SACD VS DVD-AUDIO

The problem with those sales figures, is that SACD isn't the reason they are selling. In fact, hard to even find SACD label on any of them. I would handily bet 90% plus sold aren't being used on sacd players.

Tireguy,

I'll admit that you've caught me on a point that can be argued a number of ways. As we all know, audio equipment with the best technical specifications isn't always the gear that sounds the best. I was stating that DVDa was better based on a technical stanpoint and may not legitimately be the best sounding format in many personal situations. I'll agree that comparing formats can be ambiguous when left to the imperfect science of determining "listening pleasure" and just give you a rundown of the technical specs that I found during some of my own searches.

Check out http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/600-dvd-audio-vs-sacd.html for some technical information. The posts below the tech-specs also seem to show that listening pleasure doesn't necesarily equate to specs. There seems to be quite a war starting about these formats. May be the newest VHS - Beta war!

I'll just chart the data here as well.
Bits: CD = 16 (typically), SACD = 20? DVDa = 16-24; basically a wash here.

Playback Frequency range (kHz): CD = 20, SACD = 100, DVDa = 48 in 6 channel, 96 in 2; again a wash... after 20kHz, who cares (except maybe our dogs). I doubt I can hear well above 12kHz as an ex-rock musician.

Now it gets interesting:
S/N (dB): CD = 96, SACD = 120, DVDa = 144.

Data Rate (Mb/s): CD = 1.41, SACD = 2.8, DVDa = 9.6

Storage Capacity (Gb): CD = 0.65, SACD = 4.7 (single layer), DVDa = 4.7 (single), 8.5 (Dual)

I hope this helps... I STRONGLY recommend auditioning both formats if you are torn rather than going with specs. Of course the number of available titles will probably dictate the winner, as I said in an earlier post.

Thanks for your responses to my thread.A great discussion!

I predict the market will go dvd-a and sacd will join
laser disc,mini disc.Which is better argument has less to do with it then the already huge penetration of dvd in car and home.The mobile market money alone dwarf hi-end hi-res
and mostly older customer.The big markets want the younger
customer of today/tommorow and so on,face it kids are nursed
on game consoles,pc,mobile first by and large.Our hi-res
manufacturers will spin DVD-A into gold just hope its sooner rather than later cause I am gettin' old.

SACD sounds better to me. Of course there are far more high end SACD players available than DVD-A. Which means more shops have them setup and inserted into really nice systems.

But I digress, any Hi-Res format is better than none.