Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD)

The SACD has been developed by the same two companies, which gave us the CD, Sony and Philips. While both these companies are also a part of the DVD Forum, they have gone ahead and brought out a product that directly competes with the DVD-Audio format.

The SACD utilizes a completely different way of encoding music on to a CD. While DVD-Audio discs use PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)/LPCM (Linear PCM) and MLP (Meridian Lossless Packaging) {PPCM- Packed PCM} techniques to contain music on a disc, SACD utilizes a technology called DSD (Direct Stream Digital) and DST (Direct Stream Transfer). Both these technologies are innovative but it is PCM, which represents music more truly than the SACD DSD technology. However, the bandwidth provided by these technologies for playing music is more than enough for pleasing any audiophile.

One of the main drawbacks of the SACD is that the current implementation of the SACD is audio only and does not contain any other information for the tracks that some DVD-Audio discs offer। However, the SACD has an advantage in terms of market acceptance since there is a version of SACD available called the Hybrid Disc.

Comparing the newer formats
		DVD Video		DVD Audio		SACD		DVDPlus\DualDisc
High resolution audio		No		Yes		Yes		Yes
Multi-channel audio		Yes		Yes		Yes		Yes
Audio coding		DD/DTS/PCM		PCM/MLP		DSD & DST		PCM/MLP
Max bit rate		6.144		9.6		—		9.6
(Mb/s)
Video and still images		Yes		Yes		No		Yes
Menus & Navigation		Yes		Yes		No		Yes
Copy protection		Weak		Strong		Stronger		Strong
Plays on DVD-V player		Yes		Yes		No		Yes
Plays on DVD-A player		Yes		Yes		No		Yes
Plays on CD player		No		No		Yes (Hybrid)		Yes

which has been available for a long time even before DVDPlus discs were introduced. Similar to the DualDisc, the Hybrid disc contains one high-density SACD layer that is only visible to SACD players while the CD layer is visible to the regular CD players. So you get the best of both worlds. So how do these formats compare with each other? Let this table give you a heads-up on that.

With these newer formats, digital audio has been completely transformed. Technologies such as MLP and DSD have packed more information on one single disc without losing information that the quintessential audiophile will miss. Welcome to the new wave of audio!

Companions on the move

The Walkman or for that matter the Discman remains the mode of portable music for people on the move. However, with the advent of digital music and the iPod (of course!) the Digital Audio Player is now on the warpath to become the new portable audio solution for people on the move.

Digital Audio Players or MP3 players as they are known commonly debuted in September 1998 with the release of the Rio 300 portable MP3 player from Diamond Multimedia. Nevertheless, with that came a lawsuit from the RIAA that prevented Diamond from selling its players to prevent piracy. Diamond counter-sued and after a bitter legal battle, Diamond Multimedia finally won the lawsuit. By the summer of 1999, the Rio 300, along with the Creative Nomad and other portable players, became the new, must-have gadgets around the world.

The first players were only able to playback MP3 files and were not free of the occasional hiccups that made the pleasure of listening to music on the go, a sudden death wish. The players would hang playing music or playing back VBR encoded MP3 files that was a more common malady. Nevertheless, as with every new technology, each new generation brings in improvements and newer additions. Today, a MP3 player or Digital Audio Player (to be more politically correct) can playback MP3/WMA/OGG/ASF/AAC and other file formats. Even the most basic Digital Portable Audio Players available today can playback MP3 and WMA encoded files while the other file types are optional.

Talking about Digital Portable Audio Players, how can we miss the Apple iPod? One look at an iPod and anyone will be hooked on to it. The Apple iPod is more than responsible for making Digital Portable Audio Players a rage amongst the masses.

Newer players that do not sport the iPod tag are also available and their features sometimes far surpass those present on the iPod. However, the iPod still remains an icon when it comes to owning a Digital Portable Audio Player.