SACD and Player...
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arun malur
Member
Have seen a few SACDs' at Rhythm House, Kalaghoda, but the selection is very limited. You can also try Landmark at Highstreet Phoenix, they have some offers going too.
As regards the hardware, Marantz is a good brand and time tested. you can contact Madura of Refex Proaccustics, Chennai (search the forum for his contact no.) and get to know the prices. Aso, Boomerang, Juhu should be stocking a few other brands.
As regards the hardware, Marantz is a good brand and time tested. you can contact Madura of Refex Proaccustics, Chennai (search the forum for his contact no.) and get to know the prices. Aso, Boomerang, Juhu should be stocking a few other brands.
Grama
New Member
Marantz cd players, the 7000 series and upwards, play SACDs.
I believe Arcam 37 cd player also plays SACDs.
(As an aside: are SACDs available in India?)
Rama
I believe Arcam 37 cd player also plays SACDs.
(As an aside: are SACDs available in India?)
Rama
And I find myself in "somewhat" similar situation. I am planning to buy a player (BDP or DVD but not a CDP). What I am not sure is shall I opt for a player that has options of DVD-Audio and SACD or either? Or shall I plainly focus on CD playback quality of the player (alongwith the video playback and related features and connections, ofcourse)?
I had long back purchased a DVD audio (Dhoom2) anticipating someday I will own a DVD audio player. Alas! the format is dead :sad: I do not have any SACD disc so far. But I believe its a good logical point that I decide what formats shall be supported in my player. Please help and pour in your advice ... I am not mentioning any model numbers which I have in mind to keep the question generalized so that it can be guidance to others as well (hope I have just added my own scenario and not hijacked the thread!).
I had long back purchased a DVD audio (Dhoom2) anticipating someday I will own a DVD audio player. Alas! the format is dead :sad: I do not have any SACD disc so far. But I believe its a good logical point that I decide what formats shall be supported in my player. Please help and pour in your advice ... I am not mentioning any model numbers which I have in mind to keep the question generalized so that it can be guidance to others as well (hope I have just added my own scenario and not hijacked the thread!).
I am leaning towards a pioneer DV420. What's the point in going for a DVD-audio/SACD player when the music itself is limited and hard to get? Moreover, with my current setup of a stereo speakers and an AVR, I do not see a point in spending on an expensive player. 420(or 220) should give me good enough CD sound output, that is comparable, if not better, than my old mass philips DVDp. If and when I go for a fullHD TV, BDP, full 5.1 setup (which would cost me a fortune), I would/may go for such a player as well. So, why now?
Depends on your budget. At the lower end, would suggest a universal player. Something like an Oppo or Yamaha. Look at the Mission/Yamaha deal available somewhere in this forum. The Yamaha should set you back by around <10k.
At a slightly elevated price, look at the Marantz 7003/8003 etc (~30k in Singapore). Recently a friend suggested the Pioneer PDJ series as decent SACD player (does redbook too).
At the <1L region, please take a look at the Arcam CD37 which is supposed to be excellent and discussed numerous times on the forum.
Regards.
At a slightly elevated price, look at the Marantz 7003/8003 etc (~30k in Singapore). Recently a friend suggested the Pioneer PDJ series as decent SACD player (does redbook too).
At the <1L region, please take a look at the Arcam CD37 which is supposed to be excellent and discussed numerous times on the forum.
Regards.
CD vs. Cassette
Hi to all and thanks for your replies. I did write to Rhythm house and got a reply. Their
stock of SACD is very very much limited. Yesterday I visited their store and saw in horror
that they were filling the shelfs with MP3 music.
Incidentally, I have many cassettes and an old panasonic cassette player. I played the
same album from a cd source (purchased in Rhythm House) and from a cassette
source. The CD player is an AIWA discman. The cassette sounded far better. My first such
experience. Then searched the net about other peoples opinion. I was correct. I have not yet
heard an LP.
Regards
Roushon
Hi to all and thanks for your replies. I did write to Rhythm house and got a reply. Their
stock of SACD is very very much limited. Yesterday I visited their store and saw in horror
that they were filling the shelfs with MP3 music.
Incidentally, I have many cassettes and an old panasonic cassette player. I played the
same album from a cd source (purchased in Rhythm House) and from a cassette
source. The CD player is an AIWA discman. The cassette sounded far better. My first such
experience. Then searched the net about other peoples opinion. I was correct. I have not yet
heard an LP.
