Pls recommend me some SACD or DVD-As

[red_ryder 0]

Just bought me a universal player (Denon 2910), itching to try out some SACDs or DVD-As. Need some recommendations from you experienced guys. I'm only using 2-channels for listening though.

 

Music genres - used to really like female vocals like Eva Cassidy and Susan Wong, etc but now getting a bit sick of them. Also like the older type of music like Eagles-Hell Freezes Over, or The Beatles, Sting.

 

thanks in advance!

[Mackie 0]

Diana Krall's latest album on SACD is economical (< $25 at Gramophone). I especially like the double bass players Christian McBride and John Clayton who accompanied her. The 2 guys and the late Ray Brown made up the Super Bass trio. All songs composed by Diana Krall and lyrics by Elvis Costello.

 

 

Good performance, good music and recording.

[Mackie 0]

Fancy a hybrid that costs less than 20 bucks? Try The Police - Every Breath You Take - The Classics. All hits on one SACD. Sound quality is smooth and never bright as commonly heard in early pop digital recording/mastering.

 

 

Sample songs and track list, courtesy of Amazon.com

Edited December 15, 2004 by Mackie

[red_ryder 0]

Thanks Mackie! Just wondering, if I set the player to output in stereo, does the down-mixing adversely affect multichannel material? Meaning should I just stick to buying stereo SACDs/DVD-As only?

 

 

[Mackie 0]

There's no down-mixing involved. The player simply retrieves the main L/R channel for stereo presentation. Most contemporary releases are encoded with stereo and multi-channel data anyway. In short, no compromise to sound quality. If there is, it has to be on hybrid as there are 2 layers for redbook and sacd playback on a single disc.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Mackie

[red_ryder 0]

Hmm...the player's manual stated that there is downmixing. I'll read it more carefully at home tonight then.

 

 

[fuwen 0]

From what I know is the same as Mackie: The SACD disc contains 3 types of info: SACD stereo, SACD multi-channel and conventional red book. So the SACD 2-channel and the multi-channel data are independent.

[Mackie 0]

Ever wonder why hybrids are usually cheaper than pure SACDs although there's more production input in facilitating redbook playback on the former? If there's a compromise in sound quality, this is it.

 

Think like dvd. If U disconnect your surround and center speakers and playback a dvd in 2 channel and then 5.1/6.1 channel on the main L/R speakers, the quality should be the same. However, U will notice some information could be missing on the latter mode as it's channelled to the designated surround/sub channels.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Mackie

[fuwen 0]

Ever wonder why hybrids are usually cheaper than pure SACDs although there's more production input in facilitating redbook playback on the former?  If there's a compromise in sound quality, this is it. 

 

Hi Mackie, is it really so that the single layer SACD is more expensive? I have not come across many single layer SACDs (if that is what u meant by pure SACD) except those by SONY. So far almost all of them I came across are hybrids SACDs. The SONYs are more expensive and I find them not value for money. I did get a handful of them in the early days of SACD when software are rare but nowadays almost abundant them totally. Besides being more expensive also if one day for some reasons SACDs are not supported any more u will have no music from these discs and also u can only enjoy them from a dedicated SACD players.

Edited December 15, 2004 by fuwen

[Mackie 0]

Prices of hybrids have decreased and notably on popular artistes such as Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Monty Alexander etc. Most pure SACD releases that I've come across are usually remastered albums of the 50/60s Jazz artistes and I believe more work is involved to eradicate tape hiss from the original master tapes. These SACDs are usually priced in the $40 mark. However, the sound quality is usually fantastic. For example, the mono recording of Wes Montgomery (Jazz guitrist) and the last album of Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin (stereo). The latter sounds so contemporary anyone would have thought it was recorded recently.

 

As yet, whether there's actually a compromise in sound quality between pure SACD and hybrids remains uncertain. In fact, I reckon we should place our concern on whether the SACD is produced from the master tape or redbook digital format. Obviously, the latter is a severe compromise as all the signals above 20K were already filtered in the first place.

[N@Z 0]

Pink Floyd fan? Dark Side of the Moon is a must have SACD Hybrid disc.

 

[red_ryder 0]

Well, I bought Diana Krall's Girl in the Other Room, Ray Charles Duets and Tapestry (Carole King). My very first impressions of SACD - the clarity and detail of the instruments, voices don't have sibilance anymore (a problem always plaguing me with female vocals). I also find that vocals seem louder even though I'm listening at the same volume level that I always do.

 

One question I have - why are the prices varying so much? They range from $18 (The Police) to $40+. At gramaphone I bought the krall and ray charles albums at $26, but also saw Cai Qin and Emi Fujita selling at $43 and $39. DVD-Audio also quite expensive, wanted to buy Pet Sounds but at $44 a bit hard to swallow.

[Mackie 0]

There are numerous factors, I gather. Contemporary artistes who are famous and currently in favour will garner higher demand and thus lower prices. The sources which the SACDs are mastered from; those from master tapes will be more expensive relative to those from redbook sources.