Thread: Newbie Questions

Posts: 33
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Post by Dumfy October 6, 2008 (1 of 33)
Hi All,

I'm new to SACD and have a couple of questions I hope you can help with. I've looked through the FAQs and Forum, but still need a little clarification I'm afraid.

First off, I won't be using 5.1 multi-channel SACD, but am interested in 2 channel stereo SACD. I understand hybrid discs have a CD layer that is universally playable and also an SACD layer.

Within the SACD layer, is there always a 2 channel track as well as multi-channel and how do you select one track or the other?

My main musical tastes are rock/pop and I never realised how many SACD titles are available until I searched this site. Better get the plastic out.

Thank you for a very informative site!

Best Regards

Dumfy

Post by soundboy October 6, 2008 (2 of 33)
Dumfy said:

Within the SACD layer, is there always a 2 channel track as well as multi-channel and how do you select one track or the other?

First of all, welcome!

99% of the time, you will find a separate 2 channel stereo mix and multi-channel surround mix on the SACD layer. There're only a handful of SACD that lacks a dedicated stereo mix on the SACD layer.

To select which mix you want, just press a buttom on the front of the player or on the remote.

Post by rammiepie October 6, 2008 (3 of 33)
Welcome to the world of SACD. About 99.9% of multi-channel discs have stereo as well as a multi-layer. If you are interested in rock/pop, I would also keep an inexpensive multi-channel universal player (think Oppo for around $169.00) on hand since the pop releases have some very "active" surround channels. And the best advice, a lot of rock/pop titles are going, or are already Out of Print (OOP) and if you want to avoid paying inflated prices, I suggest you get busy and start stocking up on those titles immediately. As far as the player selection for stereo/multi.....on a stereo only SACD player the unit usually defaults to the stereo SACD layer but some players (especially the multi-channel ones) are usually selectable via the player's remote (the individual player's instruction book will be invaluable in this case). Best of luck and enjoy!

Post by The Seventh Taylor October 7, 2008 (4 of 33)
Dumfy said:

Within the SACD layer, is there always a 2 channel track as well as multi-channel?

It's here: /faq#discs5
and here: /faq#discs7

> and how do you select one track or the other?

That differs from brand to brand.

Post by Dumfy October 7, 2008 (5 of 33)
The Seventh Taylor said:

It's here: /faq#discs5
and here: /faq#discs7

> and how do you select one track or the other?

That differs from brand to brand.

Thank you one and all.

Appreciate the help and it's much clearer now.

Best Regards

Dumfy

Post by Disbeliever October 8, 2008 (6 of 33)
Hi everybody,

Does anyone out there really know which AV receivers will give a full SACD performance. Pioneer SC-LX 90 model does but costs £5500 are there any cheaper ones.? No manufacturers literature that I know of gives this information. Thanks Gerald

Post by Disbeliever October 8, 2008 (7 of 33)
Dumfy said:

Hi All,

I'm new to SACD and have a couple of questions I hope you can help with. I've looked through the FAQs and Forum, but still need a little clarification I'm afraid.

First off, I won't be using 5.1 multi-channel SACD, but am interested in 2 channel stereo SACD. I understand hybrid discs have a CD layer that is universally playable and also an SACD layer.

Within the SACD layer, is there always a 2 channel track as well as multi-channel and how do you select one track or the other?

My main musical tastes are rock/pop and I never realised how many SACD titles are available until I searched this site. Better get the plastic out.

Thank you for a very informative site!

Best Regards

Dumfy

Hi Dumfy,

My experience is ,even with a expensive SACD/CD player Marantz SA-7S1 £5K in the UK. Stereo SACD is a complete waste of time. You must go 5.1 surround sound and then you can use a cheap DVD player like the Pioneer DV-lX50 and get superb results. I sold off the Marantz player a complete waste of money, my 20 year old Marantz CD94 (modified) sounded far more musical. The main problem for a full SACD performance is to find a reasoably priced receiver that can decode DSD to analogue without first going to LPCM

regds Gerald

Post by Kutyatest October 8, 2008 (8 of 33)
Disbeliever said:

Hi everybody,

Does anyone out there really know which AV receivers will give a full SACD performance. Pioneer SC-LX 90 model does but costs £5500 are there any cheaper ones.? No manufacturers literature that I know of gives this information. Thanks Gerald

I'm not technical, and don't even have much experience with SACDs, as I only started buying them in early 2007. There are almost certainly more people using this forum that have more technical know-how.

The player and amp that I use is the Arcam DV137 and Arcam AVR350 respectively, both of which I'm very happy with. These are supposedly being sold off at less than half their original RRP, around GBP 600.00 each. Using the AVR350 in MCH mode, the audio signal is forced into "direct" mode, which means that no manipulation is allowed whatsoever. If I use the "so-called" CD mode (which I use for stereo or mono hi-res discs), I can choose between "direct" mode (allowing no manipulation), or one of the various sound programmes (often called DSPs) which manipulate the signal in a variety of ways. These allow for things such as "Party", "Music", "Concert", Jazz" or "Sport" mode, degrading the signal to various degrees. I always use "Party" mode for mono or stereo (CD or hi-res).

Post by Kutyatest October 8, 2008 (9 of 33)
Dumfy said:

Thank you one and all.

Appreciate the help and it's much clearer now.

Best Regards

Dumfy

The only other bit of advise I would give over what rammiepie has already stated, with regard to the buying of OOP hi-res discs (whether they be SACD or DVD-A), particularly if you're intending buying from Amazon Marketplace sellers or eBay as I have done, is be careful that what you're ordering is SACD and not just ordinary CDs.

I have bought quite a few now from these sources, and I'm in the habit of e-mailing the seller first before placing an order. I suspect some sellers actually mis-list items by mistake, but I feel there are some rogues out there. Recently I sent an e-mail to a seller regarding a Rolling Stones album I was interested in. It was listed where Amazon would normally have the SACD version, but I was being cautious. The seller did not respond to my e-mail - I therefore bought it elsewhere.

Post by Dumfy October 8, 2008 (10 of 33)
Disbeliever said:

Hi Dumfy,

My experience is ,even with a expensive SACD/CD player Marantz SA-7S1 £5K in the UK. Stereo SACD is a complete waste of time. You must go 5.1 surround sound and then you can use a cheap DVD player like the Pioneer DV-lX50 and get superb results. I sold off the Marantz player a complete waste of money, my 20 year old Marantz CD94 (modified) sounded far more musical. The main problem for a full SACD performance is to find a reasoably priced receiver that can decode DSD to analogue without first going to LPCM

regds Gerald

It's interesting that you find stereo SACD a complete waste of time.

As I mentioned, I am new to SACD and would have thought that with the increased resolution and detail that SACD affords, it would lead to a much improved sound. So are you saying that SACD stereo is not a vast improvement over standard CD?

I can appreciate what it must be like to use the multi-channel option, but my room and domestic set up won't allow for this.

So, is stereo SACD a waste of time? If it is and as I can't utilise a 5.1 set up, I may as well opt for a standard CD player.

Many thanks

Dumfy

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