On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 23:24:22 -0000, "Nath" wrote:

I very much doubt SACD and DVD-Audio will ever replace CD. They've been out
for a few years now, and the lack of software, confusion regarding setup,
and inability to see any in the high street means they'll both die off (IMO)
a bit like HDCD. I read that (DVD-Audio/SACD titles) in the biggest music
store in NY were located in the corner, incorrectly labelled and basically
forgotten, with only a few titles. If huge stores have a small collection-
what's the chance your local woolies/whsmith store has a dedicated
DVD-Audio/SACD rack? Most audio shops don't even know what HDCD is, let
alone these two new formats. And they think all DVD players play DVD-Audio
discs (again confusion)

Of course, the lack of stock and knowledge is a reason the
brick-and-mortar music stores are being beaten to death by the web
merchants. I rarely go to any of the music stores here in NYC
because they rarely ever have anything that I am looking for.

OTOH, there's no problem buying SACDs/DVD-As on the web. As for
repertoire, I have somewhere near 500 so far and, particularly for
MCH, enjoy them more than standard CDs.

As for the ignorance in many audio shops, I am shocked, shocked! ;-)

Kal

Dear Bedouin
I purchased a Pioneer 565A at Richer Sounds (UK) for £200 inc 5 year
warranty to play my three SACDS and one DVD-A. I had no DVD player at all
and decided to get the multi format player. It is substantially better than
my Computer which plays both DVD and DVD-A. It works almost as good,
possibly as good as my Marantz CD-11LE which is used as a transport (Both
run into Chord DAC 64). I cannot comment on how good the SACD and DVD-A
performance is compared to more expensive players but for £200 I consider it
a good starter to justify buying SACD and DVD-A and a way of playing my
music DVDs

Regards Richard

New Ash Green Hi-Fi club
"Bedouin" wrote in message
...
I am thinking that it is time to get a DVD player, and I am thinking of
taking the opportunity to try what the high resolution audio formats
(DVD-A
and SACD). I consider vinyl to be my main source but I also have a
reasonably good CD player (Meridian 500 feeding an AudioNote 1.1 DAC).

The main reason for going for a DVD player now is for the Video side
(although I am not too bothered about video quality), but I am hoping
that
I will also be able to start building up a DVD-A and/or SACD collection.

Without going wild there seem to be three price points - a £200 player
(Pioneer), a £450 player and a £800 player - anything above that is ruled
out at the moment on the grounds that prices are still falling and quality
still rising and the technology changing. Even the £800 (e.g. Denon 2900)
would seem to be a lot to pay for a player that is likely to need
upgrading
in 2-3 years.

I am interested to know what experience people have of players in this
price
range. I am assuming that none of them will better the Meridian/AN combo
on
RedBook (and will still use that as the main CD player), but how will
their
hi-res sound compare with my current CD?

My current inclination is to go for the cheapest and wait a couple of
years
for things to settle, but will I be able to live with the sound quality?

Dear Bedouin
I purchased a Pioneer 565A at Richer Sounds (UK) for £200 inc 5 year
warranty to play my three SACDS and one DVD-A. I had no DVD player at all
and decided to get the multi format player. It is substantially better than
my Computer which plays both DVD and DVD-A. It works almost as good,
possibly as good as my Marantz CD-11LE which is used as a transport (Both
run into Chord DAC 64). I cannot comment on how good the SACD and DVD-A
performance is compared to more expensive players but for £200 I consider it
a good starter to justify buying SACD and DVD-A and a way of playing my
music DVDs

Regards Richard

New Ash Green Hi-Fi club
"Bedouin" wrote in message
...
I am thinking that it is time to get a DVD player, and I am thinking of
taking the opportunity to try what the high resolution audio formats
(DVD-A
and SACD). I consider vinyl to be my main source but I also have a
reasonably good CD player (Meridian 500 feeding an AudioNote 1.1 DAC).

The main reason for going for a DVD player now is for the Video side
(although I am not too bothered about video quality), but I am hoping
that
I will also be able to start building up a DVD-A and/or SACD collection.

Without going wild there seem to be three price points - a £200 player
(Pioneer), a £450 player and a £800 player - anything above that is ruled
out at the moment on the grounds that prices are still falling and quality
still rising and the technology changing. Even the £800 (e.g. Denon 2900)
would seem to be a lot to pay for a player that is likely to need
upgrading
in 2-3 years.

I am interested to know what experience people have of players in this
price
range. I am assuming that none of them will better the Meridian/AN combo
on
RedBook (and will still use that as the main CD player), but how will
their
hi-res sound compare with my current CD?

My current inclination is to go for the cheapest and wait a couple of
years
for things to settle, but will I be able to live with the sound quality?

"Michael Jones" wrote in message
...
"Nath" wrote in message
...
Look at the current catalogue of SACD & DVD-Audio titles. Are there
enough
titles for you to warrant buying one (or both) format capable DVD
player?

I've no idea how many DVD-A releases there are, but for SACD there are
currently 1529 titles available world-wide, with about another 100
announced
but not yet released. You won't find many of them in your local high
street,
but if you did they would be very expensive, so one needs to purchase them
via the internet. No big deal as I was buying most of my CDs and DVDs this
way before I got my SACD player.



Is there a list of SACD & DVD-Audio titles?

Can DVD-Audio/SACD downmix into 2 channel stereo? Are there 2 channel stereo
discs available? My processor lacks 5.1 input.

"Michael Jones" wrote in message
...
"Nath" wrote in message
...
Look at the current catalogue of SACD & DVD-Audio titles. Are there
enough
titles for you to warrant buying one (or both) format capable DVD
player?

