Anyone here do SACD or High Def Digital Music?

Still ain't as good as vinyl
I have a sacd/glad player (Yamaha) and it is nearly as good as a turntable but just falls a little short I think, then again my ears aren't what they once were. Very convenient by comparison though, big like FF vs Film.
Matt
 
MatBin said:
Still ain't as good as vinyl
I have a sacd/glad player (Yamaha) and it is nearly as good as a turntable but just falls a little short I think, then again my ears aren't what they once were. Very convenient by comparison though, big like FF vs Film.
Matt
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Totally disagree but i did wonder when the "its not as good as vinyl" comment would come up

haha
 
Mr Bump said:
Totally disagree but i did wonder when the "its not as good as vinyl" comment would come up

haha
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Couldn't find a way of getting a Nikon is worse than a Canon comment in.
Guess like a lot of things it depends on your kit, your ears, the music etc. So long as you are happy I won't pi** on your cornflakes
Don't get me wrong I really like both flac and sacd, but I am struggling to pay for sacd when I have the vinyl and the CD, you know some master tapes were lost and they were then re-created from vinyl.
 
oh well, you old farts stick to your old round tables.
see how you do out on the streets with that kit in your pocket.

i was hoping for some input on the subject but in come the beta blockers.

night night.
 
I used to buy them all the time. It's a shame it never really picket up. I can't be bothered with it anymore.

Much prefer it to vinyl.
 
Shame you got the hump cos we didn't agree that your player doesnt sound quite as good as a turntable (my table, sacd player and amp are actually all brand new) so I am not being a stick in the mud luddite. I did say it was far more practical so if that isn't enough input for you I will bow out too.
Matt
 
How much of the "Vinyl" process is analogue these days ?, I'd guess the great majority of pressings are done from digital recording / mixing.
 
Rapscallion said:
A couple of interesting articles on the subject:-
http://www.vox.com/2014/4/19/5626058/vinyls-great-but-its-not-better-than-cds
http://www.laweekly.com/music/why-cds-may-actually-sound-better-than-vinyl-5352162
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yup but i have found lately that the born again vinyl enthusiasts are not really interested in where their records come from its just its vinyl isn't it !

its as your guy says in the above vox quote the idea that it sounds better is propsterous it just sounds different.
my 24 bit/96khz SACD files are just mind bendingly good and would wipe the floor with vinyl but bits are not cool in the digital world.

vinyl is cool.....sigh
 
I would humbly suggest that the whole debate is nonsense anyway.

I have vinyl LPs that are simply sublime and others that are quite poor.

I have some CDs that are simply sublime and others that are quite poor.

The production and engineering is, IMO, rather more important than the media.

All things being equal, I prefer vinyl.

As an aside, I had a pair of those HD650 'phones. I sold them. They really are very sharp.
 
@simon ess Agree about the 650's they really have taken my listening forward. I also have the Shure SE535 IEMs and they are different in another way.
The 650s just dissappear after 5 minutes giving hours of pleaseur
 
simon ess said:
I would humbly suggest that the whole debate is nonsense anyway.

I have vinyl LPs that are simply sublime and others that are quite poor.

I have some CDs that are simply sublime and others that are quite poor.

The production and engineering is, IMO, rather more important than the media.

All things being equal, I prefer vinyl.

As an aside, I had a pair of those HD650 'phones. I sold them. They really are very sharp.
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But isn't that the point. With SACD you don't get that inconsistency as without the production, engineering, musicians there is no point to creating one.

I agree in principle though. I remember that when CD came out I looked for DDD marked discs and most of the others sounded dreadful and one may as well kept using that vinyl.
 
simon ess said:
I would humbly suggest that the whole debate is nonsense anyway.

I have vinyl LPs that are simply sublime and others that are quite poor.

I have some CDs that are simply sublime and others that are quite poor.

The production and engineering is, IMO, rather more important than the media.

All things being equal, I prefer vinyl..
Click to expand...

yes rational thinking is where it's at..

