the absolute sound mag: sacd & dvd-a face off

[therockman]

There is a great series of articals in the Dec. 2003/Jan. 2004 issue of the absolute sound, an audiophile magazine that devotes a considerable amount of editorial space discussing multi-channel audio. The main part of this special section, which is called "SACD & DVD- AUDIO FACE OFF," are two articals which are written by the major proponets of each camp. The SUPER AUDIO CD artical is written by David Kawakami of Sony Electronics, and the DVD-Audio section is written by J. Robert Stuart of Meridian Audio. This issue also a great artical called "DVD-AUDIO AND SUPER AUDIO CD, A POLITICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL PRIMER."


There is a lot of good information in this issue, and I highly recommend any body that is interested in high-rez audio to pick up this issue.

[Ronflugelguy]

I'll second that!!!!Alot of info.:thumbsup:

[BGLeduc]

There is a lot of good information in this issue, and I highly recommend any body that is interested in high-rez audio to pick up this issue.

If I may offer a dissenting opinion....

While the two articles from Kawakami and Stuart were good, the "equipment reviews" were weak, very weak.

For the most part they were very short, and some of their conclusions were questionable. IIRC, the describe the sound of the Denon 2900 as "skeletal".

What the hell does that mean?

And there was NO mention at all about any of the player's bass management or time alignment capabilities; two critical functions that, if they get it wrong (and most players DO get it wrong), will without a doubt influence the sound.

I suppose these guys doing these reviews all have true full range main speakers and a capable sub, but how many readers really have such a system?

BGL

[MikeT]

Originally posted by BGLeduc


For the most part they were very short, and some of their conclusions were questionable. IIRC, the describe the sound of the Denon 2900 as "skeletal".


BGL

If I remember correctly that review was done by Shaune Buettner (not sure if I spelled that correctly)... he has written for many audio/video magazines over the years, and I have never read a review where he liked "mass market" named SACD/DVD-A/CD players. I get the feeling from reading his reviews he might be a bit biased toward more "high end" or esoteric equipment!?

[Richard Feirstein]

Much like the Dolby Digital v DTS discussions, there are so many fudge factors that even a "perfect" test situation would be ambigious at best. The "perfect" test situation would be for the DSD and the DVD-A camp to master "identical" stereo and multi-channel disks in each format. The disks would be derived from superb analog and live performance material. The same inputs would be used for each track. Even then differences in indivudial matering, mastering hardware, and playback hardware could mask any actual differences. It would still be interesting if anyone has the guts to try it.

Richard.

[Pinknik]

Originally posted by MikeT


If I remember correctly that review was done by Shaune Buettner (not sure if I spelled that correctly)... he has written for many audio/video magazines over the years, and I have never read a review where he liked "mass market" named SACD/DVD-A/CD players. I get the feeling from reading his reviews he might be a bit biased toward more "high end" or esoteric equipment!?

Well, he does write for a high end magazine. You can't tell how good a component is capable of being while listening to it in a mid-fi system, even if it is a perfect match for such a system. I'd have his bias too, if I could afford it. :)

P.S. The Absolute Sound, as a whole, have been quite friendly to low cost components over the past few years. Most of what I own has been brought to my attention via TAS, and I'm quite happy with my system, though I'm curious about tubes, as I'm currently all solid-state in the amplification department.

[therockman]

My feeling about audio magazines is basically to not just trust one in particular, but to read an assortment of different audio magazines so that you can cross reference the information and opinions. I guess that is how you should do it with all information. That is, don't trust just one source, but cross reference the information with other sources. In the audio hobby, editors and reviewers seem to all be biased toward one camp or another, so it is up to us as individuals to do our own homework.

[MikeT]

Originally posted by Pinknik


Well, he does write for a high end magazine. You can't tell how good a component is capable of being while listening to it in a mid-fi system, even if it is a perfect match for such a system. I'd have his bias too, if I could afford it. :)

P.S. The Absolute Sound, as a whole, have been quite friendly to low cost components over the past few years. Most of what I own has been brought to my attention via TAS, and I'm quite happy with my system, though I'm curious about tubes, as I'm currently all solid-state in the amplification department.

I hear what you are saying. I do agree that TAS has given some good reviews to low cost (read - "mass market") components - but I do believe at times it depends on who is doing the reviewing. In the case of Mr. Buettner, he tends to be VERY critical of less expensive "mass market" components (which is his right as a reviewer) than some of his counterparts.

That said, he does indicate that the Denon is usually known for being "a cut above its mass-market competitors in sound quality" - so maybe the Denon 2900 is lacking overall (I wouldn't know I don't own one - but I do own the Denon 3800 - which sounds good (but not stellar) to my ears).

I may be a bit unfair as Mr. Buettner does review the Yamaha DVD-S2300 universal player (which lists for the same price as the Denon 2900). He does like the Yamaha while pointing out it's deficiencies, but has more positive things to say about this player than the Denon.

I guess the true test is to personally audition any players that you may be interested in within your budget and let your own ears do the choosing (using magazines only as a rough guide- and not the end all and be all of what you should choose).