SACD | DVD-Audio
High resolution and
multi-channel
Basically, both of these new media have two advantages over CDs. When CDs were
first brought out, the sound quality was simply revolutionary. In the mean time,
digital technology has undergone enormous developments, and the possibilities
for audio have grown correspondingly – with SACD and DVD-Audio technical quality
has become reality in sound.
The second significant development has been that in addition to the usual
two-channel stereo sound, these new media offer us the option of playing a
further track in multi-channel or surround-sound technology. In order to do
this, more than two loudspeakers are necessary (usually five or six) together
with their own amplifiers; just like in the cinema or home theatre. This enables
the listener to enjoy a new experience in listening: a real feeling for the
space in which the music is playing.
SACDs and DVD-Audios have both these advantages. Excellent stereo sound and
excellent surround-sound!
Surround-sound. A science unto
itself
Many SACD and DVD producers re-issue recordings that were originally conceived
simply for stereo, as artificial multi-channel remixes, even though the
necessary recorded sound is not existent. We find this tactic to be quite amiss.
At FARAO Classics all recordings issued in surround-sound are produced and
conceived using precisely this technology – in recording, editing and the mixing
process. This all begins right with the choice of the room in which the
recording is made, the positioning of the microphones and even the where the
musicians are placed. In all this, arduously worked out concepts make sure that
people listening to our SACDs or DVD-Audios have the best possible feeling of
space and real listening experience without losing track of where the individual
musicians and singers are positioned. The listener has no sense of being
actually inside the orchestra or between various musical goings on, but has his
own permanent place in the audience, from which he experiences the music, but
far more realistically than was ever possible before from the medium of recorded
sound!
This means that the recording and editing team take on new roles and greater
responsibilities than was the case with stereo recording. Working with
multi-channel audio-technology opens up enormous possibilities, - and enormous
possibilities for errors, too…
I want to hear surround-sound
at its best, how should I arrange my loudspeakers in my living room?
For best results when playing 5.0 or 5.1 Surround-recordings you will need five
loudspeakers plus an optional subwoofer (a deep bass loudspeaker). All five
loudspeakers should be on the same frequency and have the same power of
amplification. For 5.1 surround sound, the loudspeakers should, according to the
so-called ITU norm, be positioned in the following manner (as seen from the best
listening position):
All five loudspeakers should be equidistant from the listener, that is to say
they should be positioned along the line of an imaginary circle around the
listener:
Central loudspeaker; 0 degrees
Front right and front left: each at 30 degrees
Back right and back left: each at 110 degrees
Subwoofer anywhere
The advantages and disadvantages of the SACD at a glance:
-
Recordings in SACD-Hybrid
format.
This means that the disc is made up of two layers: the first layer is
recognised by the CD player as a normal standard CD, and played as such. The
second layer is recognised only by SACD compatible players. So the SACD-Hybrid
can be played on all CD players (but “only” in CD quality, of course.)
-
On SACD compatible players the
music can be played in excellent quality in both stereo and in multi-channel
(5.0 surround).
-
Easy to use (just like a CD)
-
Since SACDs are compatible with
CDs, it still makes sense to buy them, even if you’re not planning to buy an
SACD player just yet.
-
You can take SACD discs around
with you, eg in your car.
The disadvantages of the SACD:
-
You can only experience
the full scope of SACDs using the corresponding equipment. (These are not yet
in widespread use.)
-
The playing time of an SACD-hybrid is limited to that
of conventional CDs (ca. 80 mins.)
The advantages and disadvantages of
DVD-Audio at a glance.
-
high definition state of the art sound on DVD-Audio
players in surround (multi channel sound) and in stereo (up to digital format
24bit/192 KHz)
-
excellent surround sound (multi channel sound) in dts
or Dolby Digital Technology an ALL DVD players.
-
excellent 48KHz/24bit sound ( superior to CDs, in
sound and technology) in stereo on ALL DVD players.
-
you can underlay the music with picture material
(stills)
-
easy to use with the menu control.
