose of this integration much better than the article I started with. Here is a quote from the Sony Superaudio-cd site:

“DSD effectively re-wrote the audio standards when it was introduced in 1999, creating a new benchmark for high-resolution surround sound but until now it has only been available for use in the professional audio industry sector. Now, we have achieved the same high audio standard within the PC environment,” commented Serge Stevenart, Manager, New Technologies at Sony ITE. “We have products scheduled for 2005 which will integrate this technology. They target the needs of a range of audio groups from the professional user to Home Studio prosumers and consumers that wish to upgrade their CD (stereo PCM)-based music collections to fully featured high-resolution surround sound that will play back at high quality on their home entertainment systems.”

..."Users can take a standard stereo CD, rip it to their PC hard drive and then use their Sound Reality PC to up-convert the audio signal to a fully uncompressed DSD audio stream."

Here is a LINK to the entire article.

 

So...I would have to buy a new Sony computer to make that work?
Or would there be a seperate program you could buy.

If my hard drive could spare the space I'd be interested in doing that.

 

Sony has combined the Steinberg-developed ASIO (Audio Streaming Input Output) and DSD on one chip to integrate with the PC's audio, so I would think you need both the chip and the "Sonic Stage Mastering" software.

 

That's all very well but will I be able to convert an analogue signal to DSD - that would be quite something!

Why would I want to up-convert stereo 16/44.1 PCM to DSD? Any improvements in the fidelity of the up-converted stereo DSD data wiil be due to the less complex D/A conversion on playback rather than the DSD encoding itself. Hardly worth the effort if you already have decent 16/44.1 playback equipment in my opinion. And any surround mix derived from a stereo source will be a hatchet job anyway!

I just don't get the point of all this unless, as I said at the beginning of this rant , I can convert analogue to DSD - I would gladly sell my soul to the devil to be able to do that .

 

Yes, your favorite LPs in DSD or reel to reels (one of my friends has a bunch of Everest tapes)...most excellent.

Malc, there is another option, Tascam introduced a DSD hard drive unit for $1K. If it's like the Alessis deck then you are in business.

 

Holy crap! Does this thing burn SACDs?!!!

 

I'm not sure if it burns them or not. I'm waiting to see the unit in person. It does indeed record in SACD and store it in a digital format and that's a start...

 

No, it does not burn SACD's. It stores DSDIFF files on a DVD-R. There is currently no product on the market right now that can burn an SACD.

 

just read that apparently Sony/Toshiba are going to release a statement as early as Monday that they have reached an agreement to combine the best of both worlds for the next gen HD video disc... great news!!!

 

No, it does not. I have one, and it's a nice unit. Nothing other than a plant burns SACDs.

 

??? I never claimed it burned the discs-I said I did not know.

This is a minor point all things considered...at this price it's an affordable playback device as well. You can still store and playback if you own a unit. At this price 2 of my friends can buy one and playback the data disc and give feedback on sound quality.

According to Tascam it creates a UDF universal format disc which can be manipulated on Mac or PC.

Styx, how does it sound? Is the playback high quality? Is jitter low? Is storage space adequate?

I may be getting one soon for my 2 track recording.

 

Great Danny....do you have a link? Is DSD included on this?

Found the news on AVS Forum....thread in Visual Arts. Really awesome news if true.

 

I've really only done 44/24 PCM recording (live to disc) with my band for some demos. That I can tell you sounds good. I haven't gotten to the DSD archiving yet. So far, so good. I haven't measured jitter and such, but nothing to date is discernable to the ear. I haven't done any A-Bs with my SA-8260 for CD playback and such.

No complaints yet.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to audition it closely. I was saving for the $9K DS-D9800 but this will work. I just hope I can get replication done inexpensively.

 

Gizmodo is reporting on a new Sony Vaio computer that can burn SACDs. It would be nice to have further confirmation though....

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/sony-vaio-r-pirates-only-122960.php

they link to the following site:

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_10130.html

-sneak

 

If true, that's great news. Is Sony the multiheaded beast just a little schizophrenic? Backing off the software in their music division, building it into their PCs? Huh? At least this may help ensure the availability of players down the road.

Good thing is, if I can make my own SACDs from my vinyl, I don't need to depend on the labels for new titles!