Sony SCD-CE775 5-Disc CD Changer

This was the first Super Audio CD player that got the ball rolling. That?s what they?ll say next year or five years from now. This is the first SACD player to hit the shelves that is within reach of most consumers. The next thing to get the SACD ball rolling, Sony's dream machine home theater systems in a box. The DAV-S500 and the DAV-C700 will feature DVD & SACD playback, both will be available in Sept 2001.

In 1999 the first SACD (Sony) player in the world debuted for the low, low price of $5000 dollars I was shocked, excited and caught totally off guard. Me, the technology junkie, the audiophile without the deep pockets was totally surprised. I guess I had not been paying enough attention.

It would appear that only seven or eight other people (including myself) gave a damn. Nobody wanted a replacement for the CD, and with Sony charging five large for the player and only a handful of titles available, I?m not surprised. But that was then, this is now. With the introduction of DVD and affordable surround sound systems, consumers have shown their approval with DVD hardware/software sales that are on fire. It?s the biggest thing since CD player prices got really low in the late 80?s and early 90?s.

With possibly a few million home surround sound systems out there, consumers now have the equipment to take advantage of everything Super Audio CD has to offer. Two years ago, nobody cared about surround sound, but my guess (and Sony?s hope) is that people will want that enveloping sound from their music as well. Of course it?s more than the multi-channel sound, it?s the high resolution sound that is the dog's tuxedo (in my opinion).

Enter the Sony SCD-CE775 Super Audio CD Player


The front panel

This is the first non ES (elevated standard) Sony SACD player. Looking at this player it would appear that Sony simply grabbed the top model in their regular line (CDP-CE545) and added the SACD components into the existing chassis. If the two were put side by side, only tiny differences could be detected immediately. On the front panel, the differences are minor. The direct disc buttons on the SACD player have that famous Sony fake chrome, the regular flavor does not. The front of the drawer and eject button look like the one piece just like the regular CD player. However Sony added a clear acrylic looking plate on both parts to jazz things up a bit. I also get the feeling this part will be the first to show scratches.

There are of course some minor features not found on the regular machine for SACD use. When a SACD is detected, there are two buttons that give off a green glow through plastic that has been given the appearance of frosted glass. One switches SACDs from two channel to six channel (if both are available), the other switches from CD layer to SACD layer in the case of dual layer discs. Also added is a small vertical stripe L.E.D. that only illuminates when multi-channel SACDs are detected. It is a deep royal blue purplish color and it looks odd because it?s a color not common on a mass market component.

On the lower right there is a 1/4? gold plated headphone jack and a volume control. Not wanting to throw any surprises my way, it appears as though Sony uses the same fluorescent display up front, with minor modifications of course. The additions are indicators for CD/SACD and dual layer (also know as hybrid discs) disc detection. There are also 2 ch 5.0/5.1 channel indicators. All the other knobs, buttons and the rest of the display are standard Sony fare.

And at the rear

This is where even the non-technical person can see there?s something brewing. a couple of cons The power cord is non-detachable, and all of the RCA jacks are the standard nickel type rather than gold plated. This is an entry level product so I?m not surprised. There is one digital optical output, one 2 channel RCA (left & right) set and one RCA six channel (5.1) as well. And right off the bat I had all three of these outputs put to good use. I have the analog six channel going directly into my receiver?s corresponding input. The digital output is running into my Philips CDR 870 stand alone CDR/W recorder. The two channel analog is going into my receiver for two reasons. The first being that I can manipulate the sound or run it through the simulated surround modes. This is not possible when going through the six channel input.

For the best quality sound, all of the sound manipulation capabilities, computer chips and other various bells and whistles are totally bypassed when connected through the six channel set. The second reason is my tape loop monitor function on the receiver. I also use this for analog recordings going into my CD recorder. PC users do not have to deal with SCMS, a system that prevents a digital copy of a copy.

