Sony SCD-777ES and Technics DVD-A10 Review

WHEW…after 16 years we finally have a new format, two of them, that should lay the digital versus analog debate to rest. That is, the debate will be significant only historically. And if either DVDA or SACD achieve prominence, proponents of vinyl sound will have a digital alternative that should satisfy. That’s my conclusion after many hours of critical listening to both DVDA and to SACD. That was also my conclusion after listening only a few minutes. For anyone who listens for sound quality, it’s no struggle to hear that CD has been trumped. Unfortunately, I don’t think that either of these formats will replace CD any time soon. I simply don’t think that the public at large will see enough benefit. I do, however, think that one or both formats will go on as high-end alternatives, albeit with limited titles; something like the video laserdisc phenomenon.

Better than CD? What’s the matter with CD?

While it still is news to many, CD does not faithfully reproduce the sound of master tapes. Ask anyone who’s ever worked in a studio. CD sound doesn’t cut it. Artists are not hearing from CD what they laid down to tape. This fact, unlike the claim that CD is inferior to vinyl, cuts right to the heart of the “problem” with CD, and is the reason to get excited about DVDA and SACD. Many of you are used to hearing CD criticized for it’s not being as good as records. Perhaps this is why you doubt that there is anything really wrong with CD. To you, CD sounds better than records. However, the more important fact is that neither one sounds like the master recordings from which they’re made. To the rescue rides DVDA and SACD.

To you vinyl lovers out there, of which I’m one, do you know that certain gestalt that vinyl sound has that CD doesn’t; the one for which vinyl is considered more lifelike than CD? Well, both new formats have that! But, they have it with all the digital advantages: low noise, better dynamics, and better playback speed stability. This gestalt I’m talking about is what’s often described as a musicality, wholeness, or naturalness. Hearing the new SACD and DVDA formats, compared with CD, I better understood why the vinyl gestalt is so important that despite ticks, pops, speed instability, sloppier bass, or whatever other evils lurk in those grooves, many listeners swear by their records.

DVD Audio and The Technics DVD-A10

The Technics player really made this understanding gel. This machine, like most vinyl front ends, gave me the naturalness of analog but with a host of problems; problems that are, I suspect, inherent in the machine and not in the format. These problems weren’t present on the Meridian 508.24, with which I compared. Yet, the DVDA gave a more believable presentation. I played the DVDA of Diana Krall’s “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” and compared it with the CD of the same song played on the Meridian. I used the Meridian 508.24 for playing back the CD because it smokes the Technics on CD. I figured I’d give the CD its best shot.

My notes say of the Technics, “definitely rough around the edges.” Piano was robbed of its richness and sounded hard. Through the Technics, this instrument could become painful to listen to on loud passages, where any sweetness it had was lost. All instruments suffered from a lack of air around them and performances lacked dimension. High frequencies were too much like white-noise. In short, the Technics demonstrated all that can be wrong with cheap hifi, and cheap digital in particular.

On Holly Cole’s “Jersey Girl,” from Sound As A Performance Art—an audiophile recording if there ever was one—I noted a host of things gone wrong. Bass lacked body and tautness and the upper midrange/treble region was too bright. (This last observation may have been due to the missing bass, rather than an exaggeration in its own right.) The sonic images were not well focused, and coupled with the lack of bass, lacked palpability. An electronic “zzzzz” sound accompanied vocals. Similarly, the tambourine didn’t have the speed or coherence of the real thing, it’s metal vibrating a little too much. It sounded as if there was an overhang of white noise after the real sound.

The interesting part, however, is not how a $1,000 machine failed against the $4,000 Meridian. Rather, it’s that DVD audio on the Technics was more lifelike than CD on the Meridian, and the Technics was still exhibiting all of the above mentioned shortcomings. To better understand how this can be, imagine the following scenario. Blindfolded, you’re exposed to two musical presentations. You hear a live performance through some obstruction that greatly alters the sound (e.g. a thick curtain or a partially opened door). You’re also exposed to the exact same performance played back through a top flight audio system. You would probably agree that the live performance sounded more lifelike, despite limited transients, a lack of air around the performers, and non-existent imaging. That is, despite failing many of our favorite tests for what constitutes good fidelity, the live performance still gives itself away. And so it was listening to DVD audio on the Technics. You can hear that the DVDA is reporting on more of the event than the CD, even through the Technics’ distortions.

