Thread: Single Layer vs. Multi-Channel

Posts: 2

Post by MissingMiles August 1, 2003 (1 of 2)
I am still pretty new to the world of SACD's, so pardon my ignorance. I got an SACD sample disc with my system when I bought it and I know most of the tracks on it are multi-channel. I have been looking at a lot of other SACD's to buy on websites and noticed that many are called "Single Layer stereo only". Does this simply mean that they are not multi-channel? What, exactly, is the difference in audio quality? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Post by zeus August 1, 2003 (2 of 2)
MissingMiles said:

I am still pretty new to the world of SACD's, so pardon my ignorance. I got an SACD sample disc with my system when I bought it and I know most of the tracks on it are multi-channel. I have been looking at a lot of other SACD's to buy on websites and noticed that many are called "Single Layer stereo only". Does this simply mean that they are not multi-channel? What, exactly, is the difference in audio quality? Any help is greatly appreciated.

SACDs can be single layer, dual layer or hybrid. Single layer and dual layer discs are playable in SACD players only. All three of these may contain a multichannel signal in addition to the stereo one. The multichannel signal lives in a different area but on the same layer (I guess it could reside completely on the second layer of a dual layer disc though). Each channel of the stereo and multichannel (3 to 6 channels) signals are separate and identical in resolution. If you have a multichannel player and setup you can choose to hear either the stereo or multichannel signal.

So when they say "Single Layer stereo only" this means it won't play without a SACD player and doesn't have a multichannel signal. Roughly 43% (from my statistics) of SACDs come with a multichannel signal and the percentage is increasing.

I hope this answers your questions.

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