Thank goodness Sony included this extra set of RCA jacks, had they not, I would have a large bald spot on my head right about now. There is also one A1II jack, a proprietary link system to connect Sony products together. Sony claims that this is backward compatible with their earlier incarnation A1I. I cannot report on this because I have no use for this feature. The cable is not supplied, but this monaural cable can be picked up at any Radio Shack for a few dollars.

Features

The most important feature here is the bass management capability. DVD-A and SACD only output their high resolution sound through analog outputs. Virtually every receiver ever made with multi-channel inputs has no means of manipulating that sound. For those of you with those micro satellite surround speakers Sony?s got you covered . All of my speakers are capable of handling the full spectrum of sound, but this is very important for those with a different set-up. Sony decided to include bass management on the player side to handle this issue.

I counted seven different configurations and this should easily cover 99 percent of what exists out there. For example, for those of you with five tiny cubes (left, right, center and both rears) and one sub-woofer, there is a setting just for you. On the front display, this is represented as 5 small +SW (sub-woofer). If you have large speakers up front, but midgets in the back, no problem. There are settings for those that do and do not have a sub-woofer. There are even two settings for those that have yet to buy a center channel speaker. Very cool.

All of this is done via a built in DSD DSP (digital signal processor) so all of the manipulation is done in the digital domain, so it?s as accurate as can be. For the purists out there, there is a 2ch and a 5.1 channel direct mode. This bypasses all of the digital manipulation for the purest sound possible and it should be engaged for those with five full range speakers, as there is no need for any digital trickery.

All the junk I rarely use

The ability to create your own program, shuffle, repeat play and music search. This player will display the text information on text CDs. But only one in fifty are text CDs so who cares right? I do believe that text must be included on all SACDs as part of the spec. Every SACD I own has text on it. When a SACD is playing, the display shows the song title, artist, and any artist making a guest appearance. For regular CDs you can assign text (up to 14 characters) for up to 255 different CDs.

I do however like the disc swap action that has been available from Sony and other makers for some time now. While one disc is playing, you can open the drawer and change out the other four. This is perfect for those best hits mixes, when I need to pop in four fresh CDs. With the touch of a button, the display can be turned off completely. So if you are listening to music in the dark like a vampire or a serial killer and the glare bothers you, you?re covered.


Remote

In my best Homer Simpson voice, Boring. It?s the exact same, plain boring, gets the job done remote that my last Sony five disc player had from two years ago (CDP-CE525). It?s the same junky remote that comes with all the regular Sony multi-disc players in the present. It gets the job done, but I guess after looking at it for over two years I was ready for a new look. It?s not back-lit and Sony couldn?t even throw me a bone and put a Super Audio CD logo on it or something. It controls every function that I can see except for the headphone volume, and the power button. My only real gripe is that the track skip, track search and disc skip are too close together. It?s still too easy to hit the disc change button when all you wanted to do is go on to the next track. Why hasn?t this been changed? I wish Sony would send me every new component before it hit the shelves so that I could tell them what time it is. Do they have any real testers over there?

Common sense would dictate that maybe the disc change button be given a slightly different size or feel to avoid confusion. As usual the good old days of firing people without common sense are gone, I guess the lawyers have ruined that (sorry mattjoe). While I?m going on this little rant, let me give everyone a stern warning. Take all of those audio video magazines out there with a grain of salt. They don?t mention little things like this, when they do mention problems, they sugar coat it, they sugar coat everything. They accept advertising from every gadget maker out there. If they complain too honestly, there goes the money. It?s a cruel reality, of course there are exceptions. But that?s my take on it. And now back to our regular programming.

Time to sit down and listen

This is what everyone has been waiting for right? Well before I go on I have to say that I do have one piece of bad news Until today I did not have access to any Super Audio CDs that were multi-channel. I say until today because I just spotted a handful today, but I?ve had my fill of jazz, blues and classical SACDs for now. That is the only offering for multi-channel so I passed. When it comes to new things, that?s just the way it goes sometimes. I wanted something more familiar for myself and for comparisons in this opinion. Oh well. Even so, I have a good handful of 2 channel SACDs.

