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FARAO Classics 唱片公司关于SACD与DVD-A

SACD | DVD-Audio  
FARAO Classics issues recordings on SACD (Super Audio CD) and DVD-Audio

High resolution and multi-channel

Basically, both of these new media have two advantages over CDs. When CDs were first brought out, the sound quality was simply revolutionary. In the mean time, digital technology has undergone enormous developments, and the possibilities for audio have grown correspondingly – with SACD and DVD-Audio technical quality has become reality in sound.
The second significant development has been that in addition to the usual two-channel stereo sound, these new media offer us the option of playing a further track in multi-channel or surround-sound technology. In order to do this, more than two loudspeakers are necessary (usually five or six) together with their own amplifiers; just like in the cinema or home theatre. This enables the listener to enjoy a new experience in listening: a real feeling for the space in which the music is playing.
SACDs and DVD-Audios produced here at FARAO Classics have both these advantages. Excellent stereo sound and excellent surround-sound!



Surround-sound. A science unto itself.

Many SACD and DVD producers re-issue recordings that were originally conceived simply for stereo, as artificial multi-channel remixes, even though the necessary recorded sound is not existent. We find this tactic to be quite amiss.
At FARAO Classics all recordings issued in surround-sound are produced and conceived using precisely this technology – in recording, editing and the mixing process. This all begins right with the choice of the room in which the recording is made, the positioning of the microphones and even the where the musicians are placed. In all this, arduously worked out concepts make sure that people listening to our SACDs or DVD-Audios have the best possible feeling of space and real listening experience without losing track of where the individual musicians and singers are positioned. The listener has no sense of being actually inside the orchestra or between various musical goings on, but has his own permanent place in the audience, from which he experiences the music, but far more realistically than was ever possible before from the medium of recorded sound!

This means that the recording and editing team take on new roles and greater responsibilities than was the case with stereo recording. Working with multi-channel audio-technology opens up enormous possibilities, - and enormous possibilities for errors, too…



I want to hear surround-sound at its best, how should I arrange my loudspeakers in my living room?

For best results when playing 5.0 or 5.1 Surround-recordings you will need five loudspeakers plus an optional subwoofer (a deep bass loudspeaker). All five loudspeakers should be on the same frequency and have the same power of amplification. For 5.1 surround sound, the loudspeakers should, according to the so-called ITU norm, be positioned in the following manner (as seen from the best listening position):

All five loudspeakers should be equidistant from the listener, that is to say they should be positioned along the line of an imaginary circle around the listener:
Central loudspeaker; 0 degrees
Front right and front left: each at 30 degrees
Back right and back left: each at 110 degrees
Subwoofer anywhere



The advantages and disadvantages of the SACD at a glance:

FARAO Classics produces recordings in SACD-Hybrid format.
This means that the disc is made up of two layers: the first layer is recognised by the CD player as a normal standard CD, and played as such. The second layer is recognised only by SACD compatible players. So the SACD-Hybrid can be played on all CD players (but “only” in CD quality, of course.)
On SACD compatible players the music can be played in excellent quality in both stereo and in multi-channel (5.0 surround).
Easy to use (just like a CD)
Since SACDs are compatible with CDs, it still makes sense to buy them, even if you’re not planning to buy an SACD player just yet.
You can take SACD discs around with you, eg in your car.
The disadvantages of the SACD:

You can only experience the full scope of SACDs using the corresponding equipment. (These are not yet in widespread use.)
The playing time of an SACD-hybrid is limited to that of conventional CDs (ca. 80 mins.)

