MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
I've read so many good reports about the sound quality of the inexpensive Sony SCD-CE595 Super Audio CD player in this forum, when one showed up on the shelves of my local Goodwill a few weeks ago I couldn't resist the temptation to pick it up. I was in the middle of the move at the time. So, I finally got around to hooking it up today.
The first SACD I popped in, Beck - Sea Change, did indeed sound great. This is an SACD only, both 2 Channel Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound, but no Red Book CD layer. Since this is my first changer capable to playing SACDs, I excitedly popped in 5 of my favorites.
In the DISC 1 position was Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism, followed by Roxy Music - Avalon in DISC2, these are both Hybrid Discs containing both CD and SACD layers. Rounding out the 5: Steely Dan - Aja (Single Layer SACD), The Eagles - Hotel California (Hybrid) and Boston - Boston (Single Layer SACD).
To cut to the chase, the SCD CE-595 would not read the SACD layer of any of the Hybrid Discs. It would eventually default to CD and when I push the SC-CD/CD button on the SCD CE-595, the display panel reads "NOT HYBRID" (liar, it's a Hybrid, you just can't read it). The two single layer SACDs played fine (but were incredibly slow to load).
I did a forum search and the only thing I could find was this thread:
Problem with Sony SCD-CE595 SACD Changer Solved??
Unfortunately, the OP's problem wasn't really solved and his workaround (to play a single layer SACD first) does not work in my case (I tried it with multiple combinations of single layer SACDs followed by Hybrid Discs).
I really want this player to work properly. It does sound excellent when playing single layer SACDs, but over half of my SACDs are Hybrd Discs, including many of my favorites.
So, is there any low hanging fruit I can try to get this thing working properly? I have never worked on a CD/SACD player. So, I don't know the trouble shooting flow/methods. This player isn't worth enough to take it to a shop that will charge me more than it's worth to get it working again. Unfortunately, if there is no inexpensive solution, back to Goodwill it goes and I go back to my single disc SACD players.
The first SACD I popped in, Beck - Sea Change, did indeed sound great. This is an SACD only, both 2 Channel Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound, but no Red Book CD layer. Since this is my first changer capable to playing SACDs, I excitedly popped in 5 of my favorites.
In the DISC 1 position was Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism, followed by Roxy Music - Avalon in DISC2, these are both Hybrid Discs containing both CD and SACD layers. Rounding out the 5: Steely Dan - Aja (Single Layer SACD), The Eagles - Hotel California (Hybrid) and Boston - Boston (Single Layer SACD).
To cut to the chase, the SCD CE-595 would not read the SACD layer of any of the Hybrid Discs. It would eventually default to CD and when I push the SC-CD/CD button on the SCD CE-595, the display panel reads "NOT HYBRID" (liar, it's a Hybrid, you just can't read it). The two single layer SACDs played fine (but were incredibly slow to load).
I did a forum search and the only thing I could find was this thread:
Problem with Sony SCD-CE595 SACD Changer Solved??
Unfortunately, the OP's problem wasn't really solved and his workaround (to play a single layer SACD first) does not work in my case (I tried it with multiple combinations of single layer SACDs followed by Hybrid Discs).
I really want this player to work properly. It does sound excellent when playing single layer SACDs, but over half of my SACDs are Hybrd Discs, including many of my favorites.
So, is there any low hanging fruit I can try to get this thing working properly? I have never worked on a CD/SACD player. So, I don't know the trouble shooting flow/methods. This player isn't worth enough to take it to a shop that will charge me more than it's worth to get it working again. Unfortunately, if there is no inexpensive solution, back to Goodwill it goes and I go back to my single disc SACD players.