Hi-Fi Corner Home Super Audio CD FAQ

Sony Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) players are stocked and recommended by Hifi Corner. Sony SACD players were first shown in Scotland by Hifi Corner who successfully in conjunction with Radio Scotland and Sony broadcast the SACD in 2000.This interview was first published in 2000.

SACD is a new format being taken up by a number of manufacturers. At the forefront if this new technology is Sony. We've asked the UK's foremost commentator on SACD, Eric Kingdon of Sony (UK) Ltd, to tell us the questions he's most commonly asked by the public.

What's the difference between SACD and DVD-A?

SACD is the next generation pure music format of the highest quality. DVD-A is part of the multimedia DVD family proposition.

Can a SACD player play CD's and how good are they?

SACD players can, and do, make very good CD players as well.

Do I need special equipment (ie amplifier and speakers)?

You can enjoy the benefit of SACD on any good Hi-Fi sytem, but products specially engineered for the SACD format will provide even better performance.

Can I record an SACD (eg to MiniDisc)? No

Can an SACD be played on a normal CD player? A hybrid SACD can be played back on any CD player (built to the Red Book standard), these discs contain a layer of CD material and a separate DSD layer.

Is SACD multichannel capable?

Yes it is. In the future multichannel players will be possible.

Of course if everyone agreed, life would be too easy. If you want more than surface scratching, please read further.

Below is an exchange of emails we received from a Mr George Townsend querying some aspects of the above FAQ.

We publish his questions and Eric Kingdon's reply in order to make the above clearer. We believe it to be in the public interest. We are interested in your comments but will not enter into further correspondence over this matter. Hi-Fi Corner would like to thank George and Eric for allowing this to be published.

What's the difference between SACD and DVD-A ?

SACD is the next generation pure music format of the highest quality. DVD-A is part of the multimedia DVD family proposition.

George

"Eric fails to address whether these two formats are technically equivalent or not. Is the DVD-A format capable of delivering high resolution digital audio from both 96/24 and 192/24 masters? In other words, will the technical specification of each allow both formats to compete on an equal footing once final applications are determined?"

Eric

"The two formats are not technically equivalent, SACD is based upon a 1 bit technology called Direct Stream Digital (DSD) and operates at a sampling frequency of 2.8224Mhz, DVD-A is multi-bit and there are a variety of sampling frequencies and bit rates available, the highest being 24bit/192kHz in two channel. Furthermore, for example, no digital filtering is employed for SACD replay and the recording process is quite different. For current purposes final applications are determined."

Can a SACD player play CD's and how good are they ?

SACD players can, and do, make very good CD players as well.

George

"Eric fails to say how well SACD players can play current standard CD's in terms of actual equivalency. The term "very good" is relative to what? If SACD players require a parallel circuitry to play ordinary CD's then the quality will be relative to that specifically. Because the marketplace is so competitive, is it not likely that the investment component for ordinary CD playback will be relatively low?"

Eric

"It is not possible to give an answer in terms of actual equivalency, this should be determined by the user during listening. Relative merit is always a subjective comparison, therefore my answer is based upon third part endorsement of Sony SACD players. Sony does not make relatively low investment in CD replay circuitry for SACD players, that would be foolish, as there are well over 12 billion pieces of CD software in the world. Of course, the quality of CD replay in an SACD player is relative to the CD circuitry, but there are some parts of the player which are shared, power supply, analogue output stage etc. etc. In this case the design requirements for SACD replay are that much higher and therefore it follows that the 'shared' CD elements should also benefit."

Do I need special equipment (i.e. amplifier and speakers)?

You can enjoy the benefit of SACD on any good Hi-Fi system, but products specially engineered for the SACD format will provide even better performance.

George

"Eric's answer here is so vague as to be meaningless. He is suggesting in a backwards way that playback of SACD through a good Hi-Fi system will in some way be diminished. Will it provide a playback capability equivalent or better to the best of current CD players through existing Hi-Fi systems?"

Eric

"This comment I could take issue on, but time precludes a fully detailed answer. Any high quality source will sound better through a properly balanced higher quality Hi-Fi system, bearing in mind the caveat of subjective assessment. The specification of DSD requires greater bandwidth, frequency response, dynamic range and thereby a more linear phase response in the rest of the replay system, otherwise the full benefits of the SACD format cannot be realised. Sony has released a range of components which include these important design parameters. It is therefore simply not possible to give anything else than a generic statement to this particular question. If the SACD player, CD are SACD software have been engineered properly, then I believe that the SACD will always be superior. Hybrid discs are a good way for subjective checking. I have demonstrated SACD though very modest Hi-Fi systems and the improvement has been apparent."

Can I record an SACD (e.g. to MiniDisc)?

George

"Eric doesn't answer the question but the question itself is vague. Does the question ask whether an SACD is recordable or whether the contents of an SACD can be recorded to another format i.e. MiniDisc ? The question should be answered either way but one of the features of SACD should be that it cannot be duplicated. In other words, is there an effective copy protection within the SACD format to prevent piracy?"

Eric

"There is no digital output on current SACD players, therefore it is not possible to make a digital copy of an SACD (there is no domestic recording equipment available anyway)."

Can an SACD be played on a normal CD player?

A hybrid SACD can be played back on any CD player (built to the Red Bookstandard), these discs contain a layer of CD material and a separate DSD layer.

George

"Eric's answer is misleading, Playback on ordinary CD players is dependent upon the existence of the additional parallel layer which is only a feature of some SACD discs and not part of the hybrid SACD specification. This layer is likely to be dropped as SACD players begin to dominate the market."

Eric

"My answer is not misleading, I only state that hybrid discs can be replayed on a 'red book' CD player, only hybrid discs carry the additional layer of CD data. It is entirely at the record companies discretion which type of the three variations of SACD discs they choose to release. Moreover, as the market grows it is again the record companies choice if they decide to release only single layer discs or not. Some are already doing this, as some titles are reissues and the CD is already in the market place, some new releases to the market are hybrid."

Is SACD multichannel capable?

Yes it is. In the future multichannel players will be possible.

George

"Eric now comes full circle to the opening question which he didn't answer. Will the format SACD be technically capable to compete head-on with DVD if the market requires it to do so? If so, will customers require a new machine or will players be upgradeable via hardware or software?"

Eric

"Again I would refer back to my first answer, the two formats are positioned differently and thus, it is not a question of competing head-on with DVD. SACD is capable of up to six channels of high resolution audio and importantly the lossless coding sytem for SACD, Direct Stream Transfer (DST), offers the highest quality for all six channels (ie there are no variations in sampling frequency/bit rate after decoding).

Whether players are upgradeable, is a question of product design for each manufacturer. There are dedicated audio only SACD players in the market place now, along with DVD players which also play SACD. It is likely in the immediate future that both stereo and multichannel players will be available in the market, so that users can choose. Also, discs can accommodate a PCM track, a DST stereo track and six channel DST track on the same disc (DMP have already released several titles)."
Thanks to Eric and George for this interesting and frank exchange of views.

Update: Since this was published Sony not only have dramatically brought down the price of SACD players but also have produced Multi-channel cd players.

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