SACD sound quality

[varma_vikas]

Hi All,

First , very thanks to all of you. With all of you people support, I finally finalised the speakers----highly appraised ---ACOUSTIC PORTRAIT.

SPECIAL THANKS AND RESPECT GOES TO DR. BASS AND 2 CHANNEL FREAK WHO ALWAYS HELPED ME AND MADE ME TO CUT ALL THOSE MARKET CRAP AND GET THE BEST OUT OF MY BUDGET AND REQUIREMENT.

Soon going to get pair.

Now could anybody please tell me how to get the SACD kind of sound qualilty as SACD'S are not available specially for hindi albums.

I have hindi albums of Rudali and others and I wish to have SACD kind of quality.

Is there any way to get those. I wish to have that kind of sound quality for the music like MAINE PYAR KIYA.

Please let me know some way.

Thank you all.

 

[hemantwaghe]

No way.

Honestly not understood your query.

As hindi music audience is not discerning enough , and not ready to pay for quality , there was never an attempt of better recording at higher price ; which was premises for SACD.
Honestly never heard a SACD in a proper rig with high end SACD player. Have you?Which music? As most of rock / pop music SACDs are not available , or available at exhorbitant prices - I never saw ( ora head ) any?
And for western classical / jazz music which I do not listen regulary - I cannot fully appriciate..

Back to hindi music - remember Gigo priciple - Garbage In Garbage Out - so you will get what it is recorded
So try to extract last bit of music - invest in any good CD player - and honestly which is not "reveling" but "forgiving" one; as many of hindi recordings have nothing to "revel"..

also sone music is available on Vinyl so collecting old vinyl is another option with very good analougue ring ..again recoard availabality is an issue and honestly these sound marginally better as recording technique was poor in the past...

my 5 naye paise

 

[varma_vikas]

No way.

Honestly not understood your query.

As hindi music audience is not discerning enough , and not ready to pay for quality , there was never an attempt of better recording at higher price ; which was premises for SACD.
Honestly never heard a SACD in a proper rig with high end SACD player. Have you?Which music? As most of rock / pop music SACDs are not available , or available at exhorbitant prices - I never saw ( ora head ) any?
And for western classical / jazz music which I do not listen regulary - I cannot fully appriciate..

Back to hindi music - remember Gigo priciple - Garbage In Garbage Out - so you will get what it is recorded
So try to extract last bit of music - invest in any good CD player - and honestly which is not "reveling" but "forgiving" one; as many of hindi recordings have nothing to "revel"..

also sone music is available on Vinyl so collecting old vinyl is another option with very good analougue ring ..again recoard availabality is an issue and honestly these sound marginally better as recording technique was poor in the past...

my 5 naye paise

Hemantwaghe,

Thank you for your reply,

sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad:

I have recently purchased Cambridge 651 universal player. So thought to listen my favorite music in best quality.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Hemantwaghe,

Thank you for your reply,

sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad::sad:

I have recently purchased Cambridge 651 universal player. So thought to listen my favorite music in best quality.

You mean Asur 651 BD Player?
Which amp you will be using?

My saying is that forget the quality and start enjoying the music

Bad recording and production is constraint and we have to live with it. and I am sure that you ( and me ) are not going to change the music taste -- ie stop listening hindi and start listening to western classical.. yes there are eamples that people started enjoying and appriciating western classical or jazz when they upgraded to better systems , but that does not mean that Hindi music is crap --it is fanstastic content that touches you . I wish Kishor kumars "meri nindon main tum" should have better recording ( and thousands other songs) but I enjoy the song on you tube with my laptops crappy speakers... that is power of content!

BTW a tip - HMV release some Gold CDs , Made in England - 10-15 years back which were better mastered and sounds good. Same CD's sound pathetic - it seems they are remastered -and sound lifeless. So see if you find these in used market. BTW some collectors know about these and these command premium sometimes ( I was offfered 100-150 Cds lot @ Rs 300-400 Rs / cd - total lot 3 years back - I did not have that kind of money)

So net net - forget quality - and enjoy the music!!
hyeah:

 

[varma_vikas]

You mean Asur 651 BD Player?
Which amp you will be using?

My saying is that forget the quality and start enjoying the music

Bad recording and production is constraint and we have to live with it. and I am sure that you ( and me ) are not going to change the music taste -- ie stop listening hindi and start listening to western classical.. yes there are eamples that people started enjoying and appriciating western classical or jazz when they upgraded to better systems , but that does not mean that Hindi music is crap --it is fanstastic content that touches you . I wish Kishor kumars "meri nindon main tum" should have better recording ( and thousands other songs) but I enjoy the song on you tube with my laptops crappy speakers... that is power of content!