-
playing time is variable and can be to up to three
hours on DVD-Audio.
All this means:
-
EVERY owner of a DVD player can enjoy with a DVD-Audio
(which can be played on absolutely ANY DVD player) huge improvements in sound
and will find greater ease of use than with a normal CD.
-
The best possible sound may be achieved using a
special DVD-Audio player.
The disadvantage of DVD-Audio:
DVD-Audio - a versatile medium
On a DVD-Audio a producer can place
various components side by side:
A video part, which can be played by the end player and which can contain
various soundtracks (eg surround, stereo, a version without the soloist etc.,
etc.) and a special DVD-Audio component, which can only be played on a DVD-Audio
player. This may also contain various soundtracks (eg. stereo, surround 5.1 or
the special Dabringhaus and Grimm 2+2+2 surround technique in which the height
of the listening space can also be reproduced.) The high resolution quality in
96 KHz or even 192 KHz sampling rate however, can only be obtained on the
DVD-Audio part. The blending in of picture or video material, together with easy
to use menu operation is optional on both levels.
Why do DVD-Audios usually sound
better then SACDs? An excursion only for the really curious!
DVD-Audio is based upon conventional
digital PCM-technology which since its introduction in the 1980s has been
successfully used in all areas of recorded sound. The main difference from CD
quality being the greatly higher resolution. This high resolution is employed to
its full extent in the multi channel properties of DVD-Audio.
SACDs on the other hand, are based on a relatively new system, called DSD
technology. This technology has been employed for quite some time now, as a part
an element of digital signal conveyance called Delta-Sigma converters. The
characteristic of this is the ability to store in a single bite (bit / bite ?)
information on sound pressure which can determine whether the sound pressure is
higher or lower than the previous value. This information is conveyed at
extremely short intervals.
In theory DSD technology should produce better sound quality than PCM technology
does. But: in test recordings that we carried out, using identical material
using two different means of transferral, in the high resolution PCM technology
used in DVD-Audio we could not find any discernable difference between the two.
With DSD technology however, there is the problem that the machinery necessary
for recording and sound engineering (that is multi channel recording with up to
64 tracks, digital mixing desks, and editing computers with the requisite number
of tracks) is of very limited availability, if at all.
The same also goes for the creative tools necessary for refined processes, such
as filters, dynamic processors, resonance machines and algorithms such as
time-stretching or pitch-shifting, etc...
A producer therefore, has the choice for sound engineering, either of going back
to the old analogue level or converting the already recorded material to PCM
technology (to complete the process in PCM and convert the finished product back
into DSD technology) or undertaking the extremely limited process of “pure” DSD
engineering using special 1-bit mixing desks, whereby the sound engineer would
simply not have the creative tools at his disposal that we consider so
necessary.
For this reason most producers take the second option of completing the entire
production process in PCM technology and converting the product at the end in
DSD technology to issue it as an SACD. In our eyes this is just trickery which
does more to the detriment of the sound that it does to improve it.
Apart from the sound quality however, there is one issue which although
considerable is quite banal:
With the SACD, whilst only people who own a SACD player will be able to enjoy
its advantages over CD versions, with DVD-Audio, EVERYONE who has a DVD player (
that is to say both DVD-Audio and DVD-Video) will benefit from the enhanced
options offered; (i.e. higher resolution, but first and foremost of course, the
surround sound.) Since DVD players are nowadays very widespread, and SACD
players much less so, far more listeners are able to enjoy DVD-Audio.
What sort of equipment do we
recommend?
Since it is as yet uncertain which
medium (DVD-Audio or SACD) will prevail on the market, we would recommend all
our customers to purchase a universal player which can play both SACDs and
DVD-Audios. These players can already be bought, from Pioneer for example, for
less than 300 Euros. But of course the sound quality, along with the purchase
price, knows no limits. This is where, in order to achieve optimum listening
enjoyment, it is necessary to have a multi channel amplifier/ receiver, and five
passive/active loudspeakers.
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