SACD
If you are asking whether your CD player should decode SACDs, then it probably should -- but most better CD players will. If you are asking whether it makes sense to concentrate on SACD playback or SACDs, then don't bother. It is largely a dead format. DSD decoding is worthwhile in a DAC but don't think your question is oriented toward that. |
No you are not right. Recording and mastering quality varies according to the provenance of the Master tapes used. Earlier generations are usually better, but a lot depends on aging and wear and tear, alignment issues etc Then it's down to how they were mastered and by whom and what equipment they used. A lot of recordings since 1990 have suffered from too much radio friendly compression and are revealed as victims of the loudness wars when played on a full bandwidth system. They often sound lifeless and have squashed dynamics. Hence the use of sites like Dynamic Range Database. http://dr.loudness-war.info Last but not least the format of choice (vinyl, CD, SACD, Download). Luckily you shouldn't have to worry too much about a recording unless it's a particularly bad recording. Steve Hoffman Forums is a good place to start but beware that even there consensus is often hard to find. This is strange seeing how we audiophiles normally agree on most issues. Sorry. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/forums/music-corner.2/ The real problems begin if you want to hear Elvis or the Beatles as they sounded originally! The great news is that there's never been a better time price wise to buy CDs. |
I wouldn't crawl over broken glass to get an SACD player. I have one and, as others have commented, can say from experience SACD sound isn't automatically better. If you find an affordable CD player that also does SACD or, better yet, a high value universal player (Oppo?), sure get it - but if money is tight, don't go out of your way for the SACD capability. Did the flood ruin your gear and library or just your gear? I'm wondering if you can clean and thereby save your CDs. If rehab/recovery is possible, consider getting something that will let you rip them to hard drive and playback via DAC. Cocktail Audio has something that is all in one. Unable to comment about sound quality. I find playback of ripped CDs via an Auralic Aries Mini sounds better than playing the actual disc. There are other options than the Aries Mini too. Good luck. Sorry to hear about your losses. |
