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Re:an impossible task, you've set for yourself

Posted by Bruce from DC (B) on November 21, 2006 at 07:00:43

In Reply to: XRCD v. SACD - interesting comparison posted by Luciano,IT on November 20, 2006 at 09:22:21:

First, my experience is that RBCD playback is very sensitive to power issues (I haven't really experimented with SACD playback, so I don't know whether it is, or is not). The use of a balanced power transformer on my previous CD player had a very dramatic effect on the sound quality, eliminating a great degree of treble spittiness and harshness. I have not run my current, more expensive, player without the balanced power conditioner, so I don't know whether there's a similar effect. As a general matter, it does seem that digital playback is affected by power quality issues, especially the availability of a clean "earth" ground.

Secondly, to my ears, the SACD re-releases of various "vintage" classical recordings ("living stereo" "living presence," etc.) does not really show the full capabilities of the format, as compared to a "native" DSD recording of symphonic music. This seems to be somewhat independent of the record label, whether its "LSO Live" or "Pentatone" or even Naxos. So, I don't know how much you're comparison is going to tell you about the relative strength of the two formats.

Thirdly, as others in the thread have pointed out, if there are different people doing the mastering from the same source, their ears and tastes may call for a slightly different tonality . . . which you hear but which is not attributable to the format itself.

I will say that I've never heard a native DSD recording that, to my ears had an aggressive, harsh or unpleasant treble. In fact, one of the strengths of SACD, to my ears, is its reproduction of brass instruments and massed strings . . . always a problem with RBCD.

As between an SACD re-release from an old analog master (e.g. "Living Stereo") and a native DSD recording, it always appears to me that the re-release is "constrained" dynamically and spectrally in comparison to the native recording.

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