On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 20:06:09 GMT, (Stewart Pinkerton)
wrote:

Unfortunately, it did *not* learn, as 'pure' DSD has a fatal technical
flaw.

I guess that - again - you mean the peculiar overloading behavior of the
modulator when theorically perfect dither is used? This point is very easy
to solve: don't use perfect, but optimal dither. That's what every
hardware/firmware company associated with DSD does...

IMO 1-bit DSD has other significant shorcomings for professionnal
applications - try to design equalizers of filters running on pure DSD
streams w/o LPCM or DSD-Wide parallel index guides, for instance - hence
DSD-Wide.

As a result, all modern SACDs are made either from conventional
'hi-res' PCM masters, or from so-called DSD-Wide, which is merely a
hybrid form of PCM.

That's totally incorrect.

A large number of "purist" recordings are made direct to 1-bit DSD. As they
don't need to be manipulated in the digital domain, DSD's limitations aren't
a problem. Furthermore, most recent DSD recordings are done using DSD-Wide,
not LPCM.

Just have a look at what a typical etailer offers for sale. For instance
Acoustic Sounds lists 112 pure SACD discs, from a number of labels such as
DMP, Telarc, Bis, Sony and others.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/dsd.cfm?section=sacd

It's only when it comes to back catalogue titles, with ageing or long
disappeared analog masters, that LPCM is used.

For instance, the DSD editions of Roxy Music's classic albums are derived
from the sole remaining digital master, in Sony PCM 1630 format if I do
remeber correctly - the original Ampex MT tapes have long been baked,
transferred, and gone to the great bin in the skies.

Getting back to DSD-Wide, it's not "merely a hybrid form of PCM". It's a
fully fledged Delta Sigma system which decimates very gracefully to DSD or
PCM, hence it growing success at recording labels - for instance, *all*
majors use DSD-Wide, except of course Warner Bros companies who are still
trying to push DVD-A.

Hence, SACD is basically just a marketing
exercise, since it is always derived from some form of hi-res PCM, aka
DVD-A.

As demonstrated, this is hogwash. DSD and DVD-A have nothing in common,
except the physical size of their consumer media... Oh, and DVD-A is a
dysmal failure, while DSD is doing quite well as a high end format.