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SACD/CD Question

I've got a question for you SACD guys. I don't have SACD, but have a high-quality two-channel system. I recently bought my first so-called hybrid compatible CD/SACD, a Sony recording, made live in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2002, of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto played by Arcadi Volodos, with the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa. I have no idea what this one sounds like on an SACD system, but on my two-channel system the orchestral sound is just conspicuously AWFUL! This was all the more surprising to me because I'd earlier bought the same pianist's performance of the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto, also recorded live, in the same hall, in 1999, with the same orchestra under James Levine, also on Sony (but with a different recording engineer), and this one's NOT a hybrid compatible CD/SACD but a plain stereo CD, and it sounds just fine. Can anyone shed some light on what is going on here? I'm reluctant now to buy any more so-called hybrid compatible CD/SACD discs after getting burned.
texasdave
metralla
945 posts
 
I have this hybrid SACD (there's no need to refer to these as "so-called hybrid compatible CD/SACD" - hybrid SACD covers it) and it sounds just fine. I've only played the high resolution layer in stereo (it is a multichannel disc).

Here's a review:

http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/1516

I like Volodos, although I prefer Murray Perahia who is also featured on a number of Sony SACDs.

I don't think that buying hybrids for the CD layer is a great strategy, unless you are positively planning on getting an SACD player in the near future. You will be paying a premium for something you don't need, and most reviews you will see on-line will be for the hi-rez section, so praise could be misleading (as it appears to be in this case). In some cases (The Rolling Stones), there is no corresponding CD - so you have no choice.

I buy SACDs for the high resolution stereo sound, and in fact have never played the Redbook layer on any of the hundreds of SACDs I own.

Regards,
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,688 posts
 
1. As Metralla says, there's no reason to buy hybrid SACDs for the CD layer if you are not going to get an SACD player in the near future.

2. The differences between those various releases on the same label is not the medium but the mastering.

Kal
gaudio_eek
312 posts
 
I don't have this recording so I can't speak about it specifically. However, I would add that Sony is rather inconsistent with their productions. Just look at the packaging. Depending on when they were produced, many CD's and SACD's have different labeling although they are the same recordings. I never cared for Sony in this regard. Blame the mastering and the engineering, not the medium. I have hundreds of hybrid SACD's that sound just fine on my "high-quality" CD-based stereo rig.
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