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First SACD to Listen To?

Despite having been an early adopter of CD's (I still have my Magnavox 650 in storage), I have never listened to an SACD. (I have listened to DVD-A's and was very impressed, but we know what happened to that format.)

My CEC TL-1x/Dodson 218 combo does not play SACD, but I have an Oppo 980h which I understand does. If I were to buy one SACD to get a sense of how that format sounds, which would you recommend? I generally listen to folk rock, some jazz, some classical.

Thanks.

Neal
nglazer
chayro
2,987 posts
 
Ncarv - I bought that recording on CD a few years back. I didn't know it was available on SACD. It is a great recording, even on CD. As to the first disc? I recommend Chesky's World's Greatest Audiophile Vocal Recordings. Very simple, pristine sound with a lot of space and air. Definitely "audio demo" stuff, but I think the music is worthwhile, especially Kenny Rankin singing Round Midnight.
lokie's avatar
lokie
528 posts
 
Beck's "Sea Change" is the one sacd that I would recommend. What kind of music do you like?
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Two great options with either Beck's "Sea Change" or The "Blue Country Heart" by Jorma. If you don't have the cd versions of these, get them as they are both great albums. If you have them already then you can do a direct comparison which will be useful.
The problem you have as I see it is the Oppo. I have the same player and am not impressed with it's audio performance. I recently moved it into the living room where it does video duties only.
rgs92
974 posts
 
Try Bob Dylan (Desire).
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
since recording quality varies, it is possible that a purchase of say, 50 sacd discs will reveal a variation in sound quality that a sample of one will not provide.

i advise borrowing as many sacd discs as you can and not buying any, until you are confident in the direction you want to go.

listening to one is insufficient. i would not make a determination based upon such a small sample.
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