Amazing sound and build quality.

none

I bought this unit new and have been using it for almost a week now and everything positive I've read about the SCD-1, here and elsewhere, is true. It's as good as everyone below says it is! I know it's hard to believe but it actually looks better in real life than the pictures. In a word, Sonic Ecstasy! Thanks Sony!!!

See below

See below

To Robert, the reviewer below...

It's a good point you make about the 'separation' factor with the SACD format, a point that is often missed or glossed over by audiophiles.

'Separation' and 'imaging' go hand in hand and to my mind are the greatest contributors to providing a realistic musical experience from audio equipment in the home.

Average systems tend to throw the music at you in a wall of sound, whereas a good system delivers the music like 'fireworks'...each instrument and vocal is presented in front of you in clear and distinct bursts within a black background.

I do not have the good fortune of having a SACD player in my home like you, but I have experienced the 'separation' factor through my Quad ESL57 speakers (see my review on this site). Like you with SCD-1, the day I heard the ESL's I knew what real music reproduction was all about. The Quads
separate out all of the instruments, vocals and studio noises by virtue of their precise imaging and even handed/accurate treatment of the entire audio spectrum.

Other speakers may do it louder than the Quads but they don't do it better ! This is due to the fact that electrostatics have the best transient response, some other speakers using Seas magnesium drivers (eg Jamo Concert 8), the Yamaha NS1000 with beryllium domes, or Accuton ceramic drivers get close but are still not as natural as an ESL.

In my experience, this 'separation' factor(to a lesser degree) also exists in good valve amplifiers, transformer-coupled valve preamps, analogue/vinyl/reel-to-reel, and Nordost Flatline spkr cable.

All I need to hear now is SACD through mint ESL's and I know I'll die happy !

Similar Products Used:

See below

Solid build, world class performance, gorgeous design

None

In a word WOW! You may have guessed that I am happy with my latest toy. I expected DSD recordings to be superb, but based on what I have heard from dealers, I thought the CD playback of the unit would be in the company of say an Arcam 9 (not that that is a slouch of a player mind you, but it is not at say the level of a Wadia 860 (the Arcam that is)). I was very shocked to find out just how good this unit can make a Red Book CD sound. It is on par with all of the high end systems I have ever listened to. To test the unit further I placed a Metronome C1A tube/SS (switchable) DA (about $4000.000) in the chain. I then turned on the digital output of the system (it puts out the analog signal simultaneously with the digital, thus all I had to do was change the input selector on my Moon P5 preamp to sample each dac (internal and Metronome)). The result, I couldn't believe my ears. Now I understand Michael Fremer in Stereophile Vol 22 No 11 November 1999 when he stated, "The tonal balance of the player equals that of the $8000.00 Bow-Tech ZZ-8, with deep, satisfying bass, rich mids, and delicate detailed highs. This unit is good enough as a CD player that if SACD fails.., so what, you still have a world class player.

The comparison of the two was done with the Metronome in Tube mode with NOS Brimar EC88 tubes ("they are so choice", to quote Ferris Bueller). The comparison was so close that I found myself forgetting which unit was actually coming throught the preamp. I found that anytime the Metronome seemed to sound a bit better, I could select a different filter and once again equal or exceed the sound coming out of the Metronome. I am by no means a rich man, but at 5k, I think the unit is a bargain, especailly when you have transports that can cost twice as much and more than 5k. I think if the name of the unit was Spectral or ML (not to pick on these manufacturers, but their gear is in the pricier regions of this industry) the same people who claim it is so expensive would be referring to the unit as a virtual give away.
The unit excels at playing fast paceed,large complex pieces with a festidious retention of microdetails. I admit I was a little upset about it being a Sony at first (OK, I am sorry for being a bigot) but i have now changed my views and believe in equal opportunity for all. The unit in a word is "SUPERB", oh, I wont be keeping the Metronome dac.
Regards,

Mike

Similar Products Used:

Krell KPS 25s, Esoteric P2S/Meitner SuperBidat, ARC CD1, rega Planet,Wadia 7, MarkLev--..etc, etc...

