SHM SACD's need to be burned in

In all seriousness, the closest that I've come to this experience was getting a new SACD recording of a particular piece of organ music (Saint Seans Symphony No.3). The two recordings were so very different that the first time I listened to the SACD it didn't sound that good to me. Now that my expectations have adjusted I prefer the SACD because it's a much higher quality sound.

You expect the SACD to sound better so it's quite possible that after hearing it once the "shock" of the different sound didn't overshadow it's improved quality.

In the case of the organ music, the SACD relative volume of the organ vs. the rest of the instruments is much lower, but the sound quality is amazing and after reading how it was recorded it sound exactly as it should.

I have tickets to a live performance in a couple of months so I'm excited to see how it can really sound on a great organ.

This is similar to the experience of drinking a clear soda thinking it's grapefruit and finding out that it's a different flavor. You may like the new flavor, but not until your expectation/perception changes.

Cerrot, The Esoteric SA-10 settings are pretty basic and nothing was changed.
Mceljo, I listened to the SACD twice when I first got it and was disappointed both times. The triangles on the Aja cut was barely audible.Gadd`s drumming, when they got loud were boomy or bloated just did not measure up to the mofi or the redbook. I cannot explain why it sounds better then the other formats now but it does. The drums sound wonderful and the light triangle is both natural and decay beautifully.
I also brought the disc over to a friend who wanted to hear it. He has a very high Esoteric front end and he thought the disc was ok at best.
I want him to hear it again now.

Regards,

What a load of crap. The only thing it takes10 times to do is convince yourself that it really sounds worth playing an 11th time.

I played it on repeat on my cdp for two days straight.

What evidence is there that the changes were the result of effects on the disk, as opposed to effects on the player? The facts that you leave the player turned on all the time (presumably with nothing playing much of the time), and that you stopped the burn-in process a few hours before the re-assessment, do not seem to me to constitute such evidence.

Regards,
-- Al

I have many SHM-SACDS; there is not burn-in or other mystical phenomena associated with their sound.