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Must -have SACD's

While the new format holds quite a bit of promise a lot of the recordings currently available can sound 2-dimensional and sometimes shrill on the top end. This thread is for SACD's that are all around better recording wise than the best of redbook CD. My suggedtions are the Eric Bibb SACD on Opus 3, the Rebecca Pigeon SACD on Chesky, the Tony Bennett Unplugged on Sony, the Carmina Burana on Sony. These SACD's seem to be better than redbook CD's in pretty much every aspect and should be considered must-have's. Please list other SACD's in this category for current owners of this format so we can avoid wasted purchases of inferior quality recordings.
pugstub77b1

Showing 2 responses by njonker

njonker
107 posts
 
Telarc has an SACD out of the Dave Brubeck 40th anniversary tour of the UK. It was recorded in DSD, and on my system it sounds like absolute magic. This is a dual mode (CD and SACD) disc. I have listened to it in both modes numerous times on my SCD-1, and I think I can actually hear the improvement in SACD reproduction over CD. To test, I did a few blind tests with my spouse, and I got it right 13 out of 15 tries.

The recording is very open and detailed, very pleasant.

Niels.
njonker
107 posts
 
Drubin: Thanks. I clearly hear the difference, as evident from my 13 out of 15 listening test success. I tried to distinguish between 'different' and 'better'.

Quantifying exactly what is better is what I was having some issues with, but I have that one worked out as well now. The bass is tighter, the piano sounds more real, the stereo image is better. Overall, the music is more engaging and has more presence. So, I will on record now as saying SACD does sound better, a lot better. The piano is probably the most obvious example. The drum solos are just 10 times better on SACD, the detail in the cymbals is very much more present.

(And in all honesty, I have plenty of SACD's that I do not care for, the recordings are just not that good that they utilize SACD to the fullest. The last thing I need is even higher quality tape hiss... :)

Niels.
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