Spectral SDR 4000 SL
- Thread starter nirodha
- Start date
Doesn't look like it - the Doc listened to it a month or so ago at Music Lover's. Could be an American-style "world" like the "World Series" of baseball with domestic teams 
Edit: there are ads by music lovers already in the major magazines
Edit: there are ads by music lovers already in the major magazines
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I remember to have read, somewhere, that in Spectral they decided to release the 4000Pro without digital input in order to introduce some complication that would have resulted in an increase of jitter (I'm not competent to know whether this statement is correct or not). Anyway I agree with Ack: if I could afford it, I wouldn't buy it as it cuts out all hi-rez music (plus redbook files stored in a computer!). Too bad, as the audition of the 4000Pro in an all Spectral system has been one of my best listening sessions ever.
Ack, is the SDR-5000 about to come for real? It has been rumored for a looooong time (together with a 2-chassis full function preamp)...
Ack, is the SDR-5000 about to come for real? It has been rumored for a looooong time (together with a 2-chassis full function preamp)...
I have no idea, though I was told it's still an active project, but that doesn't mean anything. My *hunch* is that it will come out some day.
Yes I would concur with Ack and state the SDR-4000SL CD Processor is a dead end product, but the real question that someone in attendance must ask is whether this is the last CD player Spectral will ever produce? followed up with the next breath, when can we expect the company's DAC that will out perform the Alpha DAC from Berkeley Audio Designs. Because Keith Johnson will be present, Richard Fryer Spectral CEO is very likely to be on hand to field such a question/s. If I could be there I would be the one asking the questions and reporting back, unfortunately I will not be attending this event.
The hard reality is CD disc players are far from a dead end product. Much like Vinyl, there are Billions of CDs in the world today and like Vinyl, many of those recordings are not going to be re-issued into a different media.
The common answer to this fact, simply rip the CD's into a music server and there is your complete music library at the touch of your iPad. In reality, it is far from being that simply.
What the Audiophile market simply does not understand is delivering the very best possible playback from historically significant recordings is important if you interest is in the music and not a visceral sonic experience or indulge in the latest digital playback fashion.
What I will say, the SDR4000SL has playback quality very similar to Hi res files. We know this from real world experience. What is wrong with a 44.1Khz CD player that has the ability to play back recordings with such sound quality?
Today, there are a large number of high quality Phonograph/Vinyl playback systems, why has the market decided Vinyl is worth the investment?
As long as CD's exist in the world of music, there will be a need for a high quality CD player that can extract the last bit of accurate information from these recordings.
The belief that high resolution files alone will cure all sonic ills is a fantasy driven by marketing. High quality sound reproduction is not that simple. As much as Audiophile's don't like the idea, high quality sound reproduction requires a complete system approach.
For those who enjoy mixing and matching their music system components, what is your point of reference/ How do you know for fact the resultant sound from your musical system is the actual sound that happened during any specific recording?
And no, there is no digital input on the SDR4000SL for a host of reasons. To accommodate this feature would completely alter the system configuration and compromise the system clock accuracy and noise in the overall system.
The SDR4000SL was not designed with features driven by marketing impulses, it is deigned to deliver the highest accuracy in playback of 44.1Khz CD's with good user ergonomics and nothing more.
Bernice
The common answer to this fact, simply rip the CD's into a music server and there is your complete music library at the touch of your iPad. In reality, it is far from being that simply.
What the Audiophile market simply does not understand is delivering the very best possible playback from historically significant recordings is important if you interest is in the music and not a visceral sonic experience or indulge in the latest digital playback fashion.
What I will say, the SDR4000SL has playback quality very similar to Hi res files. We know this from real world experience. What is wrong with a 44.1Khz CD player that has the ability to play back recordings with such sound quality?
Today, there are a large number of high quality Phonograph/Vinyl playback systems, why has the market decided Vinyl is worth the investment?
As long as CD's exist in the world of music, there will be a need for a high quality CD player that can extract the last bit of accurate information from these recordings.
The belief that high resolution files alone will cure all sonic ills is a fantasy driven by marketing. High quality sound reproduction is not that simple. As much as Audiophile's don't like the idea, high quality sound reproduction requires a complete system approach.
For those who enjoy mixing and matching their music system components, what is your point of reference/ How do you know for fact the resultant sound from your musical system is the actual sound that happened during any specific recording?
And no, there is no digital input on the SDR4000SL for a host of reasons. To accommodate this feature would completely alter the system configuration and compromise the system clock accuracy and noise in the overall system.
The SDR4000SL was not designed with features driven by marketing impulses, it is deigned to deliver the highest accuracy in playback of 44.1Khz CD's with good user ergonomics and nothing more.
Bernice
Hello Bernice,
Thank you for an eloquently put answer. I agree that it is worthwhile to have a top flight CD player for the vast number of recordings extant. I find that the poor handling of meta-data labeling, especially for classical music or non-English language titles, actually made me reconsider the music server path, after dabbling with iTunes and the Olive system and after auditioning Sooloos and QSonix. There is something nice about having a physical library of discs, finding an album and playing it back. In fact, after my server experience, I found myself purchasing a lot more music on CD.
Finally, if you could answer, it would be greatly appreciated - will Spectral offer an upgrade path from the 4000S Pro player?
William
Thank you for an eloquently put answer. I agree that it is worthwhile to have a top flight CD player for the vast number of recordings extant. I find that the poor handling of meta-data labeling, especially for classical music or non-English language titles, actually made me reconsider the music server path, after dabbling with iTunes and the Olive system and after auditioning Sooloos and QSonix. There is something nice about having a physical library of discs, finding an album and playing it back. In fact, after my server experience, I found myself purchasing a lot more music on CD.
Finally, if you could answer, it would be greatly appreciated - will Spectral offer an upgrade path from the 4000S Pro player?
William
If I understand this video/Spectral presentation correctly, it is claimed that the player has 130dB resolution, much better than a master tape, and I think I also heard not as good as the LP
Bernice, what is the relationship between signal to noise and dac step resolution? I ask because they are both measured in -dB.
Some part of the player may have this resolution but what counts is the final, effective signal to noise figure of the whole component. 130 is worthless except in a digital sound editing suite. A very well done 70dB, say, is all you need for top notch audiophile sound in a medium.
Frank
Nice write up of the music lovers demo.
http://www.stereophile.com/content/spectral-unveils-sdr-4000sl-master-cd-processor
http://www.stereophile.com/content/spectral-unveils-sdr-4000sl-master-cd-processor
Nice indeed. I am such a fan of HDCD and this was a welcome and agreeable report for me. And interesting comparison to the Pacific Microsonics Model 2, considering that the M2 uses the now-old PMD-200 chip.
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