SACD & other Formats

To try SACD in my system can I just buy a cheaper SACD player and and use it as a transport to feed my DAC? Or is a full player required?

The trick about CD and SACD, or any comparison, is that you need to get the volume equal from either source in blind testing.

Wonder what we would say if we could do that?

Is the SACD signal louder? When I compare components I also do background listening. If it's musical it will draw you in if it's not it can be annoying or you don't even notice it. This is the subconscious response to it vs direct analysis of sound. This is where vinyl kills most digital systems.

"03-09-15: Musichead
To try SACD in my system can I just buy a cheaper SACD player and and use it as a transport to feed my DAC? Or is a full player required?"

You need to get a full SACD player. There's very few SACD transport/dac combos in production. And the ones I do know of are very expensive. But getting a cheap SACD player to try SACD's is not the right way to do it. A well designed, good sounding Redbook player will almost always sound better than a cheap SACD player. The format alone can't overcome every obstacle and always sound better than CD. You need to buy an SACD player the way you buy any other piece of audio gear. And that's to employ careful consideration of any player you are looking to buy. Like any other component, you need to make sure the player is the right fit for your expectations.

Thanks ZD542, makes sense! I'm thinking from a vinyl perspective. A good 1st pressing shines through almost all levels of tables. When digital fails very little shines through :-)

Any opinions of the Cambridge Audio Azur 752BD? read some online reviews, similar to the Oppo 105 but with better audio. I really don't need the all of the video options in these universal players, is there a good red book, SACD, HDCD player that is reasonably priced?