SACD Recordings

Super Audio CD (SACD) is a high-resolution, read-only optical audio disc format developed by Sony and Philips Electronics, the same companies that created the Compact Disc.

SACD is a disc of identical physical dimensions to a standard compact disc; the density of the disc is the same as a DVD and it encodes audio using a process known as Direct Stream Digital. The SACD sampling rate is 2822.4 kHz and the resolution is one bit. A stereo SACD recording can stream data at an uncompressed rate of 5.6 Mbps; four times higher than the rate for Red Book CD stereo audio. SACD recordings can have a higher frequency response and dynamic range than conventional CDs.

Hybrid Super Audio CDs (which include both a Stereo CD and a Super Audio CD layer) can be played back on CD players. To hear the Super Audio CD Stereo, and on many discs the Super Audio CD Multichannel layer, requires a Super Audio CD player.

SACD audio is stored in a format called Direct Stream Digital (DSD), which differs from the conventional Pulse-code modulation (PCM) used by the compact disc or conventional computer audio systems.

DSD is 1-bit, has a sampling rate of 2.8224MHz, and makes use of noise shaping quantization techniques in order to push 1-bit quantization noise up to inaudible ultrasonic frequencies. This gives the format a greater dynamic range and wider frequency response than the CD. The SACD format is capable of delivering a dynamic range of 120dB from 20Hz to 20kHz and an extended frequency response up to 100kHz, although most currently available players list an upper limit of 70—90kHz, and practical limits reduce this to 50kHz.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5/Schulhoff: Five Pieces

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces

The Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6; Stucky: Silent Spring

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6; Stucky: Silent Spring

Brahms: Symphony No. 4; MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra

Brahms: Symphony No. 4; MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3; Piano Concerto

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff: Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky - Lieutenant Kijé Suite

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky – Lieutenant Kijé Suite

Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool

Holst: The Planets

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

Hermitage Piano Trio: Rachmaninoff SACD Album Artwork

Hermitage Piano Trio: Rachmaninoff

Jan Kraybill: The Orchestral Organ

The Orchestral Organ

Beethoven: Symphony No 3 “Eroica” & Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1

Beethoven: Symphony No 3 “Eroica”; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1

John Williams at the Movies

John Williams At The Movies

Teach Me Thy Statutes

Teach Me Thy Statutes

Utah Symphony - Mahler: Symphony No. 8

Mahler: Symphony No. 8

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 - Barber: Adagio for Strings

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for Strings

Adam Schoenberg: American Symphony • Finding Rothko • Picture Studies

Adam Schoenberg: American Symphony • Finding Rothko • Picture Studies

Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss: Elektra/Rosenkavalier

Strauss: Elektra/Der Rosenkavalier

Carlisle Floyd: Wuthering Heights

Carlisle Floyd: Wuthering Heights (An Opera In Three Acts)

Pittsburgh Symphony: Tchaikovsky/Dvořák

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 & Dvořák: Rusalka Fantasy

Dawn To Dust

Dawn To Dust

Pittsburgh Symphony: Beethoven - Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 "Titan" | Utah Symphony Orchestra

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 “Titan”

Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 "Organ" | Kansas City Symphony

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ”

Dvorak: Sym. No. 8/ Janacek: Jenufa | Pittsburgh Symphony

Dvořák/Janáček

Miraculous Metamorphoses | Kansas City Symphony

Miraculous Metamorphoses

Bruckner 4 | Pittsburgh Symphony

Bruckner 4

Strauss: Tone Poems SACD | Pittsburgh Symphony

Strauss: Tone Poems

Elgar: Enigma Variations/Vaughan Williams: The Wasps

Elgar: Enigma Variations/Vaughan Williams: The Wasps, Greensleeves

Tutti! Orchestral Sampler | Various

Tutti! Orchestral Sampler

Exotic Dances from the Opera | Minnesota Orchestra

Exotic Dances from the Opera