I had it in my mind that the first affordable SACD player would not be available until the end of summer. Well I was wrong, and I got caught in the middle of upgrading my system. The speakers are all the same brand, but from a different line. I had Acoustic Research?s regular line in place and I decided that with SACD now available I should move up. Being a happy camper with Acoustic Research, (from here on I?ll simply refer to them as AR) I decided to move up to the Hi-Res series.

The system

For the three people that care, here you go. Speakers: All of the speakers in the Hi-Res family use the same magnesium/aluminum monocoque constructed drivers for their mid-ranges or woofers (AR does not disclose the material used for the woofers in their tower speakers). They all share the same plasma transferred diamond coated titanium dome tweeter as well. The rear surround speakers have been replaced, now in their place is a pair of AR-15?s with a 6 1/2? woofer and a one inch dome tweeter (Hi-Res).

The center speaker has also been replaced by an AR model AR4C (Hi-Res) containing two 5 1/4? mid-woofers and a one inch dome tweeter . But the main front left and right speakers are still from the AR budget line, a pair of AR PS-318?s. Even though I do not have 6 channel SACDs, I have connected my rear AR-15?s to the ?B? speaker connectors on the rear of my receiver so that I can use them as mains for the purpose of comparison. For this opinion, the center speaker will not come into play.

My Sony SACD player is connected to a Technics SA-DX1040 receiver that claims to be DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD ready. With a signal to noise ratio of 113db, a frequency range of 2Hz to 100kHz and a frequency response of 2Hz to 70kHz, I tend to believe them. This receiver also has the ability to bi-amp and has analog direct modes for all inputs. The interconnect cable is from AR?s master series line, all cables are a length of .9 meters or three feet. The speaker cable is also from the AR master series for the front mains, and AR ?flat? 16 gauge wire (for running under carpet) for the rear surrounds. The center also uses this flat wire. Pictures of all this mess will be up within 24 hours of this post at my profile page. When was the last time you heard that?

The music

For plain vanilla CDs and some serious sittin? down time, I?m calling on a good mix of music. For a good bass beat workout, Ice Cube War & Peace Vol. 1, Massive Attack Mezzanine and some Tupac, in this case Until the End of Time. And then there are just discs that give a good impression of a player. Fiona Apple Tidal for vocal accuracy, and because some cheap CD players seem to have a tough time with the low rumbling of Sleep to Dream. For comparison to SACD, the plain versions of Train Drops of Jupiter and Miles Davis Kind of Blue. Just for the hell of it, James Brown 40th anniversary edition 2 CD set. Next up, Train Drops of Jupiter and Miles Davis Kind of Blue in SACD flavor. More SACDs include Yo-Yo Ma Appalachian Journey for some classical sounds. For some jazz sound, a Telarc SACD McCoy Tyner with Stanley Clarke and Al Foster.

Spending some time listening through the AR 318?s up front, I could tell this player handled my regular CDs much better than my last Sony 5 disc. I always liked the sound of CDs when played through my Philips CDR 870 CD recorder. It seems Philips used better stuff inside and it made a difference. The sound was a little less antiseptic, it was a touch smoother and spacious. That is how CDs sound when played through this Sony SCD-CE775.

But the biggest difference was the bass, it was not nearly as sloppy sounding as before. Sleep to Dream goes low, and has such a funky sound that it can sound boomy and loose. There are two reasons for this, first being that the previous disc changer was not all that great in this department, and because these 318?s have bass that is a little on the loose side, so it gets exaggerated. Switching over to the AR-15?s however told a different story.