BTW a tip - HMV release some Gold CDs , Made in England - 10-15 years back which were better mastered and sounds good. Same CD's sound pathetic - it seems they are remastered -and sound lifeless. So see if you find these in used market. BTW some collectors know about these and these command premium sometimes ( I was offfered 100-150 Cds lot @ Rs 300-400 Rs / cd - total lot 3 years back - I did not have that kind of money)

So net net - forget quality - and enjoy the music!!
hyeah:

Yes, I have Cambridge azur 651 player.


Currently I have woodstock amplifier 80w/channel 8ohm.

Soon going to get NAIM AUDIO UNITIQUTE.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Agree with Hemant. Most of the music recorded in Hindi cinema is just average. Though the quality of recordings has been improving since last 10-12 years. Earlier good recordings were once in a blue moon phenomena.

That said, the best way to extract the most out of what you have is to invest in a good DAC. Money spent on a good DACs is money well spent. I listen to a fair number of bollywood music recorded in 80s and 90s and I am surprised how much detail a good DAC can extract even from those apparently bland sounding (on average systems) tracks.

Get a good oversampling DAC, that's the best you can do.

 

[varma_vikas]

Agree with Hemant. Most of the music recorded in Hindi cinema is just average. Though the quality of recordings has been improving since last 10-12 years. Earlier good recordings were once in a blue moon phenomena.

That said, the best way to extract the most out of what you have is to invest in a good DAC. Money spent on a good DACs is money well spent. I listen to a fair number of bollywood music recorded in 80s and 90s and I am surprised how much detail a good DAC can extract even from those apparently bland sounding (on average systems) tracks.

Get a good oversampling DAC, that's the best you can do.

HI Ranjeetrain,

Soon going to get the best DAC in Naim audio. Unit I am going to get has very high quality DAC.

 

[jls001]

Since you already have the player, it is but natural to try and get SACDs. Some titles I can think of, off hand:

1) Steely Dan: Gaucho
2) Tabula Rasa: Pt VM Bhatt, Jie-Bing Chen, Bela Fleck, etc. From Water Lily Records.
3) Joshua Bell: Tchaikovsky Concerto for Violin Op 35

Perhaps these are not your regular type of music, but take it as an opportunity to discover new music.

 

[mpw]

Get a good oversampling DAC, that's the best you can do.

=======================================

ranjeet,

why an oversampling dac ? what AUDIBLE sonic advantages to they offer over NOS ?

Please elaborate if possible on the advantages and if you have done a direct comparo betn similar prices OS DAC and NOS DAC.

will be helpful info for me.

sorry vikas - if OT for you.

ranjeet - you may respond on my DAC thread so Vikas can enjoy his hindi music

Vikas - i agree with hemant and the other FM's.. just enjoy the music content ( esp old KK and Rafi etc.. ) The recordings are not too great anyway..

jls - you get me thinking about a few SACD's too.. thank you.

rgds,
mpw
========================================

 

[varma_vikas]

=======================================

ranjeet,

why an oversampling dac ? what AUDIBLE sonic advantages to they offer over NOS ?

Please elaborate if possible on the advantages and if you have done a direct comparo betn similar prices OS DAC and NOS DAC.

will be helpful info for me.

sorry vikas - if OT for you.

ranjeet - you may respond on my DAC thread so Vikas can enjoy his hindi music

Vikas - i agree with hemant and the other FM's.. just enjoy the music content ( esp old KK and Rafi etc.. ) The recordings are not too great anyway..

jls - you get me thinking about a few SACD's too.. thank you.

rgds,
mpw
========================================

Ha ha ha,

Thank you to you too MPW.

I think when we rip our cd's in our computer, the ripped songs are called FLAC files. Am I right?

 

[varma_vikas]

I have a question in my mind, if any of you is aware with.

Do producers and directors of bollywood carry the same quality of cd as we have OR something is made specially for them?

Other thing,, if I exclude the albums like Rudali and all that old stuff MPK, could I have SACD for Michael Jackson, Kenny G etc etc.

Celione Dion SACD album , I have seen and heard. I came to know that in that SACD few words or sentences in the beginning were more than my regular audio cd which I had heard first time.

I had heard that SACD with AAshish at Lakozy Delhi.

 

[ranjeetrain]

=======================================

ranjeet,

why an oversampling dac ? what AUDIBLE sonic advantages to they offer over NOS ?

Please elaborate if possible on the advantages and if you have done a direct comparo betn similar prices OS DAC and NOS DAC.

will be helpful info for me.

sorry vikas - if OT for you.

ranjeet - you may respond on my DAC thread so Vikas can enjoy his hindi music

Vikas - i agree with hemant and the other FM's.. just enjoy the music content ( esp old KK and Rafi etc.. ) The recordings are not too great anyway..

jls - you get me thinking about a few SACD's too.. thank you.

rgds,
mpw
========================================

mpw, I can email you a more detailed explanation or we can talk about it at other places. But here is the crux.