The advantages and disadvantages of DVD-Audio at a glance.

high definition state of the art sound on DVD-Audio players in surround (multi channel sound) and in stereo (up to digital format 24bit/192 KHz)
excellent surround sound (multi channel sound) in dts or Dolby Digital Technology an ALL DVD players.
excellent 48KHz/24bit sound ( superior to CDs, in sound and technology) in stereo on ALL DVD players.
you can underlay the music with picture material (stills)
easy to use with the menu control.
playing time is variable and can be to up to three hours on DVD-Audio.
All this means:

EVERY owner of a DVD player can enjoy with a DVD-Audio (which can be played on absolutely ANY DVD player) huge improvements in sound and will find greater ease of use than with a normal CD.
The best possible sound may be achieved using a special DVD-Audio player.
The disadvantage of DVD-Audio:

In contrast to the SACD-Hybrid, DVD-Audios cannot be played on CD players.


DVD-Audio - a versatile medium

On a DVD-Audio a producer can place various components side by side:
A video part, which can be played by the end player and which can contain various soundtracks (eg surround, stereo, a version without the soloist etc., etc.) and a special DVD-Audio component, which can only be played on a DVD-Audio player. This may also contain various soundtracks (eg. stereo, surround 5.1 or the special Dabringhaus and Grimm 2+2+2 surround technique in which the height of the listening space can also be reproduced.) The high resolution quality in 96 KHz or even 192 KHz sampling rate however, can only be obtained on the DVD-Audio part. The blending in of picture or video material, together with easy to use menu operation is optional on both levels.



Why do DVD-Audios usually sound better then SACDs? An excursion only for the really curious!

DVD-Audio is based upon conventional digital PCM-technology which since its introduction in the 1980s has been successfully used in all areas of recorded sound. The main difference from CD quality being the greatly higher resolution. This high resolution is employed to its full extent in the multi channel properties of DVD-Audio.
SACDs on the other hand, are based on a relatively new system, called DSD technology. This technology has been employed for quite some time now, as a part an element of digital signal conveyance called Delta-Sigma converters. The characteristic of this is the ability to store in a single bite (bit / bite ?) information on sound pressure which can determine whether the sound pressure is higher or lower than the previous value. This information is conveyed at extremely short intervals.

In theory DSD technology should produce better sound quality than PCM technology does. But: in test recordings that we carried out, using identical material using two different means of transferral, in the high resolution PCM technology used in DVD-Audio we could not find any discernable difference between the two. With DSD technology however, there is the problem that the machinery necessary for recording and sound engineering (that is multi channel recording with up to 64 tracks, digital mixing desks, and editing computers with the requisite number of tracks) is of very limited availability, if at all.
The same also goes for the creative tools necessary for refined processes, such as filters, dynamic processors, resonance machines and algorithms such as time-stretching or pitch-shifting, etc...

A producer therefore, has the choice for sound engineering, either of going back to the old analogue level or converting the already recorded material to PCM technology (to complete the process in PCM and convert the finished product back into DSD technology) or undertaking the extremely limited process of “pure” DSD engineering using special 1-bit mixing desks, whereby the sound engineer would simply not have the creative tools at his disposal that we consider so necessary.

For this reason most producers take the second option of completing the entire production process in PCM technology and converting the product at the end in DSD technology to issue it as an SACD. In our eyes this is just trickery which does more to the detriment of the sound that it does to improve it.

Apart from the sound quality however, there is one issue which although considerable is quite banal:
With the SACD, whilst only people who own a SACD player will be able to enjoy its advantages over CD versions, with DVD-Audio, EVERYONE who has a DVD player ( that is to say both DVD-Audio and DVD-Video) will benefit from the enhanced options offered; (i.e. higher resolution, but first and foremost of course, the surround sound.) Since DVD players are nowadays very widespread, and SACD players much less so, far more listeners are able to enjoy DVD-Audio.



What sort of equipment do we recommend?

Since it is as yet uncertain which medium (DVD-Audio or SACD) will prevail on the market, we would recommend all our customers to purchase a universal player which can play both SACDs and DVD-Audios. These players can already be bought, from Pioneer for example, for less than 300 Euros. But of course the sound quality, along with the purchase price, knows no limits. This is where, in order to achieve optimum listening enjoyment, it is necessary to have a multi channel amplifier/ receiver, and five passive/active loudspeakers.