While these bookshelf speakers do not posses the gobs of bass that the mains do, they are incredibly accurate. For bass and overall attacking sounds, I threw everything at them. I even went into the archives and pulled out Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Miles Davis sounded fine, but the sound of the original tape ?cracking? when Miles hits those peaks was not exactly flattering. The bottom line here. As far as regular CD players go, this one shines, Fiona Apple?s vocals never sounded so husky. You could bend over and pay tons of dough for a regular Sony ES player or any number of high end brands and get a very, very tiny increase in sound quality.

The SACD side is where things really shine. I think this is where I should get one gripe out of the way. Not long ago I reviewed Train?s Drops of Jupiter and the sound quality was just okay. I stopped mentioning sound quality in CD reviews because the whole thing gets repetitive. They all sound about the same. Of course there are exceptions, and on occasion one sounds spectacular but that is the exception, not the rule. Listening to Drops on SACD tells me that the original master must be of mediocre sound at best. The difference between the CD and SACD version is slight. Of course it sounds a bit more rich and detailed but nothing to get worked up about.

The one track worth mentioning Hopeless sounds spacious and crisp. Through the AR-15?s played loud, those strings on the intro just pluck so hard and clean. It makes your ears want to pucker if there is such a thing. On the SACD side, things get better from here on out.


Miles Davis Kind of Blue, compared to the regular version brings two things to my attention. The first being the fact that this was originally recorded in 1959 is very obvious. Even so, the SACD version gives more space, and Miles' trumpet sounds moves from soft to ear piercing.

It always sounds thick and full. Yo-Yo Ma track number 4 indecision is my favorite. With the sounds of battling cello and violin the sense of space, and the detail are amazing. McCoy Tyner track number 7 in the tradition of is another favorite. With a soft piano and the sudden introduction or "attack" of strings it sounds amazing. The thought that moves through my mind is that the sound is a little less confined to the speakers if you will. In the end, trying to describe sound with words is kind of crazy. Let me just say that I'm very happy with the sound of SACD. With my limited experience in listening to multi-channel DVD-A, I'm sure six channel SACDs will blow my socks off.

Final gripes

The previously mentioned remote, at over three hundred dollars Sony could and should have included gold plated RCA jacks at the rear. The changer is just a tad slower when changing discs than my last Sony changer. Also the super fast search is gone. Now it moves at 3x speed and just a tad faster if the pause button is pushed and then the track search. And one final thing, this player does not have a video output of any kind.

SACD does have the ability to store still photos, lyrics and such. That will not be possible with this machine. There are no SACDs that make use of this ability (to my knowledge). I don't care for such extras but for those of you that might, I'll put that out there.


While playing SACDs the track scan is even slower. It's almost not even worth using. These minor grips bring this Sony from five stars down to four. To Sony's credit, they stopped all of that 90 day warranty nonsense and cover you for a full year parts and labor. The bottom line in the sound quality department this machine gets the job done for CDs and SACDs. I picked mine up from JandR.com when they got their first batch of players in. They charged me $329.00 (no tax) a week later they bumped it up to $349.00.

If you've had your eye on a SACD player, you can wait it out and get a cheaper player. But if you can't wait anymore and didn't want to drop a grand about 3 months ago, this is your machine.




Official Specs & features from Sony


5 Disc, Multi-Channel SACD/ CD Changer
Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) playback
SACD multi-channel playback CD, CD-R, CD-RW playback
New multi-channel management optimizes playback regardless of speaker configuration
Play 1, Exchange 4 capability Custom File Disc Memo display
SACD/CD TEXT display with compatible discs
Super Audio D/A Converter
Optical digital output for CD
Jog Dial control with Direct Access track selection
Music Calendar
32-Step program play
2-Mode repeat play
Headphone jack & volume control
Remote Commander? remote control
SACD Playback Frequency Range 2Hz - 100kHz Frequency Response 2Hz - 50kHz(-3dB)
Total Harmonic Distortion [SACD] 0.0020%
Power Requirement 120V 60Hz
Dimensions WxHxD 17"x 4-3/4"x15-1/2 430x120x395(mm)
Weight 13 LBS (5.9Kg)