I've no idea how many DVD-A releases there are, but for SACD there are
currently 1529 titles available world-wide, with about another 100
announced
but not yet released. You won't find many of them in your local high
street,
but if you did they would be very expensive, so one needs to purchase them
via the internet. No big deal as I was buying most of my CDs and DVDs this
way before I got my SACD player.



Is there a list of SACD & DVD-Audio titles?

Can DVD-Audio/SACD downmix into 2 channel stereo? Are there 2 channel stereo
discs available? My processor lacks 5.1 input.

"Nath" wrote in message
...


snip
Is there a list of SACD & DVD-Audio titles?

I don't know much about DVD-A, but all of the currently available (and most
of the soon to be released) SACD titles are listed at
http://www.sacdinfo.com

Can DVD-Audio/SACD downmix into 2 channel stereo? Are there 2 channel
stereo
discs available? My processor lacks 5.1 input.

Downmixing from multi-channel to stereo is a concept alien to SACD. All SACD
releases carry a stereo (or very occasionally mono) mix as it is mandatory
in the SACD specification. A multi-channel mix and/or a CD layer are
discretionary.

As I understand it DVD-A releases may only be multi-channel, with a stereo
version only available via a downmix.

To enjoy either hi-rez format in stereo it would be important for your
processor to have a stereo input that is not redigitized, but provides a
pure analogue signal path.

"Nath" wrote in message
...


snip
Is there a list of SACD & DVD-Audio titles?

I don't know much about DVD-A, but all of the currently available (and most
of the soon to be released) SACD titles are listed at
http://www.sacdinfo.com

Can DVD-Audio/SACD downmix into 2 channel stereo? Are there 2 channel
stereo
discs available? My processor lacks 5.1 input.

Downmixing from multi-channel to stereo is a concept alien to SACD. All SACD
releases carry a stereo (or very occasionally mono) mix as it is mandatory
in the SACD specification. A multi-channel mix and/or a CD layer are
discretionary.

As I understand it DVD-A releases may only be multi-channel, with a stereo
version only available via a downmix.

To enjoy either hi-rez format in stereo it would be important for your
processor to have a stereo input that is not redigitized, but provides a
pure analogue signal path.

"Nath" wrote in message



I very much doubt SACD and DVD-Audio will ever replace CD.

I agree.

They've
been out for a few years now, and the lack of software, confusion
regarding setup, and inability to see any in the high street means
they'll both die off (IMO) a bit like HDCD.

You forgot the most important that they can reasonably expected to fail: The
new formats provide zero audible benefits. There may be some legacy music
that is remastered to some audible advantage when it is retrofitted to the
new format, but that's another matter entirely. IME any piece of music can
be remastered as often as one desires to do so, and a different sound and
something that pleases some people more than others can be expected.

I read that
(DVD-Audio/SACD titles) in the biggest music store in NY were located
in the corner, incorrectly labelled and basically forgotten, with
only a few titles.

I can count the number of SACDs and DVD-As that I've actually held in my
hands in a store on two hands. I saw no serious effort to hype them in the
stores. OTOH, you should be able to find about *anything* online.

If huge stores have a small collection- what's the
chance your local woolies/whsmith store has a dedicated
DVD-Audio/SACD rack?

Slim and none. Note: there used to be three stand-alone record stores within
walking distance of my house. Some were large, long-term businesses with an
excellent reputation. They're all gone.

Most audio shops don't even know what HDCD is,
let alone these two new formats. And they think all DVD players play
DVD-Audio discs (again confusion)

IME that's true. A regular DVD player will usually play a DVD-A. I've never
seen it fail. Most DVD-A's are multi-format, and one or more of the formats
is a legacy format.

"Nath" wrote in message



I very much doubt SACD and DVD-Audio will ever replace CD.

I agree.

They've
been out for a few years now, and the lack of software, confusion
regarding setup, and inability to see any in the high street means
they'll both die off (IMO) a bit like HDCD.

You forgot the most important that they can reasonably expected to fail: The
new formats provide zero audible benefits. There may be some legacy music
that is remastered to some audible advantage when it is retrofitted to the
new format, but that's another matter entirely. IME any piece of music can
be remastered as often as one desires to do so, and a different sound and
something that pleases some people more than others can be expected.

I read that
(DVD-Audio/SACD titles) in the biggest music store in NY were located
in the corner, incorrectly labelled and basically forgotten, with
only a few titles.

I can count the number of SACDs and DVD-As that I've actually held in my
hands in a store on two hands. I saw no serious effort to hype them in the
stores. OTOH, you should be able to find about *anything* online.

If huge stores have a small collection- what's the
chance your local woolies/whsmith store has a dedicated
DVD-Audio/SACD rack?

Slim and none. Note: there used to be three stand-alone record stores within
walking distance of my house. Some were large, long-term businesses with an
excellent reputation. They're all gone.

Most audio shops don't even know what HDCD is,
let alone these two new formats. And they think all DVD players play
DVD-Audio discs (again confusion)

IME that's true. A regular DVD player will usually play a DVD-A. I've never
seen it fail. Most DVD-A's are multi-format, and one or more of the formats
is a legacy format.

On Mon, 1 Dec 2003 10:33:47 -0500, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

IME that's true. A regular DVD player will usually play a DVD-A. I've never
seen it fail. Most DVD-A's are multi-format, and one or more of the formats
is a legacy format.

This is true for the vast majority of DVD-As but there are a few that
are not backwards compatible with regular DVD players.

Kal