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Impressions of the Stones SACDs

I bought the Hot Rocks compilation just to dip my big toe in the remastered waters. I don't have an SACD player, so the purchase was based on good reviews of the Red Book sound.

So far, I'm far from sold on it. The recordings do sound open and detailed and crisp in ways that I haven't heard before, but overall they sound too bright and very, very hard. Songs like Honky Tonk woman have a thin and glaring vocal quality that makes me run for cover. The guitars are edgy too.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm trying to tell if this is just weekness of my system right now (It can sound bright and hard with bad recordings, but is usually pretty good sounding with good recordings).

Paul
paulraphael
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maxsound2000
26 posts
 
Hi Paul,
I have purchased Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed. I've listened to the Red Book CD versions on my Classe and Vandersteen system and was overwhelmed with what I heard.
I am anxiously awaiting my SACD player (not up to the same class as other components) this week to listen to the SACD versions. Heard them on my brother-in-laws modest system over Christmas and sounded great. I'll have to hang on to the Hot Rocks SACD I bought him and compare the sound quality of common tracks.
I tend to agree with Damon on possibly some minor system changes or tweaks that may help in the sound quality. I have not heard or read any negative reviews of these great discs.
Clark
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paulraphael OP
13 posts
 
So strange that the production on Hot Rocks would be different from the others. Can you actually hear a difference between the same songs on Hot Rocks and on the individual albums? Especially curious about Beggar's Banquet.
ben_campbell
1,169 posts
 
I have the London Years and Let It Bleed-clearly the production is different on the same songs.
I think there is a clear reason why-they've went back to the original tapes and the compilations were obviously produced different at the time (YCAGWYW is noticeably inferior on the single version on the London Years)-it states clearly in the notes they've tried to stick to the original mastering as closely as possible.
I think Let It Bleed is magnificient and The London Years is clearly a marked improvement on the original CD release.
I don't however notice a marked difference between the SACD/CD layer except to say I probably prefer the CD layer!
paulraphael OP
13 posts
 
What surprises me is that some people are saying the remastaered production is different on the individual albums than it is on the Hot Rocks compilation ... that Sympathy for the Devil, for instance, would sound different on the Beggar's Banquet CD/SACD than on the Hot Rocks CD/SACD.
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