sony drops sacd?

[reyneman]

Trext, you may be misunderstanding the hybrid concept.

The CD layer is just that- the data aligns to the CD standard (the redbook, if you will). It is identical to any other CD. The SACD layer will NOT be read by your standard CDP.

To read the DSD layer requires an SACD capable player.

 

[soundboy]

Some of the hybrid SACDs actually have a HDCD-encoded CD layer....such as Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms", Lee Ann Womack's "Greatest Hits", the European hybrid of Dave Brubeck's "Time Out", etc.

 

[Dave918]

I really want that "Brothers In Arms" SACD. Why I haven't picked it up already is beyond me.

-dave

 

[TrexT]

Some of the hybrid SACDs actually have a HDCD-encoded CD layer....such as Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms", Lee Ann Womack's "Greatest Hits", the European hybrid of Dave Brubeck's "Time Out", etc.

Wow soundboy, thats the first I've seen that has SACD and HDCD combined. I have many HDCD's in my collection because I think the slight improvement is worth seeking them out. I stand by my conclusion and I understand that decoding must happen to get the benifits of SACD. How come this principal dosen't apply to HDCD's? This I'd like to know.

 

[soundboy]

I really want that "Brothers In Arms" SACD. Why I haven't picked it up already is beyond me.

On the back cover of the Dire Straits SACD, there's an announcement that there'll be a "Best of Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits" compilation coming this Fall. No mention of whether it will on SACD though.

 

[Micropassatman]

TrexT,

I think you are hearing the benefits of the 20,22, or 24 bit remastering process, which is used during the HDCD encoding process. Many 'remasters' on CD sound MUCH better than their original 16 bit predecessors. Sorry to hear you intend to stick by your conclusion that a hybrid should sound dramatically different on your redbook player, since it is incorrect. Hybrids are just a DSD High-Res disc glued to a regular ol' CD. Enjoy!

 

[soundboy]

Wow soundboy, thats the first I've seen that has SACD and HDCD combined. I have many HDCD's in my collection because I think the slight improvement is worth seeking them out. I stand by my conclusion and I understand that decoding must happen to get the benifits of SACD. How come this principal dosen't apply to HDCD's? This I'd like to know.

The photo I posted belong to a SACD released by First Impression Music (FIM) and it's the only company (which I know of) that mark their hybrid SACDs with the HDCD logo. The other titles that I've mentioned are completely unmarked both on the packaging and on the disc; they were verified by playing the discs in Windows Media Player V.10 (Microsoft owns HDCD).

I think Micropassatman is correct regarding hearing the benefits of HDCD even when it's undecoded.

SACD is just a format, and like all formats, there're good and bad examples of each. SACD has the potential to sound awesome, but it comes down to the quality of source material, the skills of the engineers, and the playback components.

BTW, Hugo Productions of Hong Kong had a proposal of manufacturing hybrid SACDs with the CD layer being XRCD. After all, a XRCD is technically just a CD with extremely high standards of mastering. The idea was quickly shot down by both JVC and Sony/Philips.

 

[Micropassatman]

Extended Resolution CD? Why would the industry Giants shoot this down? I can see the left hand of Sony caring because it is omnipotently steamrolling SACD forward, but why would JVC care? The right hand of Sony never knows what the left hand is doing, so it probably could care less. Maybe I should call Sony the seven-headed Hydra instead...

It is sad that nobody seems to care about quality anymore. The next New Format will be King! Look! It fits up your nose and will hail you a cab, too! Too bad it sound like a rapidfire telegraph. Truly a one-bit stream!

 

[robobxman]

Didn't care about this post until yesterday. Wife bought me the new John Hiatt cd (we recently saw him live). I currently have a DVD player we use as a CD player, which is hooked up to a vintage Fisher/Advent system in our kitchen. Put in the CD last night and ... nothing. I noticed the disc is SACD and assumed that is the problem. Sounds to me from this thread that if I get a regular CD player, the SACD will work but sound "normal." Interestingly, we listened to the SACD in my wife's car and I couldn't help but notice that the sound was muted and very flat, almost as if the highs were weak. Could that be caused by the SACD format? Also .... are there budget SACD players out there, or do only higher priced units support this format?

 

[TrexT]

It has to be a SACD "Hybrid" to work in a regular CDP. Maybe you got just the SACD version. Sony went the Hybrid route for obvious reasons. SACD sales are dwindling.

 

[Dave918]

The new John Hiatt disk is a hybrid and should play in any player, but there are always the exceptions of course. This disk was recorded pretty much unmolested and that may be what you are hearing compared to most recordings today that have been bent, folded, spindled and mutilated into something almost unrecognizable.

-dave

 

[Workingslug]

Dire Straits - "Brothers in Arms"
Got the 180g pressing of the album and in comparing it to the SACD version, once you have heard this album pressing, you will leave the SACD in its jewel case. I realize the SACD's are supposed to be a level above the Redbook CD's but, if the vinyl is properly pressed, they still do not have the detail of the record album. I was going to purchase Alison Krauss' "New Favorite" on the SACD format but have backed off that idea as I feel it will not come close to the vinyl. I am almost to the point that my money is better spent on the record albums even though the CD's are far more convenient.