Regards
Roushon
PS3 has a very good multi-format drive that can also read SACD Hybrid (CD layer) and SACD HD. I know of one fairly hardcore audiophile who uses PS3 in lieu of CDP. It's cheap compared to a dedicated high end CDP, and doubles as a damned good gaming console.
Joshua
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Re: CD vs. Cassette
Have you checked with a half decent Cd player say mas market philips or Sony?
Have you checked with a half decent Cd player say mas market philips or Sony?
Re: CD vs. Cassette
Given a good system analogue must sound better, theory says that. I did not believe
that before. Now experiencing. Digital is not natural, it is made. It does not matter
how High-End the CD player is it cannot produce natural sound from something
which is made. But It may sound fantastic and beautiful and pleasing to ear.
This is the reason I made an Open Baffle speaker (of MJK) and not a box type.
I do not want to debate, but I prefer natural sound.
Roushon.
Given a good system analogue must sound better, theory says that. I did not believe
that before. Now experiencing. Digital is not natural, it is made. It does not matter
how High-End the CD player is it cannot produce natural sound from something
which is made. But It may sound fantastic and beautiful and pleasing to ear.
This is the reason I made an Open Baffle speaker (of MJK) and not a box type.
I do not want to debate, but I prefer natural sound.
Roushon.
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Re: CD vs. Cassette
What is the point you are trying to make? That a tape sounds more natural than a CD of the same track; while acknowledging that the CD may sound more pleasing to ear, nevertheless!
If so, I prefer pleasant sound (just a matter of personal choice). CD is the way to go for me. [all my old cassettes resting in peace in a corner of my cupboard]
PS: yes this is debatable
hyeah:
What is the point you are trying to make? That a tape sounds more natural than a CD of the same track; while acknowledging that the CD may sound more pleasing to ear, nevertheless!
If so, I prefer pleasant sound (just a matter of personal choice). CD is the way to go for me. [all my old cassettes resting in peace in a corner of my cupboard]
PS: yes this is debatable
hyeah:
Tape (compact cassette) is not necessarily a better format than CD, but a lot of companies messed up the mastering process while re-releasing the same albums on CD. So the original tape does actually sound better; even if you do not have a bias towards the analog sound.
I am reminded of almost all the Begum Akhtar albums on CDs released by HMV/Saregama. The tapes have a crisp stereo recording with her typical, tabla on the left and sarangi on the right approach, while the CDs have dull mono version.
By the way, no point spending a lot of money on the source with analog out, if you pass it through an AVR. A stereo amp/preamp would be a better investment.
Thanks,
Sharad
I am reminded of almost all the Begum Akhtar albums on CDs released by HMV/Saregama. The tapes have a crisp stereo recording with her typical, tabla on the left and sarangi on the right approach, while the CDs have dull mono version.
By the way, no point spending a lot of money on the source with analog out, if you pass it through an AVR. A stereo amp/preamp would be a better investment.
Thanks,
Sharad
Hi Sharad,
Thanks for your sensible and practical reply.
May be this is what happened to me also.
I still prefer analogue. But my preference is not based on too much experience. Rather
due to my inclination towards anything natural.
Regards
Roushon
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Re: CD vs. Cassette
analougue is normally referred to Vinyl
again good system is hazy ......I mean 1 Lack vinyl player have to sound better than Rs 3000 DVD player...hyeah:hyeah:hyeah:hyeah:
yes few tape players were better someting like nakamichi ...but you know the prices? and mostly which tapes they used for comparison???
I mean you used lousy source for CD and half decent source for tape. No mention of album ( HMVs tape ,i read somewhere ,sometimes better than CD ,this is fault of remastering ,not medium) ,where it was minted ,tape player model nos ,other equipment used for A-B comparison and YOU GOT CONCLUSION Wa!
I found similar "experement" like you
A scientist believed that frogs' legs were related to the ability of the frog to hear.
He put a frog on the table and smacked his hands together. The frog jumped. He removed one of the frogs' legs. Smacked his hands and the frog jumped. He cut off another leg and the frog still jumped with the sudden noise, He cut off the third leg and the frog when startled tried to jump.
