Thread: SACD compliant DVD players

Posts: 10

Post by Tinman May 1, 2008 (1 of 10)
I don't care about a home theater for video, but I am finding a lot of DVD players that say that they play SACDs. I am trying to buy/build a modestly priced system for playing SACD music. I'm not a technical, but I understand that SACD uses DSD while regular CDs use PCM, and this gives SACD it's advantage over regular CD. I've read somewhere to avoid systems that convert DSD to PCM. A system like the Oppo DV-981HD seems appealing to me, and it plays SACDs. When I asked Oppo tech support the question, they responded, for their DV-981HD: "Yes, DSD is always converted to PCM digitally before being processed by the D/AC (analog) or being transported through HDMI. There is no DSD native support on the DV-981HD." Are there any SACD players in the $300-$600 range that are DSD native?

Oppo also responded: "The [Oppo] DV-980H can pass DSD natively, but only through HDMI. Analog requires that the signal be converted to PCM first for decoding." I don't know anything about HDMI, but my plan was to buy a SACD DVD player with 5.1 analog output, and a receiver with 5.1 analog input, and 5.1 speakers--with a budget of about $1000 for it all. I wasn't thinking about any HDMI connections.

Any help?

Post by rammiepie May 1, 2008 (2 of 10)
If you're looking for a well-constructed player but, albeit , close to $1000.00 (down from a list price of $2,500), Audio Advisor is offering a silver Parasound D3 Halo Player (John Curl designed). It is also an incredible Upsampling DVD Player (only 1080i but nonetheless fantastic) and it does true DSD stereo and multichannel without the PCM conversion. As an added bonus, it is a wonderful CD player and also plays DVD-A. I also have the OPPO DV-981HD and the Parasound is a major upgrade

Post by Claude May 2, 2008 (3 of 10)
Tinman said:

I'm not a technical, but I understand that SACD uses DSD while regular CDs use PCM, and this gives SACD it's advantage over regular CD.

It's actually the higher resolution that makes SACD sound better than CD.

No conversion to PCM is of course preferable, but if the player converts DSD to hi-rez PCM it can keep the advantage of high resolution. So I would not make this a K.O. criterium. The sound quality of a SACD player depends on many other factors as well.

Post by Kutyatest May 2, 2008 (4 of 10)
I don't have any experience of Yamaha universal disc players, but there appear to be some very well priced models here in the UK. There's one model that playes DVD-A and SACD on sale for GBP 150.00! I have a Yamaha RX-V800 multi channel receiver that has served me well, and feel sure that their players would offer excellent value for money. I've also noticed one other Yamaha player going for GBP 700 in the UK.

Post by crsearle May 2, 2008 (5 of 10)
Tinman said:

I don't care about a home theater for video, but I am finding a lot of DVD players that say that they play SACDs. I am trying to buy/build a modestly priced system for playing SACD music. I'm not a technical, but I understand that SACD uses DSD while regular CDs use PCM, and this gives SACD it's advantage over regular CD. I've read somewhere to avoid systems that convert DSD to PCM. A system like the Oppo DV-981HD seems appealing to me, and it plays SACDs. When I asked Oppo tech support the question, they responded, for their DV-981HD: "Yes, DSD is always converted to PCM digitally before being processed by the D/AC (analog) or being transported through HDMI. There is no DSD native support on the DV-981HD." Are there any SACD players in the $300-$600 range that are DSD native?

Oppo also responded: "The [Oppo] DV-980H can pass DSD natively, but only through HDMI. Analog requires that the signal be converted to PCM first for decoding." I don't know anything about HDMI, but my plan was to buy a SACD DVD player with 5.1 analog output, and a receiver with 5.1 analog input, and 5.1 speakers--with a budget of about $1000 for it all. I wasn't thinking about any HDMI connections.

Any help?

Tinman,
If you're not concerned about video quality, i'd recommend the Oppo 980H player. Its a very versatile audio player for its price($169 from Amazon in the United States). It can output pure DSD(with no conversion to PCM) over HDMI or analog multichannel connections. I'm not impressed by its video quality but I have yet to see any "upconverting" device(and I own 4) that matches what native HD video presents. For sound, it presents a very clean, full processing of SACD, dvd-audio, HDCD and well mastered redbook cds. I won't claim it will match a player that cost several thousand but if you're on a modest budget, its one of the best options in its class. I would recommend the analog multichannel connections over HDMI if your receiver supports the inputs. The output over HDMI is very good but the analog connections produce a more precise imaging of the source material. You do need to invest in some decent cables as regular rca cables will not give you the same benefit. I'm using Acoustic Research 5.1 cables which can be bought at a reasonable price and make a world of difference.

Hope this helps.

Post by Tinman May 2, 2008 (6 of 10)
Thanks all. I've decided to go with the Oppo DV-980H player, the Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver, and Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 speaker system. $799.97 before taxes and shipping. My wife tells me it had make significantly better music than out computer or our $75 CD portable boom box, or I'll be in trouble.

Post by Julien May 2, 2008 (7 of 10)
Tinman said:

My wife tells me it had make significantly better music than out computer or our $75 CD portable boom box, or I'll be in trouble.

SACD will help you make sure of that...SACD is a wife conqueror...

Post by JohnWKercheval May 3, 2008 (8 of 10)
Tinman said:

I don't care about a home theater for video, but I am finding a lot of DVD players that say that they play SACDs. I am trying to buy/build a modestly priced system for playing SACD music. I'm not a technical, but I understand that SACD uses DSD while regular CDs use PCM, and this gives SACD it's advantage over regular CD. I've read somewhere to avoid systems that convert DSD to PCM. A system like the Oppo DV-981HD seems appealing to me, and it plays SACDs. When I asked Oppo tech support the question, they responded, for their DV-981HD: "Yes, DSD is always converted to PCM digitally before being processed by the D/AC (analog) or being transported through HDMI. There is no DSD native support on the DV-981HD." Are there any SACD players in the $300-$600 range that are DSD native?

Oppo also responded: "The [Oppo] DV-980H can pass DSD natively, but only through HDMI. Analog requires that the signal be converted to PCM first for decoding." I don't know anything about HDMI, but my plan was to buy a SACD DVD player with 5.1 analog output, and a receiver with 5.1 analog input, and 5.1 speakers--with a budget of about $1000 for it all. I wasn't thinking about any HDMI connections.

Any help?

Excellent point!

I just bought the Sony NS9100ES and I would like to know if it is DSD "native" as you say or if I am losing fidelity because of the PCM thing.

It does have a button to turn off the video component for audio playback only. The manual says this may improve audio playback performance.

Any comments or info appreciated.

John

Post by cocopc May 5, 2008 (9 of 10)
I am currently using a Denon DVD2910 multiplayer (handles both SACD and DVD-A) to play my SACD's and DVD-A's and I am considering an upgrade. Has anyone compared my player to either Parasound D3 Halo or Oppo DV-980H player? I am only interessered in the audio playback, the video playback is of no concern.

Post by el audiofilo May 26, 2008 (10 of 10)
JohnWKercheval said:

Excellent point!

I just bought the Sony NS9100ES and I would like to know if it is DSD "native" as you say or if I am losing fidelity because of the PCM thing.

It does have a button to turn off the video component for audio playback only. The manual says this may improve audio playback performance.

Any comments or info appreciated.

John

The NS9100es has burr brown dsd1738 converters (dsd converters ;D
just for better performance on sacd select "2 ch direct" or "Mch Direct" for real super audio playback (not for dsd 2 pcm for processing = mch management)

Closed