garyrc Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 What do we know about the SACD/Hybrid versions of Miles Davis disks? How is the sound quality compared to the previous CD and Lp versions? Why have some gone off the market so soon? I'm just now getting a SACD player, and Kind of Blue is gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardP Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't have any MD SACDs, but it will likely sound no better than the best remastered CD release. On older recordings, and even some not-so-old recordings, little will be done to remaster/re-engineer the recording for SACD release. Most flaws will be there, if present in the original. SACDs of old recordings are still stereo, not multlichannel. I was amazed, in a negative way, that my SACDs of Santana-Abraxas and Allman Bros-Eat a Peach still contained tape hiss. Wouldn't hiss be the easiest thing to remove, if one were doing such a substantial re-engineering for re-release? I don't get it. If you are just buying an SACD player, you are very late to the party. SACDs, and DVD-As, are a failed format of the late '90s. The notion of multichannel sound appealed to many, but certainly not all, audio enthusiasts. However, most of the buying public yawned, or were not even aware of it. The new technology of MP3/IPod players came along at the same time, and you can see where it went from there. No multichannel audience, no support. A very few artists and labels still produce multichannel/hi-rez SACDs/DVD-As, but most major labels no longer make any. Classical music labels still produce some SACDs, but very little popular music is available. Many of the true multichannel disks produced in the 90s are collector's items, and can command extremely high prices. I love multichannel, but essentially cannot buy any more disks that I really want, due to ridiculous prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 I don't have any MD SACDs, but it will likely sound no better than the best remastered CD release. On older recordings, and even some not-so-old recordings, little will be done to remaster/re-engineer the recording for SACD release. Most flaws will be there, if present in the original. SACDs of old recordings are still stereo, not multlichannel. I was amazed, in a negative way, that my SACDs of Santana-Abraxas and Allman Bros-Eat a Peach still contained tape hiss. Wouldn't hiss be the easiest thing to remove, if one were doing such a substantial re-engineering for re-release? I don't get it. If you are just buying an SACD player, you are very late to the party. SACDs, and DVD-As, are a failed format of the late '90s. The notion of multichannel sound appealed to many, but certainly not all, audio enthusiasts. However, most of the buying public yawned, or were not even aware of it. The new technology of MP3/IPod players came along at the same time, and you can see where it went from there. No multichannel audience, no support. A very few artists and labels still produce multichannel/hi-rez SACDs/DVD-As, but most major labels no longer make any. Classical music labels still produce some SACDs, but very little popular music is available. Many of the true multichannel disks produced in the 90s are collector's items, and can command extremely high prices. I love multichannel, but essentially cannot buy any more disks that I really want, due to ridiculous prices. I know I'm coming late. I do have many Hybrids, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing if they sound any better than the CD level of the same disks. The main reason I'm getting SACD is that it is included in the new Oppo Blu-ray player I have on order. Since several Blu-ray players now will play SACD, and pass it on in either analog or digital, I'm hoping that this will save the medium. There seem to be many classical (my first love) remasters into SACD. Most of these are 3 channel. Some new classical recordings are in 5 channel. Now if jazz, pop, film scores, etc. would just catch up, riding a Blu-ray wave (which is hardly a tsunami, though) ... Do you think the hiss level is higher than it was on the Lps? Was it masked by our cartridges, etc. Mine (some Ortophons and a few others) tended to have an upward slope from 10K to 20K, so I would think the hiss would be accentuated. I see you are a psych professor -- I'm glad we have at least one on the forum. I held several positions in the SFSU psych dept., all below professor, for a couple of decades. My favorite was as lecturer / instructor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardP Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 If you favor classical then you have many more SACDs to choose from, compared to popular music or jazz. For whatever reason, many more of that genre continue to be issued. Some modern popular music is still released on SACD in Japan. Regarding the old recordings, there is so much digital processing possible now that could easily clean up hiss and leave the rest of the sound alone. That is why I can't understand hiss on re-engineered recordings on SACD. it's not like hiss is part of what should be preserved, even if it was present in old recordings. What will succeed is obviously market-driven, and the general public could care less about sound fidelity. Audiophiles will always have equipment companies to feed the quest for greatest sound, but the software (music) will come only in the form that the general public will buy. Blue-Ray format itself may be obsolete in a few years, as most movies and music will soon come purely in downloaded digital form. However, as there are still those who prefer vinyl lps, and some artists/studios still release an occasional lp, mechanical devices like CDs and BR disks will be here for a while, although they may be regarded as anachronistic forms like the lp is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dsrtjeeper Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 What do we know about the SACD/Hybrid versions of Miles Davis disks? How is the sound quality compared to the previous CD and Lp versions? Why have some gone off the market so soon? I'm just now getting a SACD player, and Kind of Blue is gone! I have "Kind Of Blue" in SACD and if anything it's a bit more analog sounding. Just like redbook cd's; SACD has good and bad recordings and many listeners were put off by spending more money for an unimproved recording. The newer redbook players these days are so good that I'm content listening to them. Let us know how the OPPO sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I also have KOB on SACD and I think it's worth owning although I haven't heard the newer redbook. I prefer the 180 gram LP but both are slightly brighter than the original 6-eye LP (sold mine for a small fortune last year). BTW - For you vinyl fans, you can still buy the 45s of Some Day My Prince Will Come (blows away the MFSL version) and Seven Steps To Heaven. They are both amazing and well worth the $50 price tag. Seven Steps is now one of my "show off the system" LPs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPS Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 garymd Where do you get the 45's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/64744/Miles_Davis-Seven_Steps_To_Heaven-45_RPM_Vinyl_Record http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/64743/Miles_Davis-Someday_My_Prince_Will_Come-45_RPM_Vinyl_Record Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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