Levinson is a brilliant man, but, uh, a little research quickly reveals the dude is a bit flaky. I would say trust your ears, and let Mark do his thing.
Do single-layer SACDs sound better?
I recently purchased a few Levinson (Red Rose) SACDs, which were on sale at Acoustic Sounds. They were SACD transfers of some of Mark Levinson's old master tapes from the 80's (Elliot Fisk plays Scarlotti,etc.)
Anyway, the point here is - Levinson says in the liner notes, "We use single layer discs because they make a closer match to the master recording and are more enjoyable to listen to."
I've never heard anyone else say this, although I casually wondered why a lot of Sony titles were release on single-layer. I didn't understand why they just didn't throw a hybrid layer in as well, unless it would drive up the cost significantly. Not having access to a single-layer and hybrid version of the same SACD, I thought it might make an interesting discussion. Then again, it might not.
Anyway, the point here is - Levinson says in the liner notes, "We use single layer discs because they make a closer match to the master recording and are more enjoyable to listen to."
I've never heard anyone else say this, although I casually wondered why a lot of Sony titles were release on single-layer. I didn't understand why they just didn't throw a hybrid layer in as well, unless it would drive up the cost significantly. Not having access to a single-layer and hybrid version of the same SACD, I thought it might make an interesting discussion. Then again, it might not.