SACD Questions

[Dumfy]

Hi Everyone,

Am about to hit the upgrade path for my 2-channel audio system and have my eye on the new Yamaha CD-S1000 player. As this is also an SACD unit I am tempted to give this format a go, but unsure of what's what.

I'm not bothered about 5.1 multi-channel audio and want to concentrate on 2 channel. With Hybrid SACD discs, one layer is the normal CD and the other SACD. What I'm after are stereo SACD discs.

Do all hybrid SACD's contain CD layer, Stereo SACD and multi-channel layers, or do I need to buy non multi-channel discs? There's no point if it's multi-channel only as I won't hear half of it!

I know there aren't that many SACD's around and finding info is just about as scarce. Anybody here have any experience of 2 channel SACD and what type of discs I need to purchase?

Many thanks

Dumfy

 

[xavster]

99.9% of Multi-channel SACDs contain a seperate stereo mix.

Most SACDs are Hybrids (will play in CD quality on a normal CD player). Most have a Multi-Channel mix.

Multi-channel really does sound wonderful on SACD - you'd be missing out if you chose to ignore it!

Have a look at www.sacd.net

 

[Mark.Yudkin]

SACD is doing quite well in classical recordings, but not in other market segments. As a result, if you're interested in classical music, you'll probably already have a reasonable collection of SACD hybrids, if not, then you probably won't find much either.

I listen to sourround sound SACDs in surround. The vast majority of new classical recordings issued on SACDs are multi-channel. There are some SACD remasters of (analogue) stereo recordings though.

 

[eddemans]

Have a look at www.sacd.net

I think you mean www.sa-cd.net
I've got a multichannel SACD setup and I'm very pleased with it. To be honest there are a bunch of popular releases too (Björk, Genesis, Mark Knopfler to name but a few)

 

[Dumfy]

Cheers guys,

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to have a multi-channel 5.1 set up. However I am interested in maximum quality 2 channel stereo and was hoping SACD could lead the way.

I understand that hybrid discs carry the standard CD track so that it's universally playable and also the multi-channel 5.1 SACD track on a different layer.
I was wondering if the discs carried the SACD 2 channel stereo only layer as well?

I believe you can identify this by looking at the discs themselves in a shop, but I can't tell when looking on the web - Play.com for example.

Anybody have experience of the Yamaha CD-S1000 SACD player by any chance?

Best Regards

Dumfy

 

[k-spin]

I understand that hybrid discs carry the standard CD track so that it's universally playable and also the multi-channel 5.1 SACD track on a different layer.
I was wondering if the discs carried the SACD 2 channel stereo only layer as well?

The vast vast majority of SACDs have a 2 channel SACD mix (I don't have any that don't).

As a few others have pointed out, www.sa-cd.net is a great source of information re SACDs.

 

[CJROSS]

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to have a multi-channel 5.1 set up. However I am interested in maximum quality 2 channel stereo and was hoping SACD could lead the way.

Dumfy, I have a 5.1 setup with a 5.1 anlg input from my SACD player, £500 Sony QS AV amp, Have played around with SACD and multichannel to no avail, sounds gimmicky to me, it sounds much better to my ears via a stereo system, fed directly into a good stereo amp and pair of stereo speakers than my 5.1 system (that is even using £900 Diapasons as my fronts, Tannoy Revolution Centre & R1 rears) You dont need a 5.1 system to enjoy SACD. In fact you can pick up some sterling SACD kit for pennies as it is often bolted to DVD based players (some good uns for me would be Denon 2900 or the Sony 900V/999ES/9000ES, then fit as good a stereo system around it as possible. There is some stunning music on SACD. Pink Floyd, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Police and a few more. Give it a try - well worth listening to recordings that a bit of care has been taken in recording, also would reccomend Linn Records - specialists in Classical, Jazz and Celtic music for the best sounding SACDs I own. (all of these have a CD layer that is also HDCD !!!)

 

[Dumfy]

I have to say that The Super Audio CD | SA-CD | SACD Reference is indeed a great resource and I've learned a lot already - so thanks for the link guys.

So I guess I'm good to go for 2 channel SACD on the discs.

Two questions left..

I assume that once an SACD disc is loaded, the player will give a choice of whether to play the stereo or multi-channel tracks? Else how do you choose?

Maybe I should start another thread on this question, but I'm thinking of demo-ing the new Yamaha CD-S1000 CD/SACD player, Yamaha A-S1000 amp and Monitor Audio Silver RS5 or RS6. Any thoughts?

Am also tempted with Exposure 2010S CD/amp, Roksan Kandy 2 CD/amp.
I have a Linn Axis with MC cartridge to fit in as well. With Exposure, you have to buy a MC or MM module, the Roksan is MM only.....and it was then I read about the Yamaha kit that takes MC and MM. Must admit, I hadn't considered Yamaha for audiophile stuff before. Mainly associated them with home cinema.

Thanks again

Dumfy

 

[Oversleep]

I assume that once an SACD disc is loaded, the player will give a choice of whether to play the stereo or multi-channel tracks? Else how do you choose?

Dumfy

Usually, you have to set up if you want the player to play stereo or multi-ch. The set-up menu will be on the player menu, nothing to do with the disc.

 

[CJROSS]

Maybe I should start another thread on this question, but I'm thinking of demo-ing the new Yamaha CD-S1000 CD/SACD player, Yamaha A-S1000 amp and Monitor Audio Silver RS5 or RS6. Any thoughts?

Am also tempted with Exposure 2010S CD/amp, Roksan Kandy 2 CD/amp.
I have a Linn Axis with MC cartridge to fit in as well. With Exposure, you have to buy a MC or MM module, the Roksan is MM only.....and it was then I read about the Yamaha kit that takes MC and MM. Must admit, I hadn't considered Yamaha for audiophile stuff before. Mainly associated them with home cinema.

Thanks again

Dumfy

Looking at you choice of speaker you should consider Primare gear, saying that the Yamaha stuff looks very good, features balanced XLRs a very nice thing to have on hifi components. At this price range I’d be looking at the Cambrdige Audio 840 range, no SACD but a very nice bit of hifi with XLRs again. Also worth noting that you could easily get a Primare DVD30 a £2000 universal player (SACD/DVD-A/DVD-V/CD) for £1000 added to a Primare I30 again £1000 should secure one of those, again fully balanced a good combination with the MA RS range.

 

[Mark.Yudkin]

Most SACD players allow you to configure a default (priority) layer to be played, rather than bugging you every time to make a decision when it's pretty obvious what you always want.

The Arcam FMJ CD37 is a good stereo SACD / CD player, but I haven't compared with the Yamaha. Ask your dealer to set up some demo's.

The rest of your questions are not SACD-related, so you should probably open new thread(s).