nicholtl Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Hi all, I just took a dive and bought a Pioneer Elite 59AVi that I'm gonna be using as a strictly dedicated SACD and DVD-A player. And now that I'm sitting back in my recliner, twiddling my thumbs, and pondering the meaning of life while waiting for the newunit to arrive, I was wondering if you guys had some suggestions as to what are "reference level" DVD-A and SACD discs. When I say "reference level," I mean those recordings that are absolutely superb, like the ones all the pro reviewers use in their listening tests, and high end audio shop boutiques have playing in their fancy fairy-dust rooms. Off the top of my head, I remember people mentioning Diana Krall "Live In Paris" (although I usually don't like live recordings because listening to the audience cheer and clap gets irratating), Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon," and something like Chesky?? Oh, and multichannel recordings are preferred. Finally, where online or physically (ie. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Circuit City etc.), do you audiophiles venture to make your hi-res acquisitions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 I've dealt with Amazon.com for a couple of years. Their prices are very good and the discs I have ordered have arrived carefully packed and on time. Never had a problem with them. BTW congratulations on your new Pioneer. I've heard good things about it but I haven't had the pleasure to hear one yet. I've got a Pioneer DV-S733A universal player. It's very good on all discs and sounds almost as good as my dedicated Sony SACD player when playing CD's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 nicholtl: Just like edwinr, I've always had good luck with Amazon. But, I've found among the applicance stores, Circuit City's web-based store has scads of DVD-A and SACDs to choose from. I've had no trouble dealing with them either. Congrats on the "59"! You suck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 http://store.acousticsounds.com/sacd.cfm?section=sacd I've always had good service from Amazon, however, their SACD stock seems limited. Someone on the forum suggested acoustic sounds and their selection is great. Have just ordered, so cannot yet compare their service to amazon. Their website is very nice, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Acoustic Sounds and Elusive Disc are 2 that come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 1, 2004 Author Share Posted October 1, 2004 Thank you dudes for some most excellent store recommendations. Also read somewhere that Fry's Electronics has a good selection? (Not sure if Fry's is nationwide though?) But I gotta ask, what about specific SACD or DVD-A recommendations? I wouldn't mind having one or two jazz or classical or golden oldie or Sinatra albums, just for variety, but I mostly like more mainstream, "MTV" music. Like alternative rock, SOME rap, pop, SOME reggae, techno, and definitely movie soundtracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 www.towerrecords.com no tax and no shipping plus if on email list a couple times a year you get 20%off. They are all good places to spend $$$ on music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 You live in LA, and some of the 'better' Best Buys should have a ton of DVD-A and SACD discs. Tower will have them, but they will be expensive, but you have the money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Just got a prompt delivery today from CDUniverse.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 1, 2004 Author Share Posted October 1, 2004 Cool cool, I now have a plethora of great places to go for DVD-A and SACD...but I'd still like some recommendations please! 1) Pop? 2) Alternative Rock? 3) R&B? 4) Anything along the lines of Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald? 5) Techno? 6) Classical, mostly with violins (like Rachmaninoff?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Yeah, I want to see some electronic/ambient stuff on DVD-A/SACD. Maybe not now, but soon I hope. I know a lot of these groups or individuals are pretty anal about good recordings. Some of the IDM CD's I have are just CLEAN recordings, maybe some purposely placed record pops and hiss, but a DEAD noise floor - NICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 ---------------- On 10/1/2004 6:35:42 PM nicholtl wrote: Cool cool, I now have a plethora of great places to go for DVD-A and SACD...but I'd still like some recommendations please! 1) Pop? 2) Alternative Rock? 3) R&B? 4) Anything along the lines of Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald? 5) Techno? 6) Classical, mostly with violins (like Rachmaninoff?) ---------------- There must be 50 threads with SACD/DVD-A recommendations. Do some searching and I'm sure you'll find plenty. DaddyDee started one just the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 The first SACD I ever bought (this week) was Dave Brubeck "Time Out" it is a must have. I wanted it so I could compare it against vinyl and redbook which I have both. First the redbook, it's very good upsampled at 96KHz but is shimmery and does not have the sound stage of vinyl. Vinyl is superb soundstage wider than the horns apart. On "Take Five" you can hear the echo of Joe Morello's kick drum off the lid of Dave's piano into the piano mike. Paul Desmond's sax is alive and mellow right in front of you. The highs are slightly subdued as if in a full club. Of course the vinyl has a little surface noise and limits to it's dynamic range. Not to say a hard shot on the snare isn't realistic though. SACD has the extended sound stage of the vinyl and the "echo". The noise floor is ambient room noise, essentially zero and the dynamics