Post by rammiepie November 1, 2010 (21 of 23)
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I must say, Teresa, that I totally agree with Fitzcarraldo. Your undying bias towards all things DSD restricts your mind from enjoying other formats, which dominate the audio landscape.
I have been listening to my many (over 1000) DVD~As and RBCDs (which number over 6000) and since I finally imaged my speakers properly where even FIOS with its Dolby Digital sound sounds fantastic and I have an entirely different outlook on the different audio codecs out there.
Limiting onself to strictly DSD is a moot point at this juncture in time, IMO. It's really time to embrace ALL formats ....... it's really called upgrading, tweaking one's system and enjoying the 5" optical format while it's still in existence. We take everything for granted until it's gone.......and pundits are ALL painting a very bleak scenario for the 5" optical disc!
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Post by DSD November 1, 2010 (22 of 23)
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Fitzcaraldo
Not only are Telarc SACDs superior to all others "in stereo", I find Telarc MP3s more enjoyable that most non-Telarc SACDs, in short Telarc knows how to record an orchestra in such a way it sounds VERY CLOSE to what I hear at a great concert hall, which comes through even in their low-rez versions! Only Reference Recordings gets anywhere near as close and they record hi-rez PCM.
Rammiepie I like DSD the best because it produces the most realistic sounding recordings, however in the digital realm I do also listen to DVD-Audios, high resolution downloads (24/88.2 to 24/192) and even low resolution MP3s.
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Post by wisnon November 13, 2010 (23 of 23)
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rammiepie said:
Meridian developed the apodising filter for their 808.2 reference player and it was a proprietary development indigenous to Meridian. I would venture to say that Onkyo developed a similar one but I sincerely doubt that in a side by side comparison the $499 (list) Onkyo (which also plays stereo SACD) would give the Meridian any serious competition (as the OPPO or even NuForce OPPO can't even come close in RBCD playback).
Whether Meridian is licensing their proprietary apodising filter technology is unknown (IMO, very unlikely since the 808.3 is a new product) but that Onkyo is taking steps to "upgrade" RBCD playback in such an entry level product is commendable.
Bob Stuart of Meridian in developing the 808.3 signature Reference RBCD player acknowledged SACD and DVD~A (which he developed {MLP} ) but his rationale to NOT include both in his reference RBCD player was simple: RBCD is the dominant format in terms of quantity/accessibility and he wanted to ONLY concentrate on that format rather than to dilute the player's capability to include other formats (which is why they eliminated DVD~A Stereo playback from the earlier 808 series).
Hi Rammiepie
Onkyo did not develop anything here. It is their use of the latest Wolfson DAC chip package, the WM8742 that incorporates the 5 CD filders and 4 DSD filters as well. This single (and impressive) 24bit chip converts both PCM and DSD for SACD in one package!
The CD filter number 2 is the minimum phase anti-alias "soft knee"(similar to AYRE) and the number 4 is the MP-AA-"apodizing" filter (similar to Meridian's implemenation).
Any make of CD player that is developed with this chipset could do the same thing. Onkyo just happens to be the first or at least among the first.
Note though, that 32bit chips (Sabre ESS reference 32bit for example) are also already on the market. In fact, the artisanal LAMPIZATOR (boutique maker from Poland) uses a 32bit/192khz chipset (with a differentially summed tube output stage) in a reasonably priced package. Quite analog sounding and a great blend of "old" tube tech and 21 century cutting edge digital tech. A unique Sabre Lampizator DAC can be found at his site:
http://lampizator.eu/szop/L-Szop/Welcome.html
Check out the garage sale section.
I think his commercial version is even better, but Sabre has a big following.
In the interest of full disclosure, I own both the Onkyo and a Lamp. DAC and fully acknowledge that except for the facts on chipsets posted above, the rest is only my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
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