The war of the high-resolution audio formats has ended in an unofficial truce, with both sides declaring face-saving victories. Not everyone has won. Consumers who took sides and bought either a DVD-Audio or SACD player lost big time, because they're left unable to access all of the great software available in the other format.
I'm one of the losers. I bought an SACD player for my 2-channel system, but the time I've spent with Linn's Unidisk 1.1 player in my home theater...
http://ultimateavmag.com/dvdplayers/304linn/
Linn Unidisk - Worlds first proprietary multi disc player
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Tombanjo
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Why is this year old review popping up now? Mike Fremer has been humping Linn products forever. Like the Linn Sondek $20,000 CD player or their absurdly expensive turntables? So what if little Scottish elves hand soder each circut? Who's going to lay out $11,000 for a uni player? Forgive me if I get pissed off, but this review touched a nerve the first time I read it last year, and the following paragraph is why:
"All of the SACD and DVD-A discs I surveyed in my "Multichannel Sound-Go-Round!" survey (November 2003) were auditioned with the Unidisk 1.1. SACDs were also referenced on Sony's excellent-sounding SCD-XA777ES. Good as the XA777ES is, the Unidisk's sonic performance was on another level entirely. It made the XA777ES sound rhythmically sluggish, lacking in resolution of inner detail, somewhat reticent, and yet hard on top and thick on bottom.
Yeah Mikey, but the Sony is still "excellent sounding" despite those damning comments, eh? Gimme a break! See, I bought the XA777ES partaily off great reviews, such as the one Fremer gave the year before. He was slobbering all over it then, but now it's garbage? What crap!
"All of the SACD and DVD-A discs I surveyed in my "Multichannel Sound-Go-Round!" survey (November 2003) were auditioned with the Unidisk 1.1. SACDs were also referenced on Sony's excellent-sounding SCD-XA777ES. Good as the XA777ES is, the Unidisk's sonic performance was on another level entirely. It made the XA777ES sound rhythmically sluggish, lacking in resolution of inner detail, somewhat reticent, and yet hard on top and thick on bottom.
Yeah Mikey, but the Sony is still "excellent sounding" despite those damning comments, eh? Gimme a break! See, I bought the XA777ES partaily off great reviews, such as the one Fremer gave the year before. He was slobbering all over it then, but now it's garbage? What crap!
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Richard
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I guess because I am behind the times and catching up...Why is this year old review popping up now?
What blew me away were the proprietary DSD and PCM decoders which is something I have been looking for from any company selling multi-format players. I was seriously considering the Pioneer from 2-3 years ago yet it was delayed multiple times and by the time it showed up at a store so I could listen to it I found out it converted the DSD bit stream to PCM. How naughty.
None the less is anybody else providing a similar product? At about half that price...
Yeah Mikey, but the Sony is still "excellent sounding" despite those damning comments, eh?
I have the two channel SCD777ES and based on my testing it has a neutral sonic signature which is not for everybody and I can see folks using various flavors of audiophile cables looking for a warmer signature. Folks like Mikey are very much into synergy and in the end that means what Mikey likes is what gets promoted. The key is to know your reviewer and their preferences. Between that and a decent bench test we can figure out for ourselves where a product stands.
Both versions of that Sony provided immaculate test results! I know of no reviewer that was not pleased with them. Many put those Sony chassis at the top of the audiophile pile. At $2500 mine was a great bargain!