Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Finnaly a reason to SACD!

There may finnaly be a reason for me to replace my DVD player with a SACD capable one:

NIN - Downward Spiral (Deluxe Edition)

This is the first disk to truely catch my eye... damn I wish I wasn't broke!

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up. That's one of my all-time favorite albums.

james

I'd be interested in that one too, especially since my original version CD disappeared years ago.

Is there somewhere I could get a cheap SACD player (I don't care if it plays DVD too, I have a DVD player that I like).

I'd want this new NIN offering as well as Dark Side of the Moon on SACD.

The NIN album will come in DVD-A as well.

Whoa.... yeah, that's a pretty big encouragement.

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Is there somewhere I could get a cheap SACD player (I don't care if it plays DVD too, I have a DVD player that I like).

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Check out the Pioneer 578s. I bought mine at Best Buy for $130, but I've been reading somewhere in the past week or so of some people finding closeouts or something at more like $100.

I don't know if that means the model is due to be replaced, but either way it has a good reputation as a very good value in a universal player.

Well there it is. I now have a reason to pick up the Pioneer 578. Thanks for the info man.

I have that player and it's been great. The remote sucks (MX-700 some day!) and some have complaind that it has trouble reading discs, but I have had only two problem discs. Both were from netflix and had small cracks in them. Otherwise it's been great. Enjoy!

james r

I have the previous model, the 563a, and have been pretty happy with it. You can't do better at that price.

I've bought quite a few SACD/DVD-a's recently. When done right, 5.1 music is awesome.

I have a friend that got a 563a on eBay for $50!

I got mine for $170.....no problems whatsoever. The nicest things about Pioneers is they read burned discs....CD and DVD....with much less problems than other brands.

I've had the 563a for more than a year now and have had zero problems with it. Though, it does seem to be more fussy about disc scratches than my old Pioneer DV434 was.

Yep...that's the only issue I've ever had. It's a bit fussy about your discs being in pristine condition.

I found a best buy near me that has it for $100, and I have a couple of gift certificates to use up at Best Buy, so I'm thinking of getting the 578. If I do it though I should move fast, since it looks like it is being cleared out.

So, I went to best buy tonight and bought the 578. I got the last one, open box shelf model. It was listed at $90 since it was open box, but they didn't have the remote or manual (which I should be able to DL from the Internet), so I got it for $75.

Just one question. They told me that the optical cable does not work for SACD, that 3 sets of RCA cables (front, rear, center/sub) were needed instead. Is this correct, and if so, why is this the case? I got the RCA cables, but it seems strange to be that optical would not work in this case.

That is correct. Optical theoretically has too low a data rate for uncompressed SACD audio (and DVD-A). Also, they don't want you making perfect copies, so they give you the 6 analog outs. It's really a copy protection thing.

Yes it is true that you will need 3 sets of RCA cables. It is six channel direct. The signal will only go through analog. That is also one of the reasons you cant burn the 6 channel layer.
Whats interesting (at least with my player) is that 2 sometimes 3 of the channels will go through coax. Sometimes you will only get the voice tracks and sometimes you will only get intrument tracks.
Nothing like Elton John singing acapella.

Thanks guys. I love the response time on here. I've had just enough time to get it on the shelf and try it with optical (didn't work of course) and was about to open up the RCA cables but thought I would check for responses first. Sure enough, there they were. I'll hook up the RCA cables and listen to some Dark Side of the Moon SACD while I get dinner ready. I'll probably have to sit down later in the sweet spot to truly appreciate it though.

So... I was looking around for a SACD player this weekend, can't seem to find that Pioneer (except I see Crutchfeild is selling it for $130 plus ~20 shipping).

I noticed a SACD 5 disc changer by SONY at Best Buy for $130. I know some ppl like their 400 disc changers (something I dont want or need) so I'm wondering what ppl might think of a player like this. I'm a bit confused however on the DVD-A. I've read some ppl say you need a special player for them, but I've also read that any DVD player will play a DVD-A disk.

So which is it? I don't know of any titles on DVD-A that I want, but I'd hate to buy a new player that doesn't work with em only to later come across a disk I want.

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I've read some ppl say you need a special player for them, but I've also read that any DVD player will play a DVD-A disk.

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This is because most DVD-A discs contain a Dolby Digital or DTS track. But unless the player is specifically DVD-A compatible, you will not be able to play the hi-rez/multi-channel track.

I think my local best buy still has the 578a. They even dropped it to $95 (although I had to fight with them about it, since it only said $95 online). I've got it all hooked up and it is working well for me. I have DSOTM on SACD and NIN TDS on DVD-A. I was a bit disappointed with the NIN, although I have only listened to the DVD-A version once so far. I guess I set my expectations with DSOTM. Not much will likely compare since this is supposed to be one of the better ones out there for the format.

IN, as Curtis explained, although any DVD player will the play the DD and/or DTS track that's present on all DVD-As, it won't play the DVD-A track unless specifically designed to do so. Since Sony is a developer and promoter of the rival SACD, their players(including the one you looked at) don't have provision for playing the DVD-A track

OK thx for clearing that up. I figured it could be something as described here.

hmm I guess my decision is, do I want a 5 disc changer (SONY) more than the ability to to play DVD-A's (Pioneer).

I've been looking around for one of these as a Xmas present. I've been considering the Toshiba 6915. What exactly is the difference between the the Sony, Toshiba, Zenith, Pioneer models vs. the Denon, Marantz, Yamaha models besides price?