As of this writing, the Technics is not available for sale. Indeed, this particular machine may never see the light of day. Consequently, I won’t waste your time talking about its operability or features. (I feel compelled to comment on its styling, however. It looks like it came right out of the late 70’s early 80’s. Given the return of the 70’s we’re going through now, I figure that in just a few months the Technics’ look should be “in.”) Should this machine become available, I recommend it to anyone who wants a DVD player. Yes, $1,000 is a lot for a DVD player, but you’ll also be able to check out 5.1 channel DVD audio; this machine is equipped with the requisite 6 analog outputs. I could not recommend the DVD-A10 as a CD player; for $1,000 there are better sounding options.

SACD and The Sony 777ES

Lift with your legs, not your back—this sucker is heavy (55lbs)! And this one is three pounds lighter than Sony’s SCD-1 ($5,000). I had a chance to throw my back out on that one as well, but had only about 30 minutes to listen to it. At any rate, the weight and build quality of the 777 make for one hell of a good impression; even more so because it’s a Sony—makers of numerous $200 CD player specials. A top loader, and fairly deep at 17 ¼”, the Triple 7 requires a bit of space. But, it looks way cool and is built like a tank.

Zen and the Art of Playing Tunes

Push the “open/close” button and watch the smooth, slow, and steady door quietly slide right. Remove the disc stabilizer (i.e. weight) from the spindle and carefully place it down. It’s heavy, and dropping it might scratch the 777’s handsome finish. Load the disc, and then carefully place the weight over the disc spindle. The smooth polished metal feels good to the touch. Push “play” to slide the door left, as it slowly covers the CD well. It’s a gratifying process: much like the movements involved in playing records. Savor the feeling–it’s going to be a while before the music plays. I forgot to time it, but I would estimate that discs don’t start for at least a minute.

All of the buttons, except the one for power, are located across the front of the top. They feel like they’re built to last. The display window, which will show any text information that might be included on the discs, is centered on the front faceplate. The back panel includes single ended analog outputs and two digital outputs, one coaxial and one optical. The power cord, of the three-prong detachable variety, also plugs in here.

Sony enables the listener to employ different digital filters for playing back CDs. I was not sure I heard any differences among these filters. That is, as I switched through them I thought I might be detecting something but wasn’t really sure. Rather than concluding that they’re bogus, I simply think that they’re subtle and may require either better equipment than I had or source material more conducive to showing the differences. I know, for instance, that the digital processing employed by both Meridian and Lexicon surround processors, to enhance stereo recordings, is fairly inaudible with dry recordings and extremely effective when ambient cues are present. I used the Sony’s standard setting for my listening impressions.

What about all the CD’s You Have?

Having quickly discerned SACD’s superiority to CD—more on that later–I set out to discover how the 777 compares as a CD player. (This was a tough exercise in delayed gratification, as listening to SACD was pure pleasure.) After all, except for less than 100 titles, SACD is not here now and it may never be a majority of one’s source material. SACD and DVDA and whatever else comes down the pike may remain fringe elements, available in limited supplies and only at higher prices. In the meantime, we’ve all got lots of CDs to play. I put the 777 up against the Meridian 508.24.

While I remained objective in my evaluation, I thought it would be great if the 777 was at least as good or better than the Meridian. I’d heard what the 777 sounded like with SACD—as I said at the start, vinyl lovers can finally embrace something digital—and knew I’d like to have that in my system. But, if it doesn’t play CDs at least as well as the Meridian, $3,500 for an SACD player would be hard to justify.

The Sony 777ES and the Meridian 508.24

First, I compared several recordings in the two machines, which required moving discs from one machine to the other. I’ll tell you my findings on these comparisons after I tell you what happened when I compared two identical CDs on the fly. The results of this latter comparison help to explain my earlier impressions.

I had two CD copies of Diana Krall’s “Love Scenes,” enabling me to switch between the player’s using the pre-amp’s remote control. I did, however, have to deal with the machines’ different playback levels. I established equal output levels using a sound pressure level meter. One particular day of this comparison I thought I heard the 777 sounding slightly bright. More sibilance could be heard on Ms. Krall’s vocals and cymbals sounded a touch too hot. Making the same comparison on other occasions I heard no difference. Even on the day when I thought I heard a small difference, all other aspects of playback sounded identical when comparing the two Diana Krall discs. However, the one difference I heard does make sense in light of my earlier comparisons using other demo material. Furthermore, others present that same day also thought that they heard a bit of brightness from the Sony.

