When it comes to audiophiles and music lover, they have new technologies to embrace and enjoy their favorite tunes to. SACD or Super Audio Compact Discs offer an advantage to the traditional CD formats we are all accustomed to. SACD have more storage capacity and higher fidelity sound.

The major difference between CD and SACD is the way the data is saved and coded. It captures the analog signal and saves it as digital.

The CD data is read by the CD player and its signal is interpolated. This approximate value is converted and this soundwave is fed to the pulse code modulation process which is hear as music by the amplifier.

Unlike the approximations done with normal CDs, DVD-Audio has a higher fidelity of sampling speeds. CD offer at 44.1kHz and 16 bit. Meanwhile, DVD-Audio has settings at 96 kHz, 24 bit and both six and two channels.

DVD-Audio offer other advantages over CD because of the storage capacity. Unlike normal CDs, DVD-audio can include other cool stuff like, photos, video clips, artist bios and musical lyrics to accompany the higher quality music.

As for SACD, it offers a new technology called Direct Stream Digital or DSD. Marketed by both Philips and Sony, its know to be the “PCM” killer. DSD enhances the music even greater than DVD-audio by having the music data follow closely to the original waveform and not approximated.

In using DSD process instead of PCM encoding, Super Audio Compact Disc recordings do not need to address the primary sound waves to the interpolation and decimation stages connected with PCM. Direct Stream Digital records music at higher sampling frequencies such as 2.8224 MHz, converting it to one-bit data.

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.

When comparing the sound quality of the music, SACD is warmer and smoother because the DSD capture more musical data than the Pulse Code Modulation (PCM). The sound is fresher and reproduces a better amibience.

Moreover, such unprecedented sonic realism is enhanced further by multichannel SACD’s. Some of these are taped in two channel stereos, but lots have taken advantage of its ability to stow music up to six discrete channels. Above all, multichannel SACD is highly designed for ultra compatibility with home theater system comprised of the average 5.1 channel.

Although much better in sound quality and reproduction, the cost of new audio equipment may be slightly out of some people’s budget. The great thing about SACD and DVD-Audio players is that they also can play CD and DVD-Video formats. No need to double up in equipment.

Overall, if you truly love the sonic fidelity of more data and smoother tone, why not consider adding a SACD player to you system. In addition, it makes an awesome addition to your home theater system.