How much better are the new formats?

[MarkSJohnson]

I'm sorry for such a newbie question, I just haven't purchased a universal player yet and I'm having doubts. Let me explain:

In my business (video production) I pay dearly to upgrade everything constantly. Having just purchased a Denon 3805 receiver, I was able to justify the purchase by thinking I'll get quite a few years out of it. The plan was/is to purchase Denon's forthcoming 3910 Universal Player to mate with the receiver via Denon Link.

Now, I'm losing confidence that the player makes sense. Hi-Def DVD formats are definitely on the horizon and though the future players will be backwards compatible, none of the current ones are forward compatible! Does it make sense to spend around a grand for a player that might not be very "current" at all in only two years?

This long tirade aside, let me get to the point that matters for this particular "Music Forum":

Having never heard an SACD or DVD-Audio disc side by side with a "traditional" CD, how much better are they? A little bit, moderately, or "blows your socks off with the dynamics and sense of realism"? My only experience has been at a Circuit City quite a few months ago where they had a little display on an end-cap with some small speakers in front and behind your head. If the idea was to demo the sonic quality of SACDs in the center of the noisy store, it, not surprisingly, fell flat in it's goal! I've never even read a magazine article that pitted a direct comparison between the new discs and their older brethren. I should mention that 2-channel sock-blowing is more important to me than asking my small surround speakers to carry a Keith Moon solo so I can feel like I'm on stage!

How many people have done actual disc-to-disc comparisons, and is the aural difference of these audio discs worth a $1,000 player if I'm unsure of justifying the player for video formats?


TIA-
M

 

[Rob Babcock]

Unfortunately, gone are the days when an electronics purchase can be expected to be sota for a decade. No, there's virtually no chance that the current crop of players will be able to play the new Hi Def DVDs. For that matter, the next format isn't really even set in stone yet- will it be HD-DVD or BluRay? You could make an educated guess, but it's hard to tell.

If your primary reason for purchasing it is for Hi Rez music, the Denon is still a good bet. HD-DVD & BluRay are video formats, not audio formats. So far there's no indication that'll change soon (although you can't rule it out). It basically comes down to asking yourself how long you're willing to wait. Will there ever be a time when you can buy something without worrying that it'll be obsolete one day? Probably not. Do you want to have a "more universal" player in a few years or enjoy the best current technology has to offer right now?

 

[MarkSJohnson]

A little clearer than my original post...

Hi Rob-
Thanks for your input! I probably should have been a bit clearer in my post.

I certainly understand that obsolescence is generally par for the course these days. I guess my concern is whether or not a thousand dollar player is a good investment in comparison to maybe a $150 player if there's another format(s) on the horizon. It's my belief that another major change in formats won't happen until 4-5 years after the blu-ray or other HD-DVD formats are introduced.

To stay on-topic for this particular thread, I guess what I’m trying to determine is whether or not the newer audio formats are really superior enough to support the purchase of what, to me, is a relatively expensive player instead of getting something "to hold me off" for a couple of years (if I do indeed purchase the player for it’s audio capabilities and not it’s video capabilities).

M

 

[Rob Babcock]

I got you. Well, IMOHO the sound is well worth it. I'm on record as being a huge fan of DVD-A (& SACD), and I feel the sound quality is much better than Redbook CD. It's been well worth it to me (I own a Denon DVD-2200, not as expensive as the 3910, of course).

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I am with Rob on this, DVD-A and SACD are wonderful. I have a Denon 2200 as well. Superb player, stunning picture quality.

 

[Unregistered]

Mark, I would agree as well. You have yourself a nice receiver with the 3805, and I can certainly understand your reluctance to plunk down another grand on this "new" technology not knowing where its headed. Here's a thought, Pioneer makes (actually made, it since been discontinued), a really inexpensive but quite nice sounding combination player, the 563A, that might be worth looking into as a temporary measure, if you can still find one. I won't go into all the details here but if you scan through this forum, as well as other HT discussions, you'll see generally high grades for this player. It listed for US$249 but I was able to pick one of them up for US$99. At around that price it will allow you to explore hi-res sound to determine if its for you or not. If you like the sound enough to upgrade, you can always sell the player and move up in the future.

BTW, I think SACD's and DVD-A's sound so nice that its a real letdown listening to most of the redbook cds now.

 

[Hawkeye]

That last reply was mine. Sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't signed in...