Thread: Question about sacd players

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Post by FullRangeMan July 5, 2013 (11 of 72)
Confuzzled said:

I'm sorry if this seems a really dumb question, but I keep hearing about sacd players in particular the oppo 103 & 105. What I don't understand is the other bits you need to go along with the player to listen to sacds. Obviously speakers, but do they connect directly to these players or do you need to connect it to an amp??

I am a complete newbie when it comes to audio. The most I've ever had before is a hifi with everything that's needed coming in one package.

Various great posts in this topic.
Confuzzled:
If you like Stereo, and dont like multi-channel(5.1)speakers you may desire advance further in the minimalist route and substitute the always expensive Stereo speakers+Cables for a big soundstage headphone as the famous Sennheiser HD800($1500 in US, EU940 in Euro zone) it already came with a 3 meter long great sound cord and offer much more musical detail than 2 or 5.1 speakers.

Also each phone had its own musical flavor and you may buy various phones to change the musical flavor according the music genre.

To great sound you will need a headphone amp, my favorite is the Decware CSP2+
http://www.decware.com/newsite/CSP2.html
According the press the Sennheiser HD800 is the best sound stage currently:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared-update-audeze-lcd-2-revision-2-6-4-13

I may run this way myself if I would listen a HD800, unfortunately there is no dealer in my area.
Good Luck,

Post by gumby July 5, 2013 (12 of 72)
Confuzzled said:

I'm sorry if this seems a really dumb question, but I keep hearing about sacd players in particular the oppo 103 & 105. What I don't understand is the other bits you need to go along with the player to listen to sacds. Obviously speakers, but do they connect directly to these players or do you need to connect it to an amp??

I am a complete newbie when it comes to audio. The most I've ever had before is a hifi with everything that's needed coming in one package.

Hi Confuzzled,

In order to respond to your question, the following are some brief definitions of functions of various devices used in an audio/visual system.

Source Components - As the name implies these devices provide audio and visual information to the system. Nowadays, this almost always means digital information (essentially computer files containing zeros and ones). Turntables and tape machines are still used by some people for music and provide audio information as an analog signal, which is a time varying electromagnetic wave that follows a wire. The time varying voltage in this wave carries the audio information.

Preamplifiers - Preamplifiers provide volume control (adjustments to the magnitude of the time varying voltage in an analog signal), switching capability between multiple sources, digital signal processing (DSP) in order adjust digital source information for optimal audio and visual representation, and conversion of digital information to analog signals (required to playback audio through speakers, which are analog devices). Digital to analog conversion of video is typically handled by the video display where zeros and ones get changed back into light (electromagnetic radiation detectable by your eyes.). The terminolgy "preamplifier" probably dates back to the days when turntables were the source for music. The time varying voltage generated by the turntable's cartridge assembly is very weak and generally needs to be boosted before being fed to an amplifier through an analog volume control.

Amplifiers - Amplifiers source the current needed to control the dynamic response of speakers to the time varying voltage in an analog signal. Bigger speakers can produce more sound but require amplifiers that can safely source more current in order to very accurately control the motions of the speakers so that they can accurately recreate the time varying sound pressure waves of the original audio source, human voices and musical intruments. These original time varying sound pressures waves are converted to analog signals by microphones. Analog to digital converters are used to convert this electromagnetic wave into zero and ones, which is packaged up in various ways for playback from digital source components ( see above).

Audio/Visual (A/V) Receivers - Combines the preamplifier and amplifier functions into one box.

I do not own an OPPO but I have the manual and have read it. It appears the OPPO combines the function of source components and preamplifiers into one box. However, it only accepts digital inputs. It can, it appears be connected directly to a video display and amplifiers. You should study the manual to verify this yourself.

If I interpreted the manual correctly, it appears to be a universal source component as it as been designed to source any form of digital audio and video information from virtually any silver disc, as well as information over a network or directly from a computer. It is has two digital to analog converters (DACs) that are reported to be excellent. One is optimized for two-channel stereo and the other for multi-channel (surround) audio. They can be configured to work together in a home theatre environment and provide excellent results for music only use. In the grand scheme of things it is relatively inexpensive way to get into this hobby and represents a tremendous value.

It could also be used as a source component only and connected to a preamplifier or A/V Receiver. I am thinking of getting one and using it this way. If you do this, you may want to use the analog outputs from the OPPO and "bypass" the DSP capabilities of the preamp or A/V Receiver.