Dynamic, Detailed, Smooth

No Dig. out SACD

The Sony has taken over from my previous CD player as the main source.

In a nutshell the reproduction is very Smooth, with excellent Sounstaging, and providing unforced musical information.
I'm quite happy to listen through whole albums, when beforehand I was eager to skip from album to album. I am appreciating more, well recorded CDs, of even unfamiliar musical genres. I compared SACDs and CDs and the former are superior to the latter.

All in all it is a fantastic unit.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Synthesis DAX+Meridian 200+Meridian 518

open, clear, dynamic, rich-true tonalilty,

probably other equipment that is speakers, amplifiers, the better they are the better the sound. Large speakers are magnificnet with this machine.

I posted a review the day after I bought it. Now almost three weeks later I can say that my view has not changed, but strengthened. I now have 8 u;ltra audio CDs from Sony, several of which I own in the regular format. The regulrs sound wonderful on the regular CD section. Aufiophile friends agree that there is nothing out there to beat it on the normal high end Cd playing field. The super discs add a warmth and strength, power and depth that are more astonishing that any lp anyone owns. One cannot play an lp of the Mahler 1st on an lp at the same volume level I can with the CD without distortion--maybe a $50,000 turntable will do it, but the record wil start wearing out fast. The new format produces sound that must be as close to the master tape as is possible to get without being the master tape itself. The sound is frightenly real, a level of truth no machine has ever produced in a domestic setting. Perhaps I should add that a weakness may the room in which anyone plays these discs. But that can be overcome and should for the shear beauty of sound and visceral impact that can now be heard. And the price, when you get down to it is nothing next to Mark Levinson, Krell, Wadia etc.....equipment. Their
regular Cd players cannot top the regular CD side of the Sony SCD-1.

I was concerned about the unit as a CD player since 95+% of the time I won't be playing SACD's but rather my regular CD library and CD-R's I've copied from the library. Also, I want the SACD experience. This unit will play CD-R's with no problem all day long and I defy you to tell the difference from the originals!

The improvement from my previous mid-fi player is significant. I've not heard anything better from Wadia, Theil... that would make me want to buy an expensive dinosauer. Like e-business, you're either king of the mountain or you're history. You can pay the same or more for over-priced, non=SACD units that do not sound better or offer state-of-the art sound or you can start enjoying awesome SACD sound and a great CD player!

Get the warmth of LP's without the cost, hassle, snap, crackle, pop? SIGN ME UP!

This thing is a tank and the sound of regular CD's is as good as I've heard. Forget about outboard DAC's, you won't need it.

As for the sound, the separation, balance and overall sonic experience no matter what kind of music you prefer is there in spades.

Oh yeah, try not to pay full retail as I see these available on e-bay already! If you have the $$ get the
SCD-1 for around $3,200 used or on e-bay and not the ES-777 at $3,500 retail. Looks and sounds great!

Produces what is Probably Highest quality Audio Currently Available

Software Still Limited (But growing)

This is a reprise to the review I submitted here last January.

Ever since I purchased the Sony SCD-1 SACD player last December I have been continually amazed at the improvement in sonic quality and realism when compared to CDs. The honeymoon continues. But while SACDs, to me, as a group sound far superior to CDs as a group I had not cared to dissect all the characteristics of SACDs which make them sound so good compared to CDs. I have been just enjoying the music.

But interestingly, it has been several *non audiophiles* who
have inadvertently pinpointed for me a major singular
characteristic or attribute of SACDs that sets them apart from CDs; that singular characteristic is "separation".

When I first sat my teen age son down to listen to the SCD-1 (I did not tell him he was listening to a new format until after the listening session) he began almost immediately uttering audiophilnisque phrases such as "air around the instruments" and that the instruments were "separated"
I posted a couple of months ago). I was shocked because he had never spoke in tongue (audiophilise) before (or since). And while he has always appreciated the high quality of my systems over the years the SACD experience, for him, clearly represented a significant improvement in quality.

