Yea, but it does not have true SACD playback. A quote: Pioneer Electronics brought a ray of sunshine for the budget conscious with its DV-563A progressive scan player, which plays both DVD-Audio and SACD stereo and multi-channel discs – for a projected price of $279! There’s no such thing as a free lunch, of course – the player achieves this economy and flexibility by internally converting SACD’s native DSD bitstream to PCM . SACD purists will gasp, gnash, and wail, but the player nevertheless offers an opportunity for even casual consumers to enjoy their favorite software titles without having to worry about format compatibility. Isn't that like converting the high res layer to redbook? Then whats the point - the high res layer will sound like redbook.
While I would rather the DSD be kept DSD, there is at least on highly rated player that converts DSD to PCM - the Accuphase. PCM isn't necessarily a bad thing folks - a number of highly touted Sony SACDs were sourced from hi-rez PCM masters, no to mention the whole Chesky SACD catalogue. P.S. I have to wonder when people claim to like Chesky's SACDs better than their DVD-A or DADs. - Gabe
Hi Gabe, That's an interesting point and I wasn't aware that Chesky was doing this. What matters is the sound quality. If Chesky is doing this with their entire catalog I'm curious as to why they are doing it.
I'll be checking out the Denon when it arrives in stores. I love their receivers, so a Denon universal cd/sacd/dvda player would be right up my alley.
All of Chesky's original recordings are 24/96 and have been for years. The reason they are doing SACDs is simple - they sell and are cheap to produce. In truth, I'm told, moving from one digital to another isn't as harmfull as one would think. Apparently this is true as Chesky's SACDs do sound quite good. However, of the stuff I also have on DVD-A or DAD, I can't say the SACDs sound better. Actually they sound a little different (warmer), but I wouldn't say better. - Gabe
How does a DSD to PCM conversion work? Isn't the quality of the result related to the bitrate used? I mean, DSD would only be as poor as redbook if something near 16b/44.1khz was utilized in the conversion...or does the standard bitrate language not apply here? Mark