Post by hiredfox July 6, 2013 (13 of 72)
Iain said:

Analogue is obsolete in the context of source kit.

Er! I don't think so. Ever heard of stereo?

Post by Nagraboy July 6, 2013 (14 of 72)
hiredfox said:

Er! I don't think so. Ever heard of stereo?

And I'm now using analogue outputs for my new 5.1 setup! Mind you, my amp is an ancient Sony QS receiver...

Post by Iain July 6, 2013 (15 of 72)
hiredfox said:

........ Ever heard of stereo?

wot's that??

Post by Kutyatest July 6, 2013 (16 of 72)
Nagraboy said:

And I'm now using analogue outputs for my new 5.1 setup! Mind you, my amp is an ancient Sony QS receiver...

Same for me, i.e. I also use analogue outputs for 5.1 (and stereo). I don't have to, as my player and amp have HDMI outputs/inputs - but the manufacturer (and a dealer) recommended using the analogue outputs over using HDMI.

Post by Iain July 6, 2013 (17 of 72)
FullRangeMan said:

Various great posts in this topic.
Confuzzled:
If you like Stereo, and dont like multi-channel(5.1)speakers you may desire advance further in the minimalist route and substitute the always expensive Stereo speakers+Cables for a big soundstage headphone as the famous Sennheiser HD800($1500 in US, EU940 in Euro zone) it already came with a 3 meter long great sound cord and offer much more musical detail than 2 or 5.1 speakers.

Also each phone had its own musical flavor and you may buy various phones to change the musical flavor according the music genre.

............

............

How's your hearing quality since starting to use headphones? :
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1352145/tinnitus-scare-last-night-makes-me-rethink-this-hobby

Post by Confuzzled July 6, 2013 (18 of 72)
FullRangeMan said:

Various great posts in this topic.
Confuzzled:
If you like Stereo, and dont like multi-channel(5.1)speakers you may desire advance further in the minimalist route and substitute the always expensive Stereo speakers+Cables for a big soundstage headphone as the famous Sennheiser HD800($1500 in US, EU940 in Euro zone) it already came with a 3 meter long great sound cord and offer much more musical detail than 2 or 5.1 speakers.

Also each phone had its own musical flavor and you may buy various phones to change the musical flavor according the music genre.

To great sound you will need a headphone amp, my favorite is the Decware CSP2+
http://www.decware.com/newsite/CSP2.html
According the press the Sennheiser HD800 is the best sound stage currently:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared-update-audeze-lcd-2-revision-2-6-4-13

I may run this way myself if I would listen a HD800, unfortunately there is no dealer in my area.
Good Luck,

I quite like the idea of a minimalist setup, but I wouldn't really be hearing an sacd to it's full extent would I with 2 speakers? Just thinking about sacds like Pink Floyd with 5.1 surround sound mix. I never thought about a headphone setup. I have the sennheiser hd25 ii headphones, and some Heir 4.ai iems. I suppose with the right headphone amp I could listen through those? But I don't think the headphones are really that good. But the iems have impressed me.

Post by Confuzzled July 6, 2013 (19 of 72)
gumby said:

Hi Confuzzled,

In order to respond to your question, the following are some brief definitions of functions of various devices used in an audio/visual system.

Hi . Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me. To be honest I don't think i've heard about a/v receivers before this week. I've heard about preamps for turntables, and of course headphone amps, and dacs. I mostly listen to music via my iphone or on my laptop. I am going to upgrade my portable setup at some point, I took the first step in getting better earphones. Next step is to re rip the cds I have into flac. I only heard about sacds this year. It would be nice to have a half decent setup at home to listen to music. Shame you can't rip sacds, and it looks like the dsd format is becoming more popular online, but there don't seem to be a lot of high res music sites offering the format. Not in the UK anyway. And of course i'd need something suitable to listen to it on. That's why I thought about the oppo 103 because you can play dsd files from it, or so it says anyway.

Post by FullRangeMan July 6, 2013 (20 of 72)
Iain said:

How's your hearing quality since starting to use headphones? :
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1352145/tinnitus-scare-last-night-makes-me-rethink-this-hobby

Thanks for your concern. Iam not listen in headphones yet, but Iam conservative in SPLs.
Being worked in pro-sound some time in the 70s I quite this jobs to preserve my ears.
Also I dont listen aggresive rock or pop, unless prog rock.

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