mcatucci

How does one go about getting a refund? Did you guys email them?

I downloaded the 192/24 but went to bed shortly after it finished and never looked at it. I'm a bit dissapointed after reading the initial feedback here. I was really looking forward to this release.

Thanks for the reply tlathrop. Everything you said makes a lot of sense. I ended up givign in and purchasing a used SACD player for just over 100.00 on Audiogon. It has great reviews and was a 1,000 player when it was released so the DAC/sound should be on par with the Nova's. I figured for 100.00 I am ion the gaem and can make up my own mind. If the player breaks in 3 months or I find that SACD's are way over blown then I am not out that much money. I just purchased a MF V-Link and must say the bass has improved noticeably. I wasn't sure I would notice any difference but so far so good. I think I will try the Cinnamon USB cable as my next upgade and then just relax and enjoy the musci for a while. It's a tough job chaing great sound ;-)

Paul, Not really afraid just unsure where to go next. I have finally made it to a position where I can upgrade my system to something approaching audiophile standards and now that I'm hearing this great music I want more. While my PC rig is here to stay and will grow, my dilemma is do I expand to vinyl, SACD or stick with HDTracks. The hi rez tracks I've downloaded so far have sounded great. I want more of that sound but my selection on downloads is limited. SACD seems like a good choice. There's so much to learn about this hobby.

I absolutely meant 2 channel, sorry I forgot to mention that :-)

I realize I am pushing this subject to death, but I have gone through my other thread numerous times and while the subject of buying a SACD player was addressed, the quality of sound, or is it even worth it was really not. My last question to those of you who have both is this: Which sounds better? The ease of downloading a hi-res file cannot be beat, but does it sound better or just as good as the SACD release?

Since being bit by this hifi audio bug I have been searching for the best quality music possible for use with my setup. The Peachtree Nova limits me to 24/96 which from what I can tell is still very, very good. I have powered up the old Denon DVD Audio player, it was ok through the Nova, but nothing special, I've struggled with purchasing a SACD player (still am having that struggle), downloaded some HiRez albums from HDtracks which sounded pretty good actually. But the other day I remembered I had purchased a yearly membership with Pandora and so I switched it on over the Nova and was blown away. The music coming out of this Nova is some of the best music I have ever heard in my life. What's my point? I'm not sure. Is Pandora really sending out music of that quality or does the Nova's DAC just really play well with Pandora? I know with the upgraded membership they claim to stream 192Kbps. This stuff sounds as good or better than HDTRacks and all of my WAVE rips. Anybody else share this experience?

I must admit that part of my reasoning for picking up a used SACD player is to avoid the uncertainty that comes with HD downloads. With SACD it seems the quality is there, no question. But some of the downloads from various sites offering 24/96 or higher seem questionable. I realize in another year or so these problems should be ironed out but until then SACD is looking real tempting.

A local guy is selling a Sony SCD-CE595 for 75.00 Looks like a very good deal. I am not a fan of cd/sacd changers but I really like the dedicated SACD player versus a universal. I think for 75.00 I will give it a shot. Not a lot to lose with that type of investment.

So essentially what you're saying is even with using the analog connections on the SACD player direct to my Peachtree Nova's analog will not yield very good performace?

"Mcatucci, the optical or even coax out of an SACD player (or universal player that plays SACD) is NOT capable of playing the protected SACD layer. You'd be simply hearing the redbook (cd layer) into your DAC. Sorry." You know I thought this was the case. I just had a conversation with someone who I thought knew their stuff and they told me to go ahead and use the optical out, that would be the best way to hook a SACD to the Nova. Thanks very much for confirming what I had suspected. That would have been a real waste of time and money.

I'd be running the SACD player into my Peachtree Nova through the optical port. So the Nova's DAC should handle the SACD's pretty well I would hope. New players start around 350. but there are plenty of 100. options on eBay. Still debating....

Now that I hear what really good music can sound like after downloading some songs from HDTracks, I'm wondering if purchasing a SACD player is the next logical step for me. I've never been into vinyl and always thought CD was as good as it gets. I understand now that I was very, very wrong. I've been reading everything I can here at CA for hours and days on end and I am aware of the issues with HDtracks and other supposed high rez downloads. With SACD it seems there there are no issues, with the vast majority of offerings I will hear a major improvement over the cd offering. I keep hearing how the disk is a dying breed but sales are up on SACD players and there is now a ton of SACD music to choose from with more coming out this year. I think SACD is here for a bit longer. Do I jump on the SACD player and start buying up my favorite artist's disks or is it a waste of money at this point and are hirez downloads or even Blu Ray music the way to go? Your opinion is much apprecaited as I am at a crossroad right now and need some direction ;-) -Mike

FYI: V-Link is on sale at Amazon for 119.00 I am using the S/PDIF on my motherboard, but for that price I snatched one up.

I was using iTunes and then tried Media Monkey. I thought Media Monkey was a nice improvement over iTunes. JRiver seems to be a notch above MM to my ears anyway.