I have AB'd lots of albums and for my ears vinyl is always the better choice, cymbals are much brighter/harsher on cd and stereo imaging on many albums is narrowed..

where I do see a big difference is when I am recording for portable listening, now I mainly do this with records you cannot get on CD/Streaming but I have done both to test.. if I get a record, hook amp up to usb mixer and record record in WAV using Audacity and then convert to 320kbps mp3 it sounds better than if I take same album on CD and make a 320kpbs mp3..

we all have our thing, listening to records is one of mine, I am married with children but have the living room of a bachelor and luckily an understanding Wife, that is how important listening to records is to me..

IMG_20160706_074754_zpsmjk5ocxk.jpg
 
The thing is @strumstrum the numbers you are talking about are not high def 320kbs is still in the mobile phone+ quality territory.

The music I am playing back is over 5000kbs in Full 1bit DSD64 format, in essence pretty much as much as the master tapes of the times actually had to give up.

So I appreciate you prefer your man cave and your records, for me putting it in my bag (although the HD650s have there own case) and having my cake in a hotel room as well as any room in my house is the winner :-)

I couldn't actually imagine having only one room where I could listen to music anymore.
 
Mr Bump said:
The thing is @strumstrum the numbers you are talking about are not high def 320kbs is still in the mobile phone+ quality territory.

The music I am playing back is over 5000kbs in Full 1bit DSD64 format, in essence pretty much as much as the master tapes of the times actually had to give up.

So I appreciate you prefer your man cave and your records, for me putting it in my bag (although the HD650s have there own case) and having my cake in a hotel room as well as any room in my house is the winner :)

I couldn't actually imagine having only one room where I could listen to music anymore.
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and as I mentioned before I have had a SACD player(and DVD-A before that) so I know about listening in HD format and it is very overrated and overpriced IMHO.

I too couldn't imagine having only one room where I could listen to music, you seem to have the impression I only listen to records, I don't it is just my preferred choice, I have many WAV, FLAC and MP3s when not in the living room, and 17220 tracks on the iPod Classic in the car so plenty of stuff to listen to when out of my 'man cave'
 
Mr Bump said:
I couldn't actually imagine having only one room where I could listen to music anymore.
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Oh something I dream off. The thing I used to do before children, a lazy Sunday, stereo at reference volume, nice isolated floor standing speakers, a lazy sofa in the sweet spot, and just drink, eat, and listen to music. Give me 8 more years until they are off to uni, or a bag of money to build myself another room now :)
 
dumb question, what is SACD?
 
I bought DSOM because my new blu ray player could play sacds and I wanted to try one, it does sound better than the cd version. I won't go out of my way to buy any more though.

Spotify suits my natural laziness :/
 
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Well la night wow, managed to get hold of the full 24bit/88.2 version of Alison Krauss + Union Station Live.
Absolutely stunning set.

guess you round table chaps will get that released on vinyl soon yeah?

or for that matter anything released in the last 30 years :-)
 
Mr Bump said:
or for that matter anything released in the last 30 years :-)
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What, like Adele, David Bowie or even Guardians of the Galaxy for example?

http://store.hmv.com/music/vinyl?gclid=CJK0kf364M0CFY8y0wod4rkMxA&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm not a vinyl expert (although I am currently building a custom Technics 1210 for someone) but you are coming across as a bit of an audio snob. Just listen to what you want to and let others do the same. You started the thread to brag about your kit and didn't like it when other people offered alternative opinions.

Maybe there's an SACD forum where you could all compare Bit depths in private? ;0)
 
stevelmx5 said:
What, like Adele, David Bowie or even Guardians of the Galaxy for example?

http://store.hmv.com/music/vinyl?gclid=CJK0kf364M0CFY8y0wod4rkMxA&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm not a vinyl expert (although I am currently building a custom Technics 1210 for someone) but you are coming across as a bit of an audio snob. Just listen to what you want to and let others do the same. You started the thread to brag about your kit and didn't like it when other people offered alternative opinions.

Maybe there's an SACD forum where you could all compare Bit depths in private? ;0)
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I think the round tables are way more audio snobs than me with there "its just better on vinyl" but as you say hey hoh each to there own. and wow new records are so expensive, unbelievable. I actually thought some of my HD stuff was a bit pricey at £20 for some albums but bliemy....
 
