Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners a player that plays DVD Audio, SACD and HDCD ?

Nah, a dual disc is a DVD-A/CD. Try it in a CD player and see if it does anything. It would also prominently say it on the package, as far as I know.

HTPC? not likely, I own a laptop I think it has a SPDIF out capability though...


Question:

If my laptop will play the HDCD can I send it through SPDIF to my receiver and it will play it in HDCD? Or just regular CD?

Ravi, as you may know, it's rather controversial whether HDCD actually has any advantage. Alan has some replies here expressing doubts(e.g. "lot of hokum")which you can search. However, whatever value it might have would require a HDCD decoder in either the player or the receiver. If neither your laptop nor receiver has such a decoder, the CD would still be a CD.

true enough

the pioneer looks good

i should pick one up on my return

I would think that it needs to be sent to the receiver via analog outs since the HDCD decoding takes place in software (WMP) prior to the soundcard. The digital (SPDIF) is for carrying undecoded pass-through signals.

Someone correct me if I'm off on this....

Nah, it's not that. Tried that. I have found online discussions that name this disc as unplayable in the 563a.

HDCD has to be decoded in the first conversion from digital to analog, once it is analog the extra information is lost. So either your CD/DVD player can decode it and you listen via the analog output from it, or you pass it via digital (TOSLink or Coax) to a receiver that has an HDCD decoder in it.

I think a well mastered HDCD disk sounds a little better, and I know a lot of people making DVD-A and SACD discs use HDCD in the process.

Hi,

Some of the current H/K A/V receivers have built-in HDCD decoders. In my tests of HDCD, there is an increase in dynamic range over non-HDCD playback. I would argue that HDCD in some ways is less accurate, because it depends on a certain degree of dynamic range expansion with correct decoding. My point is that the dynamic range of conventional CDs already permits accurate reproduction of real-life dynamic range. Indeed, it's often too great for home playback as the usual assortment of household noises (refrigerator hum, furnace fans, AC fans, etc.) will obsure the quitetest portions of music. If you turn it up to compensate, then the loudest portions are too loud. Anyone who listens to CDs of jazz or classical in a good car system is very familiar with this phenomenon. The quiet portions become buried in road noise.

However, if you have a really quiet listening room in the middle of the woods, you will hear a difference with an HDCD recording properly decoded.

Regards,

>>However, if you have a really quiet listening room in the middle of the woods, you will hear a difference with an HDCD recording properly decoded.

Like this ? Dang, guess I'm going to have to upgrade again

Upgrade to a complete house..........................................or new handwarmers. One of the two.