Bob Dylan on SACD

Bob R

Active Member
Boo, hisssssssssssss.

As a Dylan lover I’m allowed to say anything I want (prefaced by IMO).

I gazed over all the Dylan reissues in hybrid SACD today and picked up my favorite – John Wesley Harding.

After listening to side one, and then “Dear Landlord” on side two I stopped it and put on my vinyl.

The “SACD” is empty feeling and Bob’s mouth harp is unbearable. The vinyl is more smooth and warm – and the SVS actually kicked in!

Move it over to the Sony CD player, much better than the SACD, but his voice is too harsh (as if it ever wasn’t).

I’ll keep the vinyl, thank you.

;)
 
I know this is going to bring on flames, but the whole SACD thing has left me confused as to what all the fuss is about. I bought what was suppose to be one of Sony's best players this past year, the XA777ES and with it about a dozen or more SACD titles.
(I thought the machine was a bit too analytical.) As far as the single-layer discs, there were a few I bought that were repeats of CD's I bought back in the 80's. Most notably, Carole King's "Tapestry" and Blood Sweat & Tears. These were dreadful! My old CD's had much more life and a much clearer top end. There were only a few DSD titles I was interested in (Dave's True Story and Allison Krauss), these were the only discs where I thought the SACD layer had a slight advantage over the CD layer. My system is very revealing, so it's not like it isn't capable of showing off whatever it is fed. Anyone else feel this way? I kind of feel the whole industry push for SACD and DVD-A has less to do with better resolution and more to do with the inability to make direct digital copies of discs. :dunno:
 
I have found merit in several SACDs that I own.

I believe many of the problems stem from poor production in either the original recording process or the remastering for SACD transfer.

'Tapestry' is a prime example- the distortions in the original recording become more apparent and annoying in SACD. Don't know what caused it, this is one of my wife's favorite recordings, but I find it almost unlistenable at other than the lowest playback levels (of course, it could be me not wanting to hear it at all..;) )

I find that 'New Favorite' is a great production in EVERY format I've heard it in- CD, SACD, Vinyl. The care in production seems to bring out the best in your format of choice.

Many claim that, to really appreciate SACD, you need to find the performances that were done in DSD from start to finish. I say it's hard enough finding anything I want to buy in SACD now, and if I need to limit it even more, why bother?

I would still, if in the market for a digital front end, buy one that included a high res playback. I believe that at an affordable level, they give a bit better sound than a low cost CD only player with regular format CDs. Could be me fooling myself, however.
 
reyneman:

"Many claim that, to really appreciate SACD, you need to find the performances that were done in DSD from start to finish."

I'm glad you said that. I have only a dozen SACD's and DVD-A's, combined. The first releases in hi-rez format are truly a different experince and promise very good things to come with the new formats.

Examples: Beck's Sea Change, Nickle Creek's This Side, and Fleetwood Mac's Say you Will.

However, the analog re-masters are dissapointing or no better than the CD re-issues.

Examples: This Dylan title, Hotel California, and Thriller.

So, I agree with your statement, wholeheartedly.

I feel the same way about DD 5.1 and DTS concerts. The new releases bring out the best in the medium.

my $0.02
 
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