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SACD - what gives?

So, I finally purchased a dvd player, which also happens to play SACD's. So, being all excited, I run over the to local Best Buy to grab some SACD,s. Much to my surprise, it seams that every SACD that they had (about 200) was a remaster of an anolog recording. I also checked amusicdirect.com and just about everything they carry ( over 700) is also remastered. So, my questions is: If SACD is such an advanced format then why is everything re-issues of older recordings? You would think that they would be issueing direct digital recordings. Now, I know why this format is not catching on. Let me put this in perspective: I spend about a thousand dollars on a SACD/DVD player so I can listen to re-issues of the complete Rolling stones catalog. No offense to Stones fans, but I aint paying for these recordings for a third time (LP, CD). Any insight or comments?
prpixel
gregm
3,408 posts
 
Unclejeff: redbook is the conventional audio cd, so named because of the colour of the Philips booklet containing them.
Cheers, Detlof!
thegeneral
16 posts
 
Unclejeff: Redbook is basically the regular CD format. :)
detlof
1,899 posts
 
Eddartfort, although I remain sceptical, I hope that you are right and yes, RCprince, I had hoped that you might come in here, because I wondered how happy you are with your highly modded gear and Mes, glad, that you are back in the game, never to do things at half measures. Wished, I could come over and listen to your Meitner and that goes for RCprince too. Alas, too much water inbetween. I have the same modded player which Mes used to have. Was quite happy at first, but got more and more disappointed, when directly comparing with LP renderings. Had the latest DCS gear at home to try out and still was not convinced, though it bettered my player in overall transparency and sounded wonderful in upsampling normal CDs. Is the Meitner even better than the Brits stuff? Anyone compared directly? Still a doubting Thomas but cheers to all,
mes
393 posts
 
Hi Detlof- I had the dCS Delius/Purcell combo, which didn't do SACD, so I can't compare it to the Meitner on SACD. On redbook, the Meitner is superior, it doesn't upsample but does convert redbook to DSD with the results being similar, but not quite on par, to SACD. The combination of microdynamics, resolution and detail with a relaxed, non-edgy presentation is something I'd not heard before in digital. Players that were relaxed were on the warm and rolled off side, players that were resolute and detailed were edgy and suffered from digititis. This is the first time I've experienced this combination, with the exception of high end vinyl. The Meitner is unlike anything I've heard. Don't let a little H2O stop you.
rcprince
3,074 posts
 
Agree, Detlof, you're always welcome here as well, it's not that long a flight (although there are many things I prefer about your side of the pond). The Audio Logic DAC also changes the pcm signal to DSD, that's why I like it so much. At some point I'd like to hear the Meitner, as I think my modded unit might give it a run for the money.

Detlof, I do remember that some early DSD recordings I heard seemed a little reticent or rolled in the highs (a fault I initially attributed to my equipment but still there even after my latest upgrades which have improved the system's high frequency extension markedly), but the recent SACDs I mentioned in an earlier post have high frequency extension galore that is extremely natural and adds to the openness of the format's presentation. It's easy to hear Telarc's sonic evolution in their DSD recordings, perhaps that may be a part of it as well as the playback mechanisms.
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