Well, this past week another non audiophile, Joe Hebert, came by to work on a video project we were working on together, after which I invited him to listen to some music. We listened to primarily SACDs (again, I made no mention of the SACD format since he knows nothing about the format anyway). Though like my son Mr. Hebert is a non audiophile he is at the same time the antithesis of my son. Both are avid music lovers, but neither gives a hoot about the High End. That is where the similarity ends. While my son is a boom box toting Hip Hop addict, Mr.Hebert is an accomplished classical and jazz cellist and band leader in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has played cello for the Oakland Symphony and numerous other music ensembles for years. He has recently released his latest CD, of cello and piano improvisations, which he gave to me but I have yet to listen to. While music is his life, and he is certainly familiar with accurate high quality audio gear, he has never given a priority to a High End audio system, because as he explains he really would not have time to listen it.

While listening to a variety of SACD selection ranging
from blues artist Mighty Sam McClain on Audioquest Music (which is probably the very best SACD or CD I have ever heard), Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock Yo Yo Ma (of course) on Sony/Columbia, Duke Ellington on Mobile Fidelity, Monty Alexander on Telarc and others Mr. Hebert repeatedly spoke how "everything (presumably the musicians and instruments) is separated out" . He also described the incredible width and depth of the sound stage when compared to other systems he had heard, but he also spoke of the height of the sound stage on certain discs. Then, as he was leaving he again expressed amazement about the music "separation".

After Mr. Hebert left I thought about what he, my son, and any number of my audiophile friends had all consistently said about "separation", along with other adjectives such as clarity, air, and what not, but especially "separation" since that is the one word that seem to link both audiophiles and non audiophiles with respect to their description of what they heard. Of course, my audiophile friends make reference to "separation" quite frequently, but audiophiles often bandy around that word and like phrases around with such abandon that is easy to become anesthetized by yheir use. When a non audiophile uses "separation" or other audiophile like words or phrases to described a music recording it catches my attention.

And I now believe that separation is what, in my opinion,
literally separates a well done SACD from a well done CD.
Initially, except for the Telarc sampler SACD, all my SACDs
were single layer. In recent months, I have purchased 7 or 8
dual layer SACDs, including those from Audioquest, Telarc,
Water Lily, Mobile Fidelity, and DMP. These have been a
revelation. All the music is from audiophile labels and all of the recordings SACD and CD are all topnotch. Unlike before, many of the recent releases were recorded with the DSD technology and/or are modern recordings (But at least one of the old analog transfer discs, Ormandy/Philadelphia Orchestra’s 1964 recording of Verdi’s Requiem on Sony is also exceptional. Except for the ultimate authenticity of the bass it sounds vastly superior to my Telarc performance, especially the clarity of the individual soloists. Also, the disc exceeds 83 minutes of music bettering by 3 minutes a CD I have which is 80 minutes long).

But that which sets apart the SACD from the identical
performances (so suggests most of the liner notes) of the CD is, in my opinion, the issue of separation. The SACD has much more of it and it is very evident. So while, for example, a bass whack on a Telarc hybrid disc may, in fact, be the identical whack on both the SACD and the CD, because the SACD has more separation you feel more of the whack and you hear more of the inner detail (nuances) of the whack. Its quite amazing!

What is the cause of this dramatically improved separation?
Is it the state of the art design of the SCD-1, the DSD
technology, quality mastering? Probably all of the above. But clearly the audiophile labels releasing SACDs have richly deserved reputations for superior mastering, but prior to SACDs they have never obtained the excellence they are now achieving.

Along with all SACDs I have purchased the last four months
(more than 20 so far), I have also purchased about 10 CDs. Most have been extremely good (sonics and performance), including CDs of Dvorak’s 8th Symphony with Harnoncourt (Teldec), Tchaikpvsky 6th Symphony with Valery Gergiev (Philips), Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with Jesus Lopez (Telarc) and Bruckner 9th Symphony with Skrowaczewski (Reference Recordings, to name some of them. These are extremely good, and before the advent of SACD I would have labled some of them (especially the Harnoncourt) "stunning". But in comparisons to SACDs, they lack the ultimate in separation, and that, I have learned, is a significant deficiency in the music when compared to a live experience and when compared to an equally well recorded and well mastered SACD.

