Are Super Audio Compact Discs Better?

Today's audiophiles and music lovers have wide arrays of options when it comes to music listening and recording. The latest innovations in home audio are Super Audio Compact Disc and DVD-Audio. Each of this has its distinct leap from present CD format technology, in which, each comes with its own great quality sound and storage capacity.

SACD saves the data differently from the normal CD encoding. Typical CD encode by capturing the analog signal and saving it digitally.

The CD takes the signal and converts the data back into sound waves. By interpolating the data, it approximates the sound and converts it waveform. These waveforms are loaded between the "snapshots" taken from the pulse code modulation process by the amp.

On the other hand, DVD-Audio or SACD has a finer PCM potential because of the sampling speeds. DVD-Audio sampling speeds are 96 kHz, 24 bit. It also has two channel or six channel data at 129kHz.

Additionally, DVD-Audio provides a storage capacity with seven times more than the current compact disc technology. Such add-on capacity may be used for lengthy recordings, or advanced quality sound, plus visual contents that are accessible via PC-liner notes or television, artist bios, video clips, photo galleries, or song lyrics.

On the other hand, SACD features new technology known as DSD or Direct Stream Digital, which is touted as the "PCM killer" by two huge companies, Philips and Sony. Direct Stream Digital enhances music resolution to an admirable degree, even greater than DVD-Audio, by means of following closely to the music's original waveform.

With the DSD method, SACD do not have to interpolate the data. The music is recorded at a higher sampling rate like 2.8224 Mhz.

And theoretically, the sound result is superior even in comparison with a DVD-Audio sound. And another notable distinction between normal CD and SACD technology is that, SACD provides six times greater storage capacity than CD format.

DSD of the SACD is alot better than the PCM of CDs, because it contains more musical data. As a result the music sounds fresher, warmer and smoother than that of CDs. The purity of the music is retained with SACD.

By using six channel instead of the normal two channels, SACD audio reproduction is fuller and has more added realism. It should great when played on a 5.1 channel home theater system.

Because SACD and DVD-Audio player can play regular CD and DVD-Videos you don't have to keep both units, that can start to clutter up your component system. Pricewise, SACD players are more, but it is a worth investment if you are into getting the most from your system.

The dissimilarity between a normal CD versus SACD technology is quite obvious. But either way, both are considered as a "step up" on what people were buying from the yesteryears.