are suberb. More bass more kick to the kick drum. The differences to vinyl are that the players are slightly moved from the original in the remix, the bass is further forward in the sound stage, and the greater recorded overtones from all the instruments. It's like you are in the same club, but it's empty and the group is giving a private performance or rehearsal. Desmonds sax amp is turned up a little but you can still hear the extra air coming from the bell and the little spittle glitch is still there. The main benefits of SACD that I can see is low noise and the ability to play a whole album without fuss. It is not quite up to the ability of vinyl but the dynamic range and lack of pops and clicks just about even things out. The other SACD I bought was Dianna Krall that I also have in Redbook but not vinyl. The SACD wins this battle in a walk. The piano is as natural as vinyl and her vocals have a much cleaner, less close miked sound. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 2, 2004 Author Share Posted October 2, 2004 Wow, thanks for those nice little anectodes, Rick. Yeah, Diana Krall is definitely one I'm gonna get...just as a reference disk to "show off," I suppose. Which album of hers is the best, song-selection wise, and quality wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Nicholti, if you like the style of music you might want to consider Luther Vandross "Dance with my Father" on DVD-A-IMO pretty good. Also would also peruse the SACD sectin of Chesky Records. I highly recommend Sara K-sort of smooth jazz, very well recorded and detailed using no processing. Read up on how they record their artists on the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted October 2, 2004 Author Share Posted October 2, 2004 I DO like R&B, but Luther Vandross is a little too..."silky," for me. I always think of him as pure sex music, even though I've never used his music...umm...ok enough about that. SO WAIT! Chesky is not actually an artist? It's a brand or something? I always hear that name/word thrown around whenever hi-res audio is being discussed, but I never was keen enough to known exactly who/what Chesky was/is. Cool name though. As far as I've been reading (in Absolute Sound), SACD and DVD-A sales are dwindling while vinyl is skyrocketing, much to the dismay of pros in the biz. In fact, because of the sudden resurgence of vinyl, Musical Fidelity designed this REALLY COOL looking player out of glass and acrylic that costs about $6000. Anyway, what I like about Absolute Sound is that no matter what the price of the product, they are not biased. They basically said Musical Fidelity's $6000 turntable was crap. Unlike Home Theater Mag, where EVERYTHING gets a rave review! Ok that's way off subject. I don't even know what I was talking about. Oh yeah...I was saying DVD-A is more widely regarded as sounding better than SACD. I forget the details, but that seemed to be the unequivocal, unanimous opinion of professional reviewers/writers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Yup chesky is a label, see link: http://www.chesky.com/ They have a followng because of the way they record their artists, again this is explained at the website. Now, I do caution you their mix of records is decidely ecklectic (sp). Another small label with at least one good singer is Audioquest now taken over by Valley Entertainment. Here's the're SACD list link: http://www.audioquest-music.com/sacd/ I recommend Doug MacLeod, acoustic blues. The one I have is not SACD but XRCD and is called "Come to Find" he does a tune with Charlie Musslewhite that will blow your mind if your into blues. Also not available in SACD or DVD-A but one everybody should own is almost anything by Eva Cassidy: "Songbird" and "Time After Time" being the best. I'm not the only one of this forum that will tell you that compared to her Diana Krall and Norah Jones are hard luck lounge singers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 ---------------- On 10/1/2004 9:21:23 AM Daddy Dee wrote: http://store.acousticsounds.com/sacd.cfm?section=sacd I've always had good service from Amazon, however, their SACD stock seems limited. Someone on the forum suggested acoustic sounds and their selection is great. Have just ordered, so cannot yet compare their service to amazon. Their website is very nice, though. ---------------- I'll second acousticsounds. I ordered Holst - The Planets, and two more Oscar Peterson SACD's from them on Wednesday. They arrived Friday afternoon via standard FedEx shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 2, 2004 Share Posted October 2, 2004 Short list of some of my better SACDs: Bruebeck's Time Out The Ultimate Mancini (best bass in Pink Panther Theme of any SACD I own) Steely Dan, Gaucho The Who, Tommy Thelonious Monk, Straight, No Chaser Holst, The Planets (Naxos) Mahler's 1st, Michael Tilson Thomas Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, First Impression Music Getz/Gilberto Krall, Live In Paris & The Girl In The Other Room (mostly for the realistic vocals) More I can't remember off hand Like Thebes said, Eva Cassidy isn't on SACD but Time After Time, Imagine, Wonderful World and Songbird are amazing recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 Yup Gary, there should be some sort of law requiring anybody who is serious about music to have some Eva Cassidy on hand at all times. Bose fans exempted. Also, I'll second others and state that Acoustic Sounds is a very good site with fast shipping and a broad selection of serious music. Finally an excellent source of good music is the weekly recommendations by memebers down in DVD, Music. Tell me more you say.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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