Getting up every 20 minutes to flip or change the toonz isn't my idea of fun ;)
 
What's that I hear? Is that a train running through Union Station? Oh no. It's just dust on the record.
 
IF...
you have absolutely perfect hearing across the full range.
you have a room dedicated (and ideally, tuned) to listening to your chosen system
you have sources properly mastered (and ideally originally created) for the chosen media
then you MIGHT be able to determine which medium is playing. The average listener to a reasonable system won't be able to tell them apart and won't really care.
 
Nod said:
IF...
you have absolutely perfect hearing across the full range.
you have a room dedicated (and ideally, tuned) to listening to your chosen system
you have sources properly mastered (and ideally originally created) for the chosen media
then you MIGHT be able to determine which medium is playing. The average listener to a reasonable system won't be able to tell them apart and won't really care.
Click to expand...
Oh I don't know, that crackle and pop with a hint of static noice is quite distinctively added by a turntable. Or just stamp your feet and hear it skip :p:coat:
 
strumstrum said:
you say that like it can only happen to record players.. if you stamp your feet and get a record/cd skip, that aint no system fault.
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I think you take this too seriously ;) But I disagree unless I didn't realise the analogue system has a buffer and error correction build into it? It was most definitely a reality to me when I had a record player, not just that, but also bumping into the table and see the needle slide. Mine was a Dual for many many many years.
 
strumstrum said:
yes rational thinking is where it's at..

I have AB'd lots of albums and for my ears vinyl is always the better choice, cymbals are much brighter/harsher on cd and stereo imaging on many albums is narrowed..

where I do see a big difference is when I am recording for portable listening, now I mainly do this with records you cannot get on CD/Streaming but I have done both to test.. if I get a record, hook amp up to usb mixer and record record in WAV using Audacity and then convert to 320kbps mp3 it sounds better than if I take same album on CD and make a 320kpbs mp3..

we all have our thing, listening to records is one of mine, I am married with children but have the living room of a bachelor and luckily an understanding Wife, that is how important listening to records is to me..
Click to expand...

I don't think you can really fairly compare the formats when converting to a lossy format such as MP3 for the comparison, far better to rip both to FLAC as at least its lossless so preserves the dynamics of the originals.
( I would suggest 16bit 44.1 kHz for both as thats the native bit rate of the CD)

I used to have a turntable set up, Thorens TD166 mkii/ RB250/ Nagoka MP11/Creek Audio 4040/Mission 781i on dedicated stands etc later changed to arcam gear but recently changed to a streaming set up as I need something I can load and control remotely.
Settled on a Naim UnitiQute2 & PMC Twenty 21's on dedicated stands and use a link station 6TB NAS hardwired to store my music with the library managed via iTunes.
All files are converted to ALAC either 16bit 44.1khz, 24 bit 96 khz or 24 bit 192 kHz depending on the bit rate of the source file, it might sound a little snooty but MP3's sound awful compared with higher resolution files, the bottom end is loose and floppy and theres no sparkle to the top end.

This system suits my room perfectly and the sound is amazing, the best I've ever had thats for certain.

Getting back to the main point, Vinyl is very hard to beat IF its played on a good turntable with a good arm & cartridge and only if its set up properly, I've heard linn Sondek's that sounded awful due to poor set up.

But streaming seems to be the way forward now, its easy to use, accessible on all your devices instantly and easy to manage the library. just remember to back it up regularly.

I should add I do have a DAP set up incase I need to go into hospital, Fiio X3 & Beyer DT cans, couldn't afford the A&K sadly.
 
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I bought a few SACD's together with a used player - wasn't overly impressed especially with the costs/availability issues but they obviously went to great trouble with their back catalogue such as including the version of Satisfaction with the acoustic guitar further forward on Big Hits.

TBH digital music needs a power supply akin to the clarity of a mountain top stream but usually gets crap mains /crap rectifier River Thames quality. Once you connect up a few decent rectifiers to a well designed DAC and amp then ordinary CD quality digital is awesome with a lot of re-mastered works like Made In Japan sounding better than analogue.
 
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