My first SACD?

[Shawn]

Okay...after a very long time I have finally gone out and purchased an SACD player...I finally got over being sick to death of hearing Greg praise them.

Anyway...

So, I'm going out at lunch tomorrow for a quick SACD shopping trip. Don't have much time to browse, just need to go in a grab a couple. I'm looking for 1 jazz disc and 1 *really* good sounding classic rock disc.

Thanks in advance.

[wesbed]

[wesbed]

[vibes]

[Kevin Bresnahan]

If you can find them, the Analogue Productions SACDs are phenomenal. Pricy, but phenomenal. I special order them from a local shop and they get them for me for $21. They have the two Bill Evans Vanguard discs and they've never sounded better. Cannonball Adderley's "You Know What I Mean" is probably the best sounding one in the bunch but Chet Baker's "Chet" is pretty close.

Sony's SACDs, like Mingus "Ah Um" and Miles' "Kind of Blue", while sounding very nice, are only slightly ahead of the new remastered CDs. Better but only by a hair.

UMG has some very nicely done SACDs "on the cheap". Coltrane's "A Love Supreme", Getz "Getz/Gilberto" and Joe Henderson's "Lush Life: Music Of Billy Strayhorn" are all much improved on the CDs.

In the rock arena, if you're a Pink Floyd fan, get "Dark Side of the Moon". My favorite though, is Aerosmith's "Toys in the Attic"... this has the added benefit of having an incredible multi-channel mix. If Beck is your style, people rave about "Sea Change". However, if you do want this, it's in my trade pile. The music might sound good, but I think Beck sounds like Dylan on quaaludes. The Peter Gabriel discs are all OK, but with brand new remastered CDs out there, the improvement is marginal. Ditto the Police discs. Steely Dan's "Gaucho" is definitely a huge step above any CD version out there. James Taylor's "JT" has some pretty incredible audio. Taylor's guitar is in the room with you on a couple of tracks.

If your disc is a muti-format machine and plays DVD-Audio, be sure to get Neil Young's "Harvest", The Eagles "Hotel California" and Yes's "Fragile". All will turn heads, particularly in multi-channel mode. "Harvest" may be the best sounding two-channel rock disc I own.

Have a field day with this format. I've been buying them like crazy because I worry about how long they'll be around. Sony sucks. They invent a great format and drop support. Now they make Dual Discs. I wouldn't buy a Sony Dual Disc if it was the last disc in the rack.

Kevin

[Soulstation1]

wes

do you own a sacd player?

[wesbed]

  Soulstation1 said:

wes do you own a sacd player?

I don't. I'm too cheap.

Tonight, I'm listening to Stanley Turrentine and drinking the beer that made Milwaukee famous.

Edited March 22, 2005 by wesbed

[jazzbo]

My newest player elevated my redbook cd playback to such an extent that the SACDs it plays don't sound tremendously better, a bit better, at least so far. Some users of the same modified SONY as I have say I just haven't "broken in" the SACD section enough yet, which may be true, as I don't play SACDs that often. As a result I haven't felt compelled to buy a lot of SACDs and haven't; I have maybe 20.

The two I wouldn't live without are "Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy" and "Planet Waves." Both are sentimental favorite recordings, and both sound pretty darned good on SACD to me. Especially the Pops. Magnificent in all ways!

[Parkertown]

1. A Love Supreme

2. CCR-Cosmo's Factory

And these are just stereo. But both are a GGT *

* Guaranteed Good Time!

[Parkertown]

Batch Two:

1. Sonny Clark Trio - Audio Fidelity - it's now OOP but perhaps you can still find one.

2. Deep Purple - BBC In Concert - Audio Fidelity - incredible sound and presence on this one. It will rock your entire house off the foundation!

These were both remastered by Steve Hoffman, who had previously done the DCC gold discs. (All Audio Fidelity cds/SACDs are done by SH.)

[Free For All]

  Shawn said:

Okay...after a very long time I have finally gone out and purchased an SACD player...I finally got over being sick to death of hearing Greg praise them. 

Which one did you end up getting, Shawn?

I'm contemplating taking the plunge myself, but I don't want to spend too much $$.

[Claude]

Bob Belden "Black Daliah" is my favourite SACD demonstration disc. Excellent DSD recording of dynamic big band orchestrations. Made to impress The only negative point is that on the hi-rez stereo layer, the channels have been reversed.

Another audiophile recording with great music (if you like electric Miles) is Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith - Sky Garden

I currently have 120 SACDs (mostly jazz), if you have questions on the sound quality of individual titles, feel free to ask.

Edited March 23, 2005 by Claude

[Shawn]

I got stuck in meetings yesterday and couldn't escape.....

So it's off to the store today....

[marcoliv]

Steely Dan's Gauchp is really great on SACD

[Shawn]

Thanks again for all the great suggestions, I took your advice at the store...I ended up buying 4 discs instead of 2.

I haven't listened to any of them yet, but I'm getting ready to check out the first one now. Here's what I got...

Louis Armstrong - Ambassador Satch (they didn't have the WC Handy in stock)

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

Steely Dan - Gaucho

Deep Purple - Live On The BBC

How is the Blue Train SACD?

[jazzbo]

Well at least you got one good one. . .

[Shawn]

  Quote

Well at least you got one good one. . .

BITE ME!!!!

[Parkertown]

  Shawn said:

Deep Purple - Live On The BBC

Yer gonna love it!

  Shawn said:

How is the Blue Train SACD?

I can't recommend this one...go for the Classic Records HDAD or DAD instead.

Or the Classic Records 200gm MONO lp.