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Fly in the SACD Ointment?

Yesterday, I almost got tears in my eyes going through the new audiophile format bin at Tower Records in New York. Spotting some old favourites in the SACD section, I was blissfully imagining throwing my CD player out my 17th story window and sitting down at a new system enjoying the best of analog AND digital. Then, it hit me -- even in the good old days, when I when I wouldn't dream of listening until I had Nitty Grittied my records, carefully cleaned the stylus, adjusted VTA, switched off the phone and dimmed the lights -- A LOT OF RECORDS STILL SOUNDED PRETTY BAD. Not nearly as bad (or as often) as a bad CD, but still pretty bad and ultimately unsatisfying which is what lead to my neurosis with this hobby and a never ending quest for great recordings in addition to great gear. So I am wondering -- maybe a $5000 SACD player and a new collection of software at $25 each is just going to take me back to bad analogue?!?!? Or is Sheffield Labs going to painstakingly remaster every title in the SACD catalogue? Has anyone thought about this or is there some magic to SACD that makes it all worthwhile, nonetheless. Maybe bad "analogue" without background noise and with greater dynamic range is still pretty special, but I really don't want to listen to Mannheim Steamroller in any format. Thanks for your thoughts.
cwlondon
mvwinef973
6 posts
 
Won't it all come down to the recording label and how meticulous they are in recording the music? I'm willing to trash (or trade-in) all of my 80's CDs except three: Michael Hedges Aerial Boundaries (Windham Hill), Genesis Trick of the Tail, and Dire Straits Brothers in Arms (one of the first DDD discs). Those still give me goose bumps. when I listen to them.
Some labels will be like Telarc or the old Windham Hill catalog and just have great sound, no matter what the format.
hedgehog's avatar
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hedgehog
185 posts
 
You are correct, Mvwine...it will still boil down to the artists' and/or labels' commitment to the whole process, from recording to manufacture...regardless of the format. Very few labels have even taken advantage of the HDCD possibilities, so I wonder when/if any serious commitment will be made to SACD and/or DVD-A.

Tommart, you propose an interesting experiment...xrcd vs. SACD vs. well-recorded/mastered digital (Telarc). Sam McClain is available in all 3 "formats". Since you have a SACD player, how about you conduct the experiment and let us know the results. Check out Ernie Watts' "Classic Moods" on xrcd!
tommart
72 posts
 
Hedgehog,
I own the Audioquest Sam McClain SACD, not the Telarc. I also hate duplication. I own more LPs than CDs and have only about 3 CDs that I also own the LP. I own about 30 SACDs, and none are duplicates with my CD or LP collection. However, I'm thinking about buying the Abraxas SACD, and I own both the LP and CD. I still have about 10 more SACDs on my "to buy" list, before I buy Abraxas.

Therefore I would not be interested in buying a $20+ xrcd and $20+ SACD of the same recording--just to see. I've already made my choice--high resolution, extended frequency SACD. I'll buy CDs when the price is right (under $6) and 96/24. Someday, I plan to have a Universal SACD/DVD-A player, and will buy some DVD-a's. I own 3 DVD-As already to test two DVD-A players. I returned both players. I think DVD-A can be good, but not on some of the mid-fi DVD players that it's now on.
mvwinef973
6 posts
 
Tommart, was the Denon DVD-3300 one of the units you tried? I was thinking of getting one just for DVD-A in the short term. Also, have you heard of any universal DVD-A,SACD,and CD machines in development or on the market?
artmaltman
769 posts
 
I borrowed the Sony 777es and a stack of SACD's and found that the SACD's varied from barely better than the original cd to absolutely extraordinary. The Red Rose demo cd and Telarc demo cd demonstrate the potential for the medium when combined with DSD recording techniques and the liquidity, continuousness, detail, life were all staggering. But as I have discovered painfully upon returning from a great day of purchasing old used LP's, some old stereo LP's are recorded wonderfully and some are real stinkers too.

For me the biggest format question is no longer whether SACD will take off, nor whether it has the potential to be a huge improvement, but whether the recording engineers will bother to optimize the sound quality.
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