Now, consider my earlier impressions when I compared CDs by moving them back and forth between the two machines, in light of the 777 sounding slightly brighter.[1] On Tracy Chapman’s “At This Point In My Life,” from New Beginnings, I heard a warmer, more natural sound through the Meridian. I felt that while both machines gave up the same details—the slightly cavernous acoustic, Tracy’s saliva sounds—the Sony lacked just a little body. The bass drum near the beginning of the song lost a little weight. I also felt that the Sony lost some of the space around the musicians. At the start of this track, through the Meridian, the two vocalists sounded side by side, with Chapman a little bit in front, while through the Sony their positions were less distinct. These impressions follow from the Sony’s brightness, which could be described as an emphasis of the upper midrange and high frequencies. Perceptually, this would undermine the lower frequencies, thereby affecting the perceived mass of the instruments and the singers, as well as masking subtle cues that help define the soundstage.

Remember Superman’s icy pad somewhere in the Arctic? Imagine it’s acoustic signature. This is how the Sony colored the sound while I listened to Eric Reed’s “Feelin’ Groovy,” from Manhattan Melodies. Through the Sony I thought I heard an enhanced liveliness, giving the soundspace a cold sound. The acoustic through the 508.24, which sounded more natural, was closer to that of a wood floor with plaster walls. (Of course, I don’t know which acoustic is more accurate.) I also noted that focus was better on the Meridian. I conjectured at the time that the inner detail required to give focus, not to mention the natural warmth of the space, was being smeared. This affect would be consistent with noise present in the upper middle, and high frequencies.

Indeed, during these earlier comparisons I noted something a bit unnatural at these frequencies. On “Feelin’ Groovy” I heard the shimmer of the cymbals take on a misty quality through the Sony, while it remained convincingly clear through the Meridian. And, at exactly 17 seconds into the song, there is a quick tap; I think it’s either the drum rim or a closed hi-hat cymbal. Through the 508.24 the reverberation from that tap was clearer, allowing me to better hear the walls around the instrument. This information was compromised through the Sony.[2]

When all is said and done though, after many days listening to the 777 and the 508.24, I’d say that they are 99% the same CD player. My analysis above is talking about the 1%, because that’s all there really was to talk about.[3] Furthermore, it’s conceivable that in a system leaning the opposite direction, a little dark sounding let’s say, I’d have faulted the Meridian on that one day for not sounding quite as natural as the Sony. Similarly, changing the interconnects could have reversed my findings. I’d buy the Sony with no regrets, confident that it can play back CDs as well as any other machine in its price class.

SACD Sound

To imagine Super Audio CD sound, take what’s good about your best sounding CD playback and what’s good about your best sounding vinyl playback and put them together. Or, and I’m going more out on a limb here, take what’s good about reel to reel playback and combine that with what’s good about CD playback.[4] These combinations are fair descriptions of the SACD sound that I heard. Grain and stridency were so reduced on SACD that I found myself going for louder playback levels. Smooth and creamy are two more good descriptors. Or, CD is like DVD on an analog TV (i.e. scan lines) and SACD is like DVD on a digital TV (i.e. no scan lines). (This latter analogy works for the Technics as well, except that the “Technics” digital TV would have its tint, color, and brightness a bit screwed up.) The icing on the cake is that the 777 did not fail the traditional audiophile tests (i.e. imaging, soundstaging, frequency balance, etc.) the way the Technics did. Too bad I didn’t have another SACD player with which to compare the Sony 777.

Sony included two SACD discs with the 777: the Telarc SACD Sampler, a dual layer disc (CD/SACD), and The Sony Music Super Audio CD Sampler, which is SACD only. I wonder what Sony’s reason was for not making their disc dual layer. That a retailer would have to stock only one copy of a recording, in order to be selling SACD and CD, is SACD’s greatest hope for success. SACD will certainly remain no more that a niche product if it can’t be played on current CD players.