The amputation of the last leg resulted in no jump of the frog with noise of sudden clapping.
Therefore a frog with no legs cannot hear. The scientist was right!
analougue is normally referred to Vinyl
again good system is hazy ......I mean 1 Lack vinyl player have to sound better than Rs 3000 DVD player...
hyeah:hyeah:hyeah:hyeah:yes few tape players were better someting like nakamichi ...but you know the prices? and mostly which tapes they used for comparison???
I mean you used lousy source for CD and half decent source for tape. No mention of album ( HMVs tape ,i read somewhere ,sometimes better than CD ,this is fault of remastering ,not medium) ,where it was minted ,tape player model nos ,other equipment used for A-B comparison and YOU GOT CONCLUSION Wa!
I found similar "experement" like you
A scientist believed that frogs' legs were related to the ability of the frog to hear.
He put a frog on the table and smacked his hands together. The frog jumped. He removed one of the frogs' legs. Smacked his hands and the frog jumped. He cut off another leg and the frog still jumped with the sudden noise, He cut off the third leg and the frog when startled tried to jump.
The amputation of the last leg resulted in no jump of the frog with noise of sudden clapping.
Therefore a frog with no legs cannot hear. The scientist was right!
Re: CD vs. Cassette
I will post the details of the album and the cassette and players when I get back home
this evening.
The story about frog is funny but such comparison is not correct I think.
Roushon.
analougue is normally referred to Vinyl
again good system is hazy ......I mean 1 Lack vinyl player have to sound better than Rs 3000 DVD player...
yes few tape players were better someting like nakamichi ...but you know the prices? and mostly which tapes they used for comparison???
I mean you used lousy source for CD and half decent source for tape. No mention of album ( HMVs tape ,i read somewhere ,sometimes better than CD ,this is fault of remastering ,not medium) ,where it was minted ,tape player model nos ,other equipment used for A-B comparison and YOU GOT CONCLUSION Wa!
I found similar "experement" like you
A scientist believed that frogs' legs were related to the ability of the frog to hear.
He put a frog on the table and smacked his hands together. The frog jumped. He removed one of the frogs' legs. Smacked his hands and the frog jumped. He cut off another leg and the frog still jumped with the sudden noise, He cut off the third leg and the frog when startled tried to jump.
The amputation of the last leg resulted in no jump of the frog with noise of sudden clapping.
Therefore a frog with no legs cannot hear. The scientist was right!
I will post the details of the album and the cassette and players when I get back home
this evening.
The story about frog is funny but such comparison is not correct I think.
Roushon.
Re: CD vs. Cassette
Normally it is the other way round. A budget turntable sounds better than a much more expensive CD player, if you are playing an LP record in good condition.
Please go through the following thread. No point repeating the same stuff all over again:
http://www.hifivision.com/phono-turntables/15-do-people-still-listen-vinyl-3.html
This is not about digital and analog, it is about music. None of us complain about missing our film cameras or VCRs, as digital photography and video has been progressing. Digital audio got stuck with an obsolete format, the audio CD (which is analogous to the VCD in video, though the VCD has a more modern file system that does not force reading in real time during the playback). Just imaging our reaction if digital cameras decided to stick to the media and technology released in 1979 for the sake of backward compatibility!
Even on the same media a CD-ROM (mode 1) provides a Bit Error Rate (BER) of about 1014 (1 un-correctable error in 1014 bits) compared to about 109 for a redbook CD-DA. So much for a primitive proprietary standard not even available to us for reading!
...and we haven't even started discussing the rational behind using 16bit 44.1KHz PCM yet, which might kind of explain why dedicated CD players mostly sound better than DVD players and computers.
Digital audio on Blu-ray (uncompressed LPCM and DTS-HD Master Audio) does sound better than our old friend, the Audio CD.
Also checkout:
SACD Lives: SACD and ultrasonics
BBC NEWS | Technology | How the CD was developed
Thanks,
Normally it is the other way round. A budget turntable sounds better than a much more expensive CD player, if you are playing an LP record in good condition.
