SACD Hybrid CDs*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by RJD1954, Feb 4, 2019.

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  1. RJD1954

    RJD1954 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    Feel like a genuine clutz asking in this forum, but do you need a special CD player to play these, or will they play fine in cars, std home CD decks etc?

    I ask as I am contemplating the SACD Stones' Beggars Banquet, and then, just before I pulled the ebay trigger, I thought "can I actually PLAY this?".

    Many thanks
     
    Optimize likes this.
  2. MicSmith

    MicSmith Forum Resident

    Yes the CD layer of CD/SACD hybrids play on standard CD players. If you have certain Blu Ray players they play the SACD option too. Some Sony Blu Ray players have this option for sure.

    I’m no expert in this field but I’m sure the above holds true for any CD player.
     
  3. karmaman

    karmaman Forum Resident

    Hybrid.

    Redbook layer will play in standard CD player, the hi-res layer will not.
     
  4. Hybrid SACDs play on all regular CD players in standard CD quality. They obviously play on SACD players.

    Single-layer SACDs only play on SACD players, which aren't very common these days. Most every SACD released outside of Japan since 2003 is a hybrid SACD. That includes European and American SACDs.
     
  5. RJD1954

    RJD1954 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Perth, Australia
    Many thanks to you all
     
  6. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    This is yet another example of stuff that should have been simple, but as usual, the format shot itself in the foot by making it just a little too quirky for the average, un-initiated fan to get a handle on it.

    Juuuust sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of the Laserdisc...
     
    Whay, Dan Steele, Galley and 3 others like this.
  7. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    It wasn't quirky. What killed it was that Sony did a lousy job of promoting the format, charging for the license to use the decoder chip, and the artists wanting double royalties for the hybrid discs.

    We had a thread on this recently. I don't know where it went.
     
    audiomixer, qwerty, Kyhl and 8 others like this.
  8. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Don't forget competing formats such as DVD-A and the fact it was launched at peak sales.
     
    audiomixer, Vinny123, Pancat and 3 others like this.
  9. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    And it was launched right after 9/11.
     
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  10. TheSaltman

    TheSaltman Heaven or Las Vegas?

    Location:
    Italy
    I would also add Sony's obsession for copy protection made the format much less versatile and appealing than regular CDs. Just think about the fact that in order to hear true DSD you MUST use a protected cable like HDMI, otherwise it gets converted to hi res PCM.
     
  11. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The way I remember it is that Sony would not allow the use of a direct digital output. You could only use RCA. They didn't want anyone making digital copies. So, yeah, in that way, they were still obsessed over copying. Later, they would get sued for their rootkit.
     
  12. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    I was thinking in terms of single and hybrid releases...and not being compatible with DVD-A's...and "flippers"...and DTS discs...and the LD vs. the CED...and the SQ, QS and Shibata-required CD-4...and the 45 vs. the EP...and the three formats of 16rpm's...and American 78's vs. Pathe 80's...
     
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  13. Digital-G

    Digital-G Senior Member

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    Totally agree. Should have been the next logical step of digital (CD) evolution. Instead, it was aimed at the audiophile (i.e. $$$) niche market instead of mainstream. Yep, shot themselves right in the foot.
     
  14. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Not quite sure you shouldn't go after the early adopters first...only saying you shouldn't allow the product to have such complexity it freaks out Joe Sixpack.

    You need to make it simple enough for the casual consumer to understand - in its' abilities, and not too much variation in the product. Why is the Eagles in 5.1 if Meat Loaf is only in stereo. Why add a DualDisc, guaranteed to not solve that problem (and wait 'til it gets stuck in the only slot John Q. really understands...the one in their Corrola).
     
    Dave S likes this.
  15. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Never understood the DualDisc. Those Talking Heads reissues came out as CD+DVD in Europe. DualDisc just seemed to be penny pinching.
     
  16. rockindownthehighway

    rockindownthehighway Not interested

    Location:
    Gone
    The sad thing is this is pure trademark Sony. I don't know when it started but they have shot themselves in the ass repeatedly over the years. Betamax, Minidisc, etc. They just never learn.
     
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  17. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

    The format is actually quite straight forward....CD layer or SACD layer (if hybrid), and stereo or multi-channel (if available). A couple of buttons on a player's front panel can take care of everything. That is certainly simpler than figuring out how to download, at which rate, etc. I think the average consumer is more willing to learn the "complexity" of illegal downloading (i.e. free music) though.
     
    Kyhl, caupina, Bill Mac and 1 other person like this.
  18. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

    When Sony and Universal Music were pushing SACD onto the mainstream, SACDs were available at big box stores like Best Buy for a couple of dollars more than the regular CD version. Players like the Sony DVP-NS500V and the Pioneer DV-563A (first affordable universal player) were retailing for $200 or below. However, SACD was introduced when music downloading became big news and any new physical medium, no matter the sound quality, would have failed.

    And yet, upon its 20th anniversary in a couple of months, SACD is still here.
     
    TheKevster, Vinny123, Pancat and 2 others like this.
  19. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Yes, it's still here and it has become the defacto hi fidelity medium for folks like me. It's my first choice for music which is important enough for me to pay for it; plus, 5.1 multi-channel SACD has a breadth and depth that's just more compelling than CD, or stereo SACD. And while I can download multi-channel these days, playing it from my multi-channel system first requires copying the download to a thumb drive and then I need to fire up my universal player's display/input/etc. to play files gaplessly via usb DAC.
     
  20. Johnny Action

    Johnny Action Forum President

    Location:
    Kailua, Hawai’i
    Ok, here's a question. What sounds better: the SACD layer of a hybrid disc, or a single layer SACD disc. Hypothesis: there's gotta be some Audio Quality penalty for cramming two separate formats onto one (hybrid) disc, right? Right??
     
  21. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Nnnnope.

    Which is the better t-shirt...the Beatles t-shirt in the middle of your closet next to the empty hanger from the shirt you wore yesterday...or an exact duplicate of that Beatles t-shirt way, way far over to the left end of the closet?
     
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  22. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Spoken like a guy who has never worked in the industry that "communicates" advertising to the public. Or political fine points. Or science. Or safety. Or, anything with more complexity than, "plop, plop, fizz, fizz..."
     
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  23. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Nothing is "crammed" onto a hybrid disc. The term "hybrid" refers to the existence of a separate cd layer. The presence of that layer doesn't take anything away from the SACD layer.
     
  24. Hybrid technology hadn't been finalized yet when SACD first launched. That is why single-layer SACDs that weren't compatible with CD players ever even hit the market. It took a few years before the labels were comfortable with a working hybrid solution.

    If SACDs had been hybrids from the beginning, I think the format would have gained more mainstream penetration.
     
  25. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    "Introducing the new, 2020 Ford NoWheelsYet...!"
     
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