By the way, the pace of SACD releases seems to have quickened dramatically to the point that I can no longer keep up with them. Below is a list I obtained from
Garth Phillippe, Eclectic Audio. It seems fairly comprehensive, however, I have a couple of SACDs which are not on his list.

The list:

>EUROPE
>A-Records AL 75002 Walkin' on Eggs Nighthawks at the Diner
>Linn AKD131 Next Move Hue & Cry
>Hyperion SACDA67114 French Piano Trios The Florestan Trio
>Disques Lyrinx LYR-2186 Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 3
Pennetier/Monte
>Carlo Philharmonic
>Stille Music 003-2-SACD Hoffmann-Berlin Klaus Hoffmann
>Stille Music 006-2-SACD Mein Weg Klaus Hoffmann
>Sony Classical SS 6012 Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" Columbia
>Symphony Orchestra/ Walter
>Sony Classical SS 6506 Schubert Symph. Nr. 8/Beethoven Symph. Nr. 5
>Columbia Symph Orch./NY Phil./ Walter
>Sony Classical SS 6113 Brahms Symphony Nr. 4 Columbia Symphony
Orchestra/
>Walter
>Sony Classical SS 6494 Mozart Symphonies Nos. 38 & 40 Columbia Symphony
>Orchestra/ Walter
>Sony Classical SS 6393 Dvorak Symphony No. 9 New York Philharmonic/
>Bernstein
>Sony Classical SS 7069 Mahler Symphony N0. 1 "Titan" New York
>Philharmonic/ Bernstein
>Sony Classical SS 37779 Bach Goldberg Variations Glenn Gould
>Sony Classical SS 6622 Bach The two and three part inventions Glenn
Gould
>Sony Classical SS 6141 Bach Concerto in F, Partitas nos. 1-2 Glenn
Gould
>Sony Classical SS 6062 Tchaikovsky/Mendelssohn Concertos Isaac Stern
>Sony Classical SS 42241 Mozart Piano concertos nos. 20 & 27
Perahia/English
>Chamber Orchestra
>Sony Classical SS 7208 Dvorak Slavonic Dances Cleveland Orchestra/Szell
>Sony Classical SS 89062 Stravinsky Le Sacre du Printemps & l'Oiseau de Feu
>Columbia Symphony Orchestra/ Stravinsky
>Sony Classical SS 6371 Chopin/Schumann/Rachmaninoff/Liszt Vladimir
Horowitz
>Sony Classical SS 64114 Solo Yo-Yo Ma
>Columbia/Legacy CS 65142 Sketches of Spain Miles Davis
>Columbia/Legacy CS 64935 Kind of Blue Miles Davis
>Columbia/Legacy CS 65123 Head Hunters Herbie Hancock
>Columbia/Legacy CS 65108 Heavy Weather Weather Report
>Columbia/Legacy CS 65122 Time Out The Dave Brubeck Quartet
>Columbia/Legacy CS 64925 Plays W.C. Handy Louis Armstrong
>Columbia/Legacy CS 65512 Mingus Ah Um Charles Mingus
>Columbia/Legacy CS 64886 Straight, No Chaser Thelonious Monk
>Columbia/Legacy CS 65144 Lady in Satin Billie Holiday
>Columbia CS 69385 52nd Street Billy Joel
>Epic ES 38112 Thriller Michael Jackson
>Columbia CS 37728 Toto IV Toto
>Columbia CS 69670 #1's Mariah Carey
>Columbia Legacy CSS 42864 The Sony Music Super Audio CD Sampler
Various
>U.S.A.
>Waterlily Acoustics WLA-WS-66-SACD Nature's Realm The Philadelphia
Orchestra
>Waterlily Acoustics WLA-CS-70-SACD Fascinoma Jon Hassell
>Audioquest AQ-SACD1052 BluesQuest various
>Audioquest AQ-SACD1053 Soul Survivor Mighty Sam McClain
>Audioquest AQ-SACD1038 Puttin' it Down Terry Evans
>Audioquest AQ-SACD1046 Unmarked Road Doug MacLeod
>Audioquest AQ-SACD1049 For Real Joe Beard
>Telarc CD-80498-SA On Broadway Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
>Telarc CD-83440-SA The 40th Anniversary Tour of the U.K. Dave Brubeck
>Telarc CD-83469-SA Stir it up (the music of Bob Marley) Monty
Alexander
>Telarc CD-80526-SA Tango Werthen/I Fiamminghi
>Telarc CD-83443-SA The Very Tall Band Oscar, Ray & Milt