Well recorded music, even with a through out 44.1 processing would sound decent. The music which is just average, benefits immensely from over sampling from a good DAC. The benefit comes from the "constructed" wave forms that attempts to "round" out errors during poor recording/encoding.

 

[ranjeetrain]

I think when we rip our cd's in our computer, the ripped songs are called FLAC files. Am I right?

No, that's not correct!

The ripped files are RAW (headerless) or WAV(e) (Windows format) files. But depending on the software you are using for ripping and how it is configured, the software may save it in WAVE/FLAC/MP3/APE/AAC etc.

 

[2chFreak]

Playing SACDs on CA BD 651, you won't get to hear any of the hidden qualities of this SACD medium. For that, one has to elevate to much higher category devices that make the difference to a medium like SACD / DSD.

The best one can do in your situation is to take the SPDIF Coax OUT from the CA 651 and plug it into the Naim's Digital input and let the PCM signal route thru the Naim, taking advantage of better processing and superior analog output of the Naim.

However, SACD discs CANNOT be played as the Naim doesn't handle/process DSD signals while your CA 651 doesn't output DSD in digital. So, for playback of SACDs, you'll have to move via analog out from the CA BD 651.

Coming to SACD discs and the recording, IMHO to take the proper advantage of this medium, one needs to listen to Discs that were originally recorded using DSD and then they should be played back using SACD discs. The full realism will comes thru here ... provided you have the SACD Player & the rest of the reproduction chain to do full justice to such a recording.

Some recommended recordings are :

ALLAN TAYLOR SONGS FOR THE ROAD SACD-Elusive Disc


STEVE STRAUSS JUST LIKE LOVE M-CH SACD-Elusive Disc

 

[varma_vikas]

Playing SACDs on CA BD 651, you won't get to hear any of the hidden qualities of this SACD medium. For that, one has to elevate to much higher category devices that make the difference to a medium like SACD / DSD.

The best one can do in your situation is to take the SPDIF Coax OUT from the CA 651 and plug it into the Naim's Digital input and let the PCM signal route thru the Naim, taking advantage of better processing and superior analog output of the Naim.

However, SACD discs CANNOT be played as the Naim doesn't handle/process DSD signals while your CA 651 doesn't output DSD in digital. So, for playback of SACDs, you'll have to move via analog out from the CA BD 651.

Coming to SACD discs and the recording, IMHO to take the proper advantage of this medium, one needs to listen to Discs that were originally recorded using DSD and then they should be played back using SACD discs. The full realism will comes thru here ... provided you have the SACD Player & the rest of the reproduction chain to do full justice to such a recording.

Some recommended recordings are :

ALLAN TAYLOR SONGS FOR THE ROAD SACD-Elusive Disc


STEVE STRAUSS JUST LIKE LOVE M-CH SACD-Elusive Disc

"SPDIF Coax OUT from the CA 651 and plug it into the Naim's Digital input and let the PCM signal route thru" -------Will keep in mind this one. Is this the best way of connecting devices for all the discs?

 

[varma_vikas]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm:sad:
Understood.

Ok. lets do not talk about SACD.

1. When we download the songs from internet, we get it from sites llike---songs.pk,,aun ka bollywood etc etc. These are just average place. Obviously , no quality.

Is there any good site from which we can get high quality songs SPECIALLY FLAC FILES.?

2. Yesterday I imported some of my cd's in laptop in itunes player. They all get converted to MPEG4.Size of the songs(MB) is same. Is this ok OR still can I give some better treatment to the songs by converting those in some other format?

If yes, how?

 

[technobhatt]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm:sad:
Understood.

Ok. lets do not talk about SACD.

1. When we download the songs from internet, we get it from sites llike---songs.pk,,aun ka bollywood etc etc. These are just average place. Obviously , no quality.

Is there any good site from which we can get high quality songs SPECIALLY FLAC FILES.?

2. Yesterday I imported some of my cd's in laptop in itunes player. They all get converted to MPEG4.Size of the songs(MB) is same. Is this ok OR still can I give some better treatment to the songs by converting those in some other format?

If yes, how?

1. Downloading shouldn't be discussed as per the forum rules. But a simple google search "FLAC + 'Album Name' will answer your queries.

2. Better don't use iTunes for ripping your CDs, no way you can rip CDs in FLAC format using iTunes.
You should use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) software to rip CDs in FLAC or WAV format. search for 'Best Guide to rip CD in FLAC' and you're good to go.

 

[sarge_in]

dBpoweramp is another excellent ripping software, and more user-friendly than EAC. Works very well to convert files between formats as required.

Also use mp3tag to tag files properly with album / artist names etc. This works on FLAC, ALAC etc files too.

 

[baijuxavior]

You can legally download 320kbps mp3 from flipkart. I think FLAC is not available with flipkart.

 

[2chFreak]

You can legally download 320kbps mp3 from flipkart. I think FLAC is not available with flipkart.

The OP is discussing high Rez material & you talk of mp3 ? ..