confused about SACD

[wilson32]

Hi, I'm looking for a new mid-priced cd player and am drawn to the Cambridge Audio Azur line. This seems to be a good value in the $600-$800 price range but none of their cd players seem to support SACD. I'm a bit confused about this format as my cheap(<$200) sony DVD player is SACD and Cambridge audio's inexpensive DVD player with a single noname D-A converter is SACD, but none of their "audiophile" cd players are. Is SACD is more of a DVD audio format rather than an audiophile format? what is the general feeling about the future of SACD?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[botrytis]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD

[botrytis]

Basically they are 2 different formats.

[walkandtalk]

Have you looked at the Oppo-BDP83? It supports SACD, is in your price range, and has gotten amazing reviews.

[PR Audio]

Originally Posted by walkandtalk

Have you looked at the Oppo-BDP83? It supports SACD, is in your price range, and has gotten amazing reviews.

+1 Read the pro reviews, and what the average Joe has written in forums like this one. Hard to beat, and only $500.00

[elgato8905]

So sorry but I'm still not getting it... Would my Sony SACD / DVD player that I received 6+ years ago as a present still be a true SACD player?

[JT-3]

Sure...

Are you not happy with it or looking for a change?

The Azur line is fantastic stuff - you might be surprised if one of their newer CDP's sound better then your SACD sony.

[59volvo]

SACD never really caught on - there are a few titles out there in the SACD but it is basically a dead format and most new titles do not come out in it. So while it does sound better than the "red book" cd format, it is not practical due to it not being adopted as the next generation of audio format. probably the next format will be on line downloads and lets hope they use a higher bit rate like SACD

[whoaru99]

Originally Posted by elgato8905

So sorry but I'm still not getting it... Would my Sony SACD / DVD player that I received 6+ years ago as a present still be a true SACD player?

I can't tell if you're serious or joking....if it plays SACDs how would it not be a "true" SACD player?

[whoaru99]

Originally Posted by 59volvo

there are a few titles out there in the SACD

Around 6,000 from what I gather.

[whoaru99]

Originally Posted by wilson32

Is SACD is more of a DVD audio format rather than an audiophile format? what is the general feeling about the future of SACD?

Thanks for your thoughts.

No. DVD-A could also be considered an "audiophile" format if the qualifiers are higher bit depth and higher sampling frequency.

SACD is never going to be as big as CDs if that's what you mean. It's still around, titles are still coming out, but it'll probably eventually die.

Laserdisk is dead, and people still collect/lust after those.

[Duffinator]

Originally Posted by whoaru99

Around 6,000 from what I gather.

Compared to how many CD's? And the majority are classical music. I love SACD but only have about 20 discs. I find it hard to find SACD's for stuff I want. When I do buy them I try and buy Hybrid's. I also have a few DVD-A's which are equally as good.

While SACD and DVD-A may not be dead, they are on life support. Too bad. Next up is BD audio discs but don't expect them to gain wide spread acceptance either.

elgato, Sony invented SACD and your player is a real SACD player.

[deaner33]

Sony was one of the creators of SACD & a lot of their CD & DVD players from the early to mid 2000's had SACD capability. If a machine will play a SACD or SACD layer of a hybrid disc it's a SACD player.


Edit: Some of you are quicker on the keyboard than my Bourbon influenced mind...

[whoaru99]

"Few" was ambiguous. Thought I'd put a number to it.

Yes, there are likely millions of different CDs.

[markc2]

there's a shop by where I live that still get's SACD's, SACD is now kind of a boutique item. Though I have found a fair amount around at half price books.

The way SACD can be decoded, Esoteric is one brand that leaves it in it's pure form has a dedicated chip on one model and converts it to PCM on an other model. Mcintosh on their CD/SACD players has a separate or separate part of a chip. I got tired of SACD and DVD-A always being compared to Vinyl so I just bought a record player. Vinyl the real dead format.

Mark