>Telarc CD-83488-SA McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clark and Al Foster McCoy
>Tyner
>Telarc CD-83491-SA Kisses in the Rain John Pizzarelli
>Telarc SACDP-99-1 SACD Sampler various
>DMP SACD-02 DMP does DSD various
>DMP SACD-03 Tango Stockholm Jazz Orchestra
>DMP SACD-04 Quality of Silence The Steve Davis Project
>DMP SACD-05 Just Jobim Manfredo Fest
>DMP SACD-06 Alto Beck & Ryerson
>DMP SACD-07 Salamander Pie Jay Leonart
>DMP SACD-08 Tricycle Flim & The BB's
>Delos SACD3237 Mahler Symphony No. 2 Dallas Symphony Orchestra
>JAPAN
>Sony Classical SRGR 713 Daishin Debut Daishin Kashimoto/Itamar Golan
>Sony Classical SRGR 712 Stravinky Le Sacre du Printemps Pierre Boulez/The
>Cleveland Orchestra
>Sony Classical SRGR 714 Mozart/Strauss concerts Seiji Ozawa/Mito Chamber
>Orchestra
>Epic ESGA 502 She's So Unusual Cindy Lauper
>Epic ESGB 301 Puffy Fever Fever
>Epic ESGB 501 Jaco Pastorius Jaco Pastorius
>SME Records SRGS 4506 Beautiful Love Keiko Lee
>SME Records SRGS 4514 If it's love Keiko Lee
>SME Records SRGS 4513 Day Dreaming Keiko Lee
>SME Records SRGS 4515 Dig Dug Dog Lee Konitz
>SME Records SRGS 4516 Young at Heart Tony Williams Trio
>SME Records SRGS 4519 Return to Forever Romantic Warrior
>SME Records SRGS 4507 Rencontre Georges Arvanitas
>SME Records SRGS 4520 Solo Monk Thelonious Monk
>SME Records SRGS 4522 An Evening With.. Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea
>SME Records SRGL 601 Such a Lovely Place Noriyuki Makihara
>SME Records SRGS 4512 Friday Night in San Francisco Al DiMeola/John
>McLaughlin/Paco DeLucia
>SME Records SRGS 4511 In a silent way Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4518 Porgy and Bess Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4505 The man with the horn Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4503 My funny valentine (in concert) Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4504 A tribute to Jack Johnson Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4517 Round about midnight Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4521 Nefertiti Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4529 'Four' & More Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4530 You're under arrest Miles Davis
>SME Records SRGS 4527 Everything She Said Toku
>SME Records SRGS 4525 All 'n All Earth Wind & Fire
>SME Records SRGS 4524 Caravanserai Santana
>SME Records SRGS 4528 How's Everything Sadao Watanabe
>SME Records SRGS 4526 Echo Paul Bley
>SME Records SRGS 4531 Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan
>SME Records SRGS 4508 This Window Eugene Pao
>Sony Records SRGR 705 Chopin/Tchaikovsky piano concertos Hiroko
Nakamura
>Sony Records SRGR 726 Beethoven Piano Sonatas Hiroko Nakamura
>Sony Records SRGR 724 The Cadenza 17 Dai Kimura
>Sony Records SRGR 721 Un sospiro Kazune Shimizu
>Sony Records SRGR 722 Fantasie Michie Koyama
>Sony Records SRGR 704 New Band Music Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
>Sony Records SRGR 701 Cher Chopin Yukio Yokoyama
>Sony Records SRGL 602 Sweet & Gentle T-Square
>Sony Records SRGR 709 Prelude to 21st Century Michiko Takahashi
>Sony Records SRGR 715 Verano Porteno Ryota Komatsu
>Sony Records SRGL 605 Nina Nina
>Sony Records SRGR 725 Schubert Winterreise Hans Hotter
>Sony Records SRGR 727 Zigeunerweisen Tatsuya Yabe
>Sony Records SRGL 603 Tsutsumi Kodo
>Sony Records SRGL 604 Warabe Kodo
>

