Sony S9000ES manual Listening Experience Beyond All Expectations, Super Audio Compact Disc

Audio

DVD Technical Notes

A Listening Experience Beyond All Expectations

The DVP-S9000ES is more than just a cutting edge Sony DVD-Video player. It’s a Sony high fidelity component of the first order. This is the very first DVD player to be

part of Sony’s acclaimed ES Series, the Elevated Standard in audio/video. It incorporates circuits, topology and features carefully designed to maximize DVD-Video sound tracks, Compact Discs and Super Audio Compact Discs.

Super Audio Compact Disc:

Because there’s So Much More to Hear TM

The Compact Disc was an important accomplishment in music reproduction. But over the years, discerning listeners have demanded even more. That’s why Sony and Philips, the inventors of CD, have created the new Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD). Thanks to a revolutionary technology called Direct Stream Digital(tm) (DSD(r)) encoding, this is the highest quality stereo sound source available today.

•Fidelity. With DSD encoding, SACD can capture more of the original sound source. The SACD format offers frequency response to 100 kHz and a theoretical dynamic range of 120 dB. But specifications alone cannot express the DSD advantage. DSD one-bit encoding strips away entire classes of distortion that have always characterized PCM. The DSD system provides nothing less than a quantum leap in music resolution.

•Simplicity. To audiophiles, purity has always meant simplicity. So with SACD, there’s no option for music to be recorded at anything less than the highest possible resolution. There’s also no option for lossy compression of any kind. And you’ll never experience stereo derived from a computerized fold-down. SACD is about music, pure and simple.

•Capacity. As a stereo music carrier, the Super Audio Compact Disc can hold over six times the data of Compact Disc. Some SACDs have enough room for both a two-channel mix and a multi-channel version of the same music, not to mention text and graphics.

	CD	SACD (single layer)
Disc diameter	12 cm	12 cm
Disc thickness	1.2 mm	1.2 mm
Playback side	Single	Single
Coding System	16-bit linear	1-bit DSD encoding
	PCM encoding
Sampling Frequency	44,100 Hz	2,822,400 Hz
Disc data capacity	680 MB	4.7 GB
Disc minimum pit length	0.83 micrometers	0.40 micrometers
Disc track pitch	1.60 micrometers	0.74 micrometers

Laser wavelength	780nm	650nm
Lens numerical	0.45	0.60
aperture (NA)
Playback frequency	DC — 20,000 Hz	DC — >100,000 Hz
range (theoretical)
Dynamic range	96 dB (audible	More than 120 dB
(theoretical)	range)	(audible range)
Maximum playback	Approx. 74 min.	Approx. 110 min.
time	(stereo)	(stereo)
		Approx. 74 min.
		(multi-channel and
		stereo)
Additional functions	Text, graphics	Text, graphics,
		video

•Security. Pirated copies of discs threaten music companies, producers and musicians alike. In addition, consumers need protection from fraudulent, unauthorized copies. That’s why authorized SACDs are identified by both visible and invisible watermarks. The visible watermark is a faint image on the signal side of the disc, made possible by Pit Signal Processing (PSP) technology. Missing or corrupted watermarks warn consumers of unauthorized discs. Invisible watermarks authenticate the discs prior to playback. If the SACD player cannot read the watermark, the SACD will not play.

•Compatibility. Music enthusiasts have already made a substantial commitment to their CD collections. To protect this investment, every SACD player performs superbly with the more than 13 billion audio Compact Discs currently in existence. And the SACD format also includes a hybrid disc option that will play back beautifully in any home, car and portable CD player made since 1982.

•Three types of discs. With the SACD format, music companies can offer three different types of discs. The single- layer disc can store a full album of high-resolution music. A dual-layer disc provides nearly twice the playing time. There’s even a hybrid disc that contains both a high density music layer and a standard density CD layer for compatibility with over 700 million CD players, worldwide.

•The Music. SACD has triggered an outpouring of music, both reissued and new, from the world’s preeminent artists. Jazz greats like Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Milt Jackson, Wynton Marsalis and Oscar Peterson. Classical virtuosos like Emanuel Ax, Glenn Gould, Yo-Yo Ma and Isaac Stern. With the world’s finest orchestras under the batons of Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Bruno Walter. These performances were singular events. Now captured on SACD, these titles gloriously demonstrate music the way it should be.

Fig. 16: 3 Types of Disc

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