“He Lives In You,” by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, from the Telarc disc, gave me one of my most remarkable listening experiences. Overall, it may have been the most lifelike sonic imitation I’ve ever heard. (Still, it was nowhere near real. But maybe that’s only because of the hardware.) I found it very informative comparing SACD and CD using this track—not to say that it was a close call on any other track. It certainly wasn’t. After noticing first the overall fullness and wholeness of the sound, which I think would be the first thing noticed by anyone, I also picked up on SACD’s superior imaging. Two musicians are playing percussion instruments at the rear of the soundstage during the song’s beginning. Through the SACD these sounds are significantly more focused than when listening to the same song on CD. In both formats, I knew these instruments were towards the back, but with SACD I heard where in the back. Indeed, SACD improved many specific areas of this track. The bass drum on the SACD was tighter, the venue’s room acoustics were more audible, and the loud passages weren’t as congested. These findings applied to the other SACD material that I sampled, which included all of the two discs that I mentioned.

On this same number, which happens to be from The Lion King, I was very impressed with how much the listening experience reminded me of being in a theater, in front of a band on a stage. The sound of the drums, resounding loudly, clearly, and in focus at the rear left corner of the stage, exemplified the fidelity that was pulling this illusion off. Because of the drums’ location at the rear left, I learned a lot about the spread of the musicians and the walls around them. That this information is even present—it may not have to be accurate–goes a long way towards making the overall sound more lifelike.

A consequence of this novel realism is that I now wanted more of it. I thought, “Gee, I’m hearing types of information I’m not used to hearing from reproduced music. Cool. But you know what? These dynamics aren’t yet realistic. Let me get more juice.” I switched from the 250 watt Bryston to the 350 watt McIntosh. That helped with dynamics and congestion at loud levels—though the system still could not approach realistic dynamics—but I lost resolution. Oh well. The thing is, SACD gave me a glimpse of something I hadn’t seen before, and in my excitement I wanted more. I wanted to hear, and still do, the illusion SACD can create given the right hardware. I’m sure others will feel the same. And that’s good news, as SACD, as well as DVD audio, may then lead to advancements in hardware.[5]

Summary

Yes and Yes. That’s my reaction to DVDA and SACD. I’ll take either one. These are high resolution consumer audio formats without the problems of past ones, and with the digital conveniences. And while the Technics player is hardly the first impression a new format should have to suffer, that format’s benefits shone through anyway. On the other hand, the Sony 777 does SACD and CD proud. What a piece of machinery. I could see people buying it for the far out door alone. Even if you never buy one super audio CD, check the 777 out anyway for regular old CD.

[1] It’s only fair to point out that the time between listening to one CD player and then the other was longer than usual due to the Sony’s very slow start up time. Some might feel that this compromises my analysis. But, others present heard the same as I did.

[2] Here is some food for thought when evaluating the merits of the traditional audiophile approach to reviewing. What many would consider the more valid approach to comparing these two machines, instantaneously switching between the two of them, revealed one

difference. However, it was the process of careful evaluation of one piece at a time that revealed how this one difference impacted my overall perception of the sound.

[3] A musician I know, who also worked for Sony, was present for this review. She heard a brightness to the Sony, but wasn’t at all surprised as she considers this a characteristic of their CD players.

[4] During this review, two friends of mine with studio experience likened the sound of both SACD and DVDA to what they’ve heard while listening to studio tapes.

[5] CD upsampling may get a boost, too. I noticed in Jonathan Scull’s review of the Sony SCD-1 (Stereophile 11/99) that he preferred, just a little, the sound of his upsampled CDs to that of SACD. Certainly, if affordable upsampling were available—Scull uses the dCS 972 digital to digital converter/Elgar digital to analog combination, costing almost $20,000–this would be an attractive alternative to a new format. Indeed, I’ve heard Meridian’s model 518 digital processor improve the sound of standard CD by changing the word length. (This device has been out a few years already.) I also noticed that Meridian’s new surround processor will include upsampling. Maybe SACD and DVD audio, rather than succeed in their own right, will simply serve to advance enhanced playback of the existing CD format.

DENNIS’ REVIEW SYSTEM:

Sony SCD-777ES SACD player/Technics DVD-A10 DVDA player/Meridian 508.24 >> Tara Reference Generation II interconnect >> McIntosh C42 preamplifier >> Tara Reference Generation II interconnect >> Bryston 4B amplifier or McIntosh MC352 amplifier >> Tara Reference Generation II speaker cable >> Sonus Faber Electa Amator II loudspeakers w/dedicated stands, with and without a Sunfire MKII subwoofer. All of the above electronics sat on a BDI equipment rack, except for the McIntosh amplifier which sat on a Salamander amplifier stand.

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The format transition described here is a period counterpart to our current explanations of PCM audio and PCM versus bitstream, and it can be read alongside the earlier Sony DVP-S7000 review.