SACD recommendations

[RSL'67]

I'm currently diggin' the Elton John - Madman Across The Water SACD - in quiet spots, you can hear the breaths in between verses - him stepping on piano peddles, etc. - pretty impressive stuff.

I too like the Stones stuff via SACD - really liking Get yer ya ya's out and It's only rock and roll.

 

[stoutblock]

I'm currently diggin' the Elton John - Madman Across The Water SACD - in quiet spots, you can hear the breaths in between verses - him stepping on piano peddles, etc. - pretty impressive stuff.

Good to hear! YBR is said to be quite bad so Madman may be a better choice...

 

[RSL'67]

I'd be interested to know what you think, once you've had a chance to listen. Plus, I just love every song on MATW - stone classic.

 

[pmsummer]

LUX FEMINÆ
900-1600
Various Composers
Montserrat Figueras

Alia Vox

 

[stoutblock]

Of course I've heard the mega hits off this album for years but I don't think I've heard some of the other fine tracks since I was a kid. For a bunch of guys from Oakland the leadbelly stuff sure sounds like their blood is flowing from the south!

Fortunate Son, maybe the best US rock song of all time? Certainly top 10. I've never heard it better than on this SACD....

 

[Doofus101]

Creedence, Cosmo's factory sounds excellent on SACD, as well as Elton's Goodbye the yellow brick road, and Marvin Gaye's midnight love. Just love the detail, and great depth on these SACD's.

 

[braxus]

I have a small collection of SACD discs, but one of my favorites is Jerry Goldsmiths Telarc disc of his movie and tv themes. Nice sound. Kind of Blue is also a god disc as mentioned.

 

[riverrat]

John Hiatt Bring the Family sounds great on SACD. Not very easy to find, unfortunately.

 

[chasmo]

Linn SACD Surround Sampler

Hi All.

I recently discovered Linn Music as a source for new (to US) and great sound.

Try Linn's "The Super Audio Surround Collection Volume 3" (SACD)-

It has some really good music that is well-recorded (both Jazz and Classical).

-Chas

 

[stoutblock]

Walked in to Fry's at lunch today and was surprized to see they had quite a few additions to their SACD selection. Picked up Elton John - Honky Chateau, Elton John - Elton John, The Who - Tommy, Eric Clapton- 461 Ocean Boulevard, and John Mayer - Heavier Things.

Was good to see they contiue to add to their floor stock...

So far I've only listened to Tommy and it is splendid.

 

[bugzbunny]

all sugar no lemon?

Ok, just to pour some oil on unlit fires, while SACD recommendations are being made, how about SACDs to skip since there have to be some, no? Are we just liking SACDs because of the multichannel aspect (atleast some of them), even on those discs where the instruments are splayed across the channels weirdly, or are we liking some because they are SACDs and so they damn better be good....

I love my DSOTM, Dire Straits, Stan Getz/Gilberto and Diana Krall; but I have not been that impressed by Lets Get It On and Slowhand (if you don't know the artistes, then you are in the wrong site). Don't get me wrong, they are great albums in their own standing, but to me they did not stand out as SACD flag-bearers. I just recently laid hands on Tapestry on vinyl so I can compare my SACD version to the vinyl version to see how they stack up.

Have not been able to get Avalon Roxy (backordered from the last 3 months since I ordered it through Amazon Japan) so no comments on that (even though it is very highly rated by sa-cd.net). Anyway, that's my 2 cents... got tired of all the saccharine for the SACDs; let's have some sour milk also to help folks skip spending on the less worthy ones and spending on the more worthy ones....

 

[stoutblock]

Agree. I play Redbook through my DAC often upsampled to 24/192 and compare this to the SACD. Sometimes I hear no differance, sometimes the SACD is much better (fuller and more open).

I mostly try to get the Hybrid SACDs. I figure I have nothing to loose if the SACD is not adding anything. Most SACD disks cost little more than the standard redbook versions these days.

I find that a lot of popular music has very little benefit in the SACD version but most of the Jazz cuts are much improved in SACD.

I'll sumerize my impressions of the couple dozen disks I have over the next few weeks.

 

[John C.]

Still adding to the collection. Many excellent recommendations here. Today I picked up the Allman Bros live Fillmore East SACD. Probably been 10+ years since I've heard this album. Enjoyed every minute of it! Guitars are right there in my living room!

These guys sure were/are great musicians!

Agreed.

A very good choice (so much that I even sold my pink labeled Capricorn LP.)

I like the Eat A Peach SACD too.

 

[stoutblock]

Agreed.

I like the Eat A Peach SACD too.

dido!

 

[riverrat]

...while SACD recommendations are being made, how about SACDs to skip since there have to be some, no?...

Excellent point. This would be the place to share impressions of lukewarm SACDs, or those that seem to offer no benefit over redbook versions.

I cannot say from personal experience, but I can pass on that the Blue Note SACD of John Coltrane's Blue Train has been widely panned, with some saying that it actually sounds worse than some redbook versions.

However, it is important to note that the more recent Analog Productions hybrid SACD of this title remastered by Steve Hoffman has garnered excellent reviews, with most saying it is now the definitive digital version of this title. And since the redbook layer has Steve's remaster, it is worth buying even by those who don't have an SACD capable player.

The take home point it that while DSD mastering and SACD offer better resolution and detail than redbook, the result will only sound as good as the master- "garbage in, garbage out" in other words...

 

[macman007]

Even though the music may not be to your tastes the Jeff Ward's musical version War of the Worlds double album sounds incredible in SACD. Much better than the vinyl version.

It's Jeff Wayne and yes that is a flagship example of what SACD can do in stereo and multi channel.

along with The Police Syncronicity...wow that one sings in sacd too.

 

[Grainger49]

Two I have that I would suggest are:

Allison Krauss & US Live

Stevie Ray Vaughn's Couldn't Stand The Weather

 

[macman007]

how is that? did you hear the vinyl on a dcent system? this is going to be interesting.

Remember, this selection was re mastered by Jeff Wayne / Sony to show off what SACD is capable of in 2 channel and Multi Channel. Much of what we hear are the individual tracks that wouldn't fit on the original master put back in at the writer's discretion, making the 2005 version ' both different and the same as the 1978 versions. I have the 1978 versions played on a very good analog system, and the 2005 SACD versions along with the Acetate vinyl versions he gave me personaly. The remasered vinyl sounds good but not available anywhere. It just doesnt showcase what the SACD does, and thats what the project was all about. Thats why the 2 channel vinyl editions were scrapped in 2006.

FYI the 1978 masters were recorded on 2-24 track machines slaved together (Maglink), a new system Advision studios was working the bugs out of. There were a lot of tracks dropped from the original album because even with 48 tracks there still wasn't enough room to put it all on the stereo mixdown.

007

 

[stoutblock]

However, it is important to note that the more recent Analog Productions hybrid SACD of this title remastered by Steve Hoffman has garnered excellent reviews, with most saying it is now the definitive digital version of this title. And since the redbook layer has Steve's remaster, it is worth buying even by those who don't have an SACD capable player.

Agree, I have the Analog Productions SACD version of Blue Train and it is exceptional (including the redbook layer).

 

[stoutblock]

Picked this up the other day. Excellent sound stage on this SACD version. About as good as any I have heard.