About SACD
What exactly is a Super Audio CD? How is it different from a regular CD?Super Audio CD format enables a differentiated sound palette and a previously-unattainable musical intensity, similar to what one misses when a regular CD is compared to an LP. With the SACD format, it is finally possible to unite the natural, "alive" feeling of analogue LP recordings with the latest in modern technology, thus allowing even the slightest nuances to be reproduced on SACD in a manner faithful to the source recording. Moreover, "multichannel" SACDs may be played back in "surround sound" versions, enabling an experience similar to the theatre: five speakers, distributed around the room, are needed for full effect.
Is it possible to play SACDs on regular CD players?
Yes, if the SACD is a "Hybrid" SACD, as all Cybele productions are. In "Hybrid" SACDs, there is both a CD layer and an SACD layer, which are stuck together (bondering).
Is the difference between a CD and an SACD noticeable?
Yes, nearly as much as between mono and stereo. Due to its "surround sound" capability, an SACD possesses another dimension of sound than a regular CD. In addition, the considerable expenditure producing a "Hybrid" SACD means that the CD layer itself has a better sound quality.
What is required for me to hear all of the advantages of SACD technology?
In order to enjoy SACDs in "surround sound" quality, you must have an SACD player and a "surround sound" setup. To learn more about minimal requirements for full enjoyment of SACD technology, please klick here.
What will I notice when listening in "surround sound"?
When compared to the sound of a regular stereo CD, "surround sound" is fuller, clearer, richer, and more responsive to high and low ranges. Listeners will nearly have the impression of being in a concert hall, experiencing the music live.
All new Cybele recordings will be released as "Hybrid" SACDs, currently the best sound carrier available.
The Super Audio CD format, through the new DSD A/D-converters, enables a previously-unattained sonic color palette and an intensity, which one misses on a CD - in comparison to an LP. With the SACD format it is finally possible to combine the naturalness and sonic intensity of analog LP recordings with the advantages of state-of-the-art technology. Even the most delicate, soft nuances are reproduced in a manner faithful to the original, but the SACD format, through its use of the latest DSD technology, is nearly completely noise-free.
Surround sound, with its overwhelming sound quality and realistic, immediate, spatial, and extremely detailed features, gives the listener the impression that he or she is listening to a live performance. The advantages of the Super Audio CD have changed our listening habits considerably. Moreover, the possibilities of the SACD have inspired composers and spoken word- and sound engineers to conceive of their works in spatial terms from now on. Thanks to the SACD, the reproduction of a multifaceted sonic Gesamtkunstwerk is no longer an illusion.
« This is the original sound which will be reproduced
« This is how a normal CD distorts the original
« This is how close to the original the DSD/Super Audio CD reproduction is