Wish You Were Here, 3 Different Versions


I have 3 different versions of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". The original is the gold cd on the Mastersound label using Sony's Super Bit Mapping. I also have the sacd 5.1 version from Acoustic Sounds as well as the Blu-ray version from the newest box set. Since I do not have surround sound, the Blu-Ray and sacd 5.1 were played back on the high rez stereo layer.

Here are my observations. The 2 channel Sony Mastersound is the best sounding of the three. It sounds much more relaxed and the bass is simply thunderous. I am not very impressed with the 2 channel sacd version. Perhaps if I was playing it in the surround mode in a good surround system I would like it better, but to me the vocals sound distant and everything seems slightly out of focus. The Blu-Ray is a tossup. While the instruments are all well defined, the bass is not as deep sounding. On all 3 versions, the mids and highs are exemplerary.

I am using an Esoteric UX-3 for my sacd and redbook cd listening. I have the player set to read the 2 channel sacd layer. My Blu-Ray Player is a very expensive Pioneer Elite player which plays sublimely through my system.

I keep asking myself how I could possibly like the 2 channel Mastersound cd better than the other 2 high rez versions, but I have gone back and forth many times on many different days and my ears aren't lying. Any thoughts on why I prefer the Mastersound cd? It is an audiophile quaslity disk and I think it was one of the first Sony produced using their Super Bit Mapping although I have also heard it referred to as super bullshit marketing. Thoughts?
128x128stereo5
Actually, I have the original version on cd as well as the other three plus 6 different lp pressings as well. I am mainly concentrating on the 3 which have the highest resolution for this discussion.
hmm not my soup bowl. i prefer to listen to different performers rather having same with different versions.