Robert C. Lang

Similar Products Used:

None really

CAPABLE OF REPRODUCING MUSIC (NOT EFFECT) THAT IS VERY
CLOSE TO THE ANALOGUE IN SACD FORMAT!
ESPECIALLY, WHEN THE SOFTWARES ARE RECORDED IN DSD, SUCH
AS YO YO MA'S CELLO SACD!
HIGH BUILD; ELEGANT OUTLOOK;
GREAT REPRODUCING POWER EVEN IN CD FORMAT!

NONE!!

U CAN'T IMAGINE ANY CD PLAYERS CAN HAVE BETTER PERFORMANCES
THAN SCD1 ONCE U CAN HEAR IT.
WHATEVER THE MUSIC U LIKE, SCD1 CAN REALLY REPRODUCE THE
MUSIC THAT U CAN'T HEAR FROM THE COMPONENTS COST BELOW
HK$50,000!
IF U LIKE SONY, AUDIOQUEST.... SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, U SHOULD'NT MISS ANY CHANCES TO HEAR SCD1 AS U WANT TO CHANGE THE SOURCE COMPONENTS!!!

Similar Products Used:

SONIC FRONTIER'S SFCD1 HDCD PLAYER
SONY'S CDPXA7ES CD PLAYER

deep well defined powerful bass, superb analytic sound resolution, stereo imaging, filters, SACD capability, perfect construction,

none

I listened to the SCD-1 through Krell preamp/amp and JBL Ti-250 speakers, Monster cables.
With both formats, CD and SACD, the music reproduction of this player was astonishing, fascinating...I even forgot to have meals (and I am a real lover of italian and hungarian cooking).
It`s difficult to start this review. But maybe the bass reproduction is one of the best I have ever heard. Deep, incredibly deep and well defined it was. A second thing I registered was the fact that I could listen to the music louder than before. Third, the analytical music reproduction from well recorded CDs without any harshness. Forth, these filters you can chose so that nearly any CD play back will come closer to music reproduction.
For SACD play back a new category has to be created: music.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Krell

sound quality
balance XLR analog out

Price $$$
digital out is only toslink or coaxial - no XLR AES/EBU for digital
no SACD digital out (your stuck using the Sony D/A's no chance for Levinson, Theta or others to compete

setup:
sony scd-1
transparent balanced referance interconnects:
Mark levinson Ref pre-amp.
Proceed AMP5
transparent bi-ultra speaker cable
B&W 804 speakers

I just had an audition of the SCD-1 using both the same recording in both normal CD.. and SACD..

thier is absolutely no comparison between CD -vs- SACD.. the SACD I found had alot more body to the music and was more dynamic... I even think they sound better then the 96k audio cd from chesky

one note: you can improve the normal CD quality by using an external D/A converter.. when I ran digital out into my Mark levinson 360S D/A converter the normal CD felt alot more alive then the D/A's in the SCD-1

of all the cd players I've heard the SCD-1 is indeed the best for SACD.. for normal CD the Linn Sondak ($10,000)is very very good (for that price it probably should be) I would love to do a side by side on Linn, levinson & SACD on normal & SACD

Similar Products Used:

Linn Sondek CD
Levinson 360s D/A & 37 Transport