SACD vs. Redbook and other formats


There have been several discussions about the quality of SACD vs. Redbook and other formats. I had the thought that it would be interesting to start a list of specific SACDs that are being used as the basis for comments.

One question that I have is if people are comparing the Redbook and SACD layers on a hybrid disk. It seems that this would be a more fair comparision than using different disks that were produced at different times.

I have CDs that sound as good as my SACDs, but I have yet to find a hybrid disk where the Redbook is superior to the SACD layer.

If you're talking about different recordings with different producers it's an apples and oranges discussion to some extent. I've found the SACD recording quality to be of more consistent quality, but some of my best are Redbook CDs.

A few weeks ago I burned some songs to a disk for my father-in-law that came from my Apple Lossless files. The songs that came from a Redbook sounded excellent, but the ones that were burned from the Redbook layer of a hybrid SACD sounded terrible. I finally put the SACD on to verify the comparison and it wasn't close. The SACD was Hello Mr. Paganini by Feng Ning. Based on this unintended comparison, the Redbook layer is no match on that recording.

SACDs that are reproductions of previous Redbook CDs have mixed results depending on where in the process the SACDs come from.

Give us your comparison/opinion along with the specific recordings that support it.
mceljo

Showing 3 responses by montejay

I assume, all things being equal, the sacd layer should sound better due the formats advantage.
XRCD, SHM cd, K2HD etc. HDCD are all redbook and not another format.

Regards,
Hi Isochronism,

LPCD-I have two copies of Harry Belefonte at Carnegie Hall.
An original red cd pressing and an LPCD. Both are outstanding but I hear and feel a little more with the LPCD which imo sounds superb. They are purple on the information side of cd. I own a few of them with no duds.
I cannot confirm the sound like an lp but all do sound good. Impressed.
Most of my XRCD`s (approx. 50 or so) are excellent.
BLU-SPEC-Bought a two disc sampler from cdjapan. It was not very good and actually hurt to list to some of the tracks. Not impressed. SHM cd seems the same to me.
24K gold-I have some outstanding ones (DCC, MOFI and some others). Some can be both very expensive and impressive.

Mastering makes the difference,not what the cd is made out of IMHO but of course YMMV.

Regards,
Listen to the new K2HD of KOB many times now. The best I've heard on any digital disc. The louder I play it the better it sounds.

However,I wouldn't say it's better than hearing it on a good vinyl setup.

Regards,