SACD/DVD-A........A question..........

[Wookie Returns]

Okay, feel a bit stupid here, but..........:(


With this new "High Resolution" sound facility, will we need to buy new amps to output the greater frequencies the discs and players can convey......or will our current amps put out the frequecy responses this format carries..........

I suppose the same goes for speakers.....

Anyone?
:confused:

[samuelowens]

Most of these players have on-board decoders at the moment, so provided your amp has 5.1 inputs, you'll be okay with your current setup.

As for frequency response, provided your current setup goes from 20Hz to 20 kHz, you'll be right (that's all you'll hear anyway).

[Wookie Returns]

Oh good, thats great news.....I'm all set for whichever format......

I thnk due to reviews and the quick demo I heard, that I will go for SACD.........anyone want to defend DVD-A?

[Michael Brooke]

The problem with DVD-A is lack of software, though rumour has it that this is soon going to be remedied in a big way.

But my demonstration DVD-A disc - Bela Fleck's <I>The Bluegrass Sessions vol 2</I> - is quite astonishing: even friends of mine who don't normally notice these things said the difference between it and conventional Dolby Digital/DTS tracks was very noticeable indeed. That said, I haven't compared it with an SACD recording - is it essentially the same thing? (i.e. uncompressed 5.1 sound to all intents and purposes)

As for amps, it's not an issue - all DVD-Audio players should have their own onboard decoder, so provided your amp can handle separate inputs for each speaker you won't have any problems.

[RobDickinson]

Dont know which will win the battle - technicaly SACD is better ( higher bandwidth etc) but theres not much in it from a terchnical point of view.

SACD goes up to 100khz - few amps & speakers can deal with this - most SACD kit will either be fixed or have a switch to limit them to about 40khz. Its only the realy high end kit that currently copes with 100khz.

IMO DVD-A will win with the masses as it'll become a standard feature on DVD playes soom & come as part of the whole package - SACD will still be around for the audiophiles.

[bollecks]

What's the betting that all but the cheapest players come with both as standard in two or three years time. It's only another format to decode, not a radically different technology that costs heaps to implement.

[ajm]

Originally posted by RobDickinson
Dont know which will win the battle - technicaly SACD is better ( higher bandwidth etc) but theres not much in it from a terchnical point of view.

SACD goes up to 100khz - few amps & speakers can deal with this - most SACD kit will either be fixed or have a switch to limit them to about 40khz. Its only the realy high end kit that currently copes with 100khz.



I'm not sure where you get your info from, but DVD-Audio goes to 192khz/96bits. Which is a higher resolution than SACD. The first 192/96 title is actually release 27th November too. Currently there is nothing available above 96/48.


IMO DVD-A will win with the masses as it'll become a standard feature on DVD playes soom & come as part of the whole package - SACD will still be around for the audiophiles.

I think the jury is still out for the audiophiles. I'm on my way to being one, and think either could still win. That said, I voted for DVD-Audio.

[MikeK]

Originally posted by ajm


I'm not sure where you get your info from, but DVD-Audio goes to 192khz/96bits. Which is a higher resolution than SACD. The first 192/96 title is actually release 27th November too. Currently there is nothing available above 96/48.



I think the jury is still out for the audiophiles. I'm on my way to being one, and think either could still win. That said, I voted for DVD-Audio.


AFAIK, DVD-A goes up to 192kHz sampling rate at 24 bits, not 96.

The 100kHz Rob was referring to is the decoded audio frequency bandwidth, not the sampling frequency - so he is quite correct!

DVD-A will only go above 96kHz sampling for 2 channel audio, so multichannel audio will be limited to 96/24.

Which is best? Who knows, IMO it's too early to tell.
One of the big advantages of SACD over DVD-A was going to be it's backwards compatibility with normal CD players. This was to be done using a hybrid dual layer disk with a normal CD track on one layer, and an SACD track on the. There are now rumblings which suggest that such discs may be in short supply, as they are too expensive. If so, then IMO, that will be the death knell for SACD as far as mainstream consumers are concerned.
Apparently most DVD-A discs will be including some form of track which can be played on existing DVD-Video players.