Please go through the following thread. No point repeating the same stuff all over again:
http://www.hifivision.com/phono-turntables/15-do-people-still-listen-vinyl-3.html
This is not about digital and analog, it is about music. None of us complain about missing our film cameras or VCRs, as digital photography and video has been progressing. Digital audio got stuck with an obsolete format, the audio CD (which is analogous to the VCD in video, though the VCD has a more modern file system that does not force reading in real time during the playback). Just imaging our reaction if digital cameras decided to stick to the media and technology released in 1979 for the sake of backward compatibility!
Even on the same media a CD-ROM (mode 1) provides a Bit Error Rate (BER) of about 1014 (1 un-correctable error in 1014 bits) compared to about 109 for a redbook CD-DA. So much for a primitive proprietary standard not even available to us for reading!
...and we haven't even started discussing the rational behind using 16bit 44.1KHz PCM yet, which might kind of explain why dedicated CD players mostly sound better than DVD players and computers.
Digital audio on Blu-ray (uncompressed LPCM and DTS-HD Master Audio) does sound better than our old friend, the Audio CD.
Also checkout:
SACD Lives: SACD and ultrasonics
BBC NEWS | Technology | How the CD was developed
Thanks,
Last edited:
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Re: CD vs. Cassette
That is another catchhyeah:hyeah:
BTW yes I also read so ,but then a good record is min Rs 1000 and CD is from Rs 100 so again ODD comparison..
In absolute terms yes but if you add other factors like conveneince, storabality ,maintainace digital is way to go
That is another catch
hyeah:hyeah:BTW yes I also read so ,but then a good record is min Rs 1000 and CD is from Rs 100 so again ODD comparison..
In absolute terms yes but if you add other factors like conveneince, storabality ,maintainace digital is way to go
Sorry! I am 12 hours late.
The Cassette player: Panasonic RX-FS409 (purchased from Hiro Music House, Mumbai in
2001 (not 2010))
The CD player: AIWA Model No. XP-560 (Electronic Anti-shock system) (purchased
in Germany in 1998)
The album: Harry Belafonte, live in concert at the Carnegie Hall
CD: Bartelsmann Music Group (BMG), Made in Germany (purchased from Rhythm house
a week back, Rs 499/-)
Cassette: HMV, purchased from Kolkata in 2001 (again not 2010)
I listened to my collection of cassettes about 7-8 years back then they were resting
in peace in the cupboard. Now we are moving to a new flat so were packing things.
I took out the cassettes and dusted then curiously were playing them on my
new amplifier (100WRMS per channel) and the open baffle. I already told my
experience before. The cassette was playing warm, full and very smooth. The
CD was sharp, clear but not melodious, I can feel the 90 degree angle corners and
the discontinuity on the digital graph.
I leave it to you to judge. But I have faith in my ears.
Roushon.
The Cassette player: Panasonic RX-FS409 (purchased from Hiro Music House, Mumbai in
2001 (not 2010))
The CD player: AIWA Model No. XP-560 (Electronic Anti-shock system) (purchased
in Germany in 1998)
The album: Harry Belafonte, live in concert at the Carnegie Hall
CD: Bartelsmann Music Group (BMG), Made in Germany (purchased from Rhythm house
a week back, Rs 499/-)
Cassette: HMV, purchased from Kolkata in 2001 (again not 2010)
I listened to my collection of cassettes about 7-8 years back then they were resting
in peace in the cupboard. Now we are moving to a new flat so were packing things.
I took out the cassettes and dusted then curiously were playing them on my
new amplifier (100WRMS per channel) and the open baffle. I already told my
experience before. The cassette was playing warm, full and very smooth. The
CD was sharp, clear but not melodious, I can feel the 90 degree angle corners and
the discontinuity on the digital graph.
I leave it to you to judge. But I have faith in my ears.
Roushon.
Re: CD vs. Cassette
Good to see that we agree.
I have a thousand CDs and a dedicated CD player, but format is dying. Unfortunately, people who were using CDs because of their convenience etc. moved on to other more convenient devices. CD sales have been plunging, while the LP sales are reviving.
thanks
Yes, they sell for exactly what they are worth for. This is simple market dynamics.That is another catch
BTW yes I also read so ,but then a good record is min Rs 1000 and CD is from Rs 100 so again ODD comparison..
Good to see that we agree.
I have a thousand CDs and a dedicated CD player, but format is dying. Unfortunately, people who were using CDs because of their convenience etc. moved on to other more convenient devices. CD sales have been plunging, while the LP sales are reviving.
thanks
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