 

[robobxman]

Dave - I'm all for unmolested sound ... in this case, I think seeing Hiatt live screwed up my expectations, b/c the cd doesn't come close. JH's vocal quality blew me away at the concert ... and that's what I want to hear again. Guess I'll wait for the live album. BTW ... if I dump the songs off the CD onto my computer, then burn a new "regular" CD, will that keep the SACD feature or lose it?

 

[reyneman]

With a few rare exceptions (same make player and receiver, with approved circuits, etc) you cannot get the DSD out of the player digitally.

A burned copy of the disk will only contain the PCM, not the DSD info.

 

[F1nut]

Funny, I thought the SACD of BIA absolutely smoked the super vinyl version in detail and dynamics with zero surface noise to boot! Maybe it's your choice of SACD player.

 

[schoolboy]

Although I'm sure nobody has been really happy with SACD (and DVD-A) sales, it seems inevitable that they (or one of them) will survive. The best recordings today are all being made with either analog or 24 bit digital equipment. If it isn't going to vinyl, the only other place to get the quality out is SACD or DVD-A.

I am surprised by posters to audiokarma who think SACD's improvement over redbook to be subtle. I find it to be dramatic. Even HDCD's were significantly better than redbook. Maybe it's time for those posters to improve their setups!

Only a handful of SACD's have been a disappointment to me - the Police Regatta de Blanc (horrible shrill sound) and Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (why did I think that would sound good - it doesn't). A few of the older classical ones sound a little flat (this format has been around for a few years). Otherwise, I swear by SACD, DVD-A and vinyl as hi-fi and treat 16 bit redbook CDs like cassettes - OK, but not hi-fi in comparison. Cassettes had higher resolution!! (infinite-they are analog).

 

[soundboy]

I've read in another thread on this forum that Sony is no longer making SACDs. I think that's kind of misleading since Sony's Terre Haute, Indiana CD/SACD pressing plant is actually pressing SACDs for other labels' SACD releases, like Universal's.

As for Sony giving up on releasing SACD titles, last week it released Jeff Wayne's musical version of "War of the Worlds" on 2 hybrid SACDs. But while Sony's SACD release has basically stopped (at least in the US), it just announced it has licenced 2 titles to be issue on hybrid SACD by audiophile label Mobile Fidelity....

Earth, Wind & Fire's "That's The Way of the World"

The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man"

Too bad this will cost more than Sony's own hybrid SACDs.

And as late as early May, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" SACD is still happening, according to the band's drummer, Nick Mason.

 

[VQLT]

I just went to best buy to look at dvd-audio disc. they have all been replaced by "dual discs". i read the package of the dual disc. appears they are designed to play the hi-resolution recording on a dvd player or the standard recording on a cd player. however they all have a warning sticker that indicates the cd layer does not follow standard cd industry format, therefore it may not play at all in some players. why would someone create a format that may not be backwards compatible with regular cd players?

 

[soundboy]

Visited my local Best Buy tonight....and I am completely floored!!

Not only did the SACD section get restocked, it actually now expanded to two racks full of SACDs!! This store's SACD rack was recently restocked with mostly Fantasy jazz titles and some Sony single-layer titles. Now it got completely restocked with both Universal (Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Steely Dan, Hilary Hahn, etc...) and Sony titles (Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, Carole King, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, etc....). There was even a Donovan SACD from AF. It was packed!!

Prices were reduced to $14.99 for most Sony single-layer SACDs, and it looks like some Universal titles also got reduced from $14.99 to $13.99....like the SACDs from Peter Gabriel and the Police catalog.

I also noticed that some Sony single-layer SACDs have a new way of distingishing regular CD titles from those that are SACD. When looking down from the top, it used to be that the first 2 letters in the catalog number on that clear transparent sticker thingy will tell whether the disc is a regular CD (starts with CK) or a SACD (starts with CS). Now, the SACD logo shows up on top of the CS catalog number, easily identifying itself as a SACD. I have never seen this before.

One more thing, I noticed the "new" SACD of Billy Joel's "52nd Street" doesn't come in a slipcase, cardboard or plastic. Like all previous Sony SACDs, it comes in a regular CD jewel case. The only identification of the disc being a SACD is the round silver/black sticker saying the disc is playable only on a SACD player. Since there was 3 copies of "52nd Street " like this (each with the SACD logo over the catalog number visible on the top edge of the jewel case), I guess this may be the new way to display the disc.

 

[soundboy]

I just read that Jeff Wayne's musical version of "War of the Worlds" SACD (released by Sony) has gone Top 10 on the British album chart (along side the likes of Oasis and Coldplay) and has since gone gold in sales. While I seriously doubt the majority of sales are the result of the listeners wanting to hear hi-rez in multi-channel, I do think that Sony should initiate a promotion with current titles released on SACD. With SACD-capable players going for as low as $50.00, all we need is software and promotion. Sony should consider dumping CD and going just hybrid SACD.