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
CW, splendid thoughts as usual. They make my hair stand on end but you may well be right and hence we will never get out of this rut. Being steamrolled by Mannheim again, no matter in what format, is hardly a pleasant prospective. So I suggest we take it all philosophically and hope for pleasant surprises all the same.
There's plenty to complain about Sony's roll out of SACD software, but the above comments (particularly Cwlondon's) are overstated. I too recently came across the SACD/DVD display at the Chicago Tower Records. The display had nearly the entire non-classical Sony catalog as well as the Chesky discs. Rather than see the Tower display as a problem, I see it as an advance in the public visibility and, hopefully, acceptance of hi-resolution audio formats. For the most part, Sony is re-releasing the old "warhorses" in SACD. I truly understand why many would think this is a problem, but then again, that's exactly how Red Book CDs and later, DVDs were initially marketed.

BTW, I purchased my SACD player for less than $1k (new) and the price of SACD disc is no different than what I was paying for new vinyl releases. Obviously, I see the glass as half-full.
I agree with Onhwy61 about being encouraged by the appearance of SACD in a more prominent place at Tower. A few months ago, it was with the minidiscs in the pop section at Tower here in NY, virtually out of sight. As far as Cwlondon's point, I've said it before, SACD (and 24/96, for that matter) gets you closer to the master tape, but be careful what you wish for, because some of those master tapes don't sound so great. As new recordings get made in these formats, this will be less of a concern, but you should be cautious about some of the re-releases. For example, I didn't realize that Billy Joel's "The Stranger", an album I've always liked, was cut at as hot a level as the SACD revealed. Now part of the difference is in the resolving power of my system now vs. then, but it's still clear that SACD has revealed more than I want to hear. But it has also revealed to me just how good the Bruno Walter series of recordings for Columbia are. So for now, a mixed blessing, but I prefer to look at it as the start of something which will be significantly better in the future.
CW, you are on to something here. Take Carole King's Tapestry as an example. Her voice was not recorded too well to begin with. On the album and CD that was audible. On the SACD, well, it becomes sort of the new characteristic of the record I wish I'd never heard. Take New World Symphony (Dvorzak) by New York Philharmonic, conducted by Bernstein... There IS more detail I can hear in the SACD version, but the tape hissssssssssssssss never seems to end througout the disc. Somehow, it is more engaging musically but the hisssssssssssss puts a damper on it. This seems to be the case with many of the re-releases Sony has done. I bought Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell... I never liked it sonically on vinyl or CD, cause I always felt it was missing something. Well let me tell you, it misses something on SACD too. Still a cool album, but still misses something sonically.

On a brighter note, Mozart's Piano Concierto No. 20, also on Sony, in my opinion just is plain great. It has also got it's issues, but the performance on SACD is just so much more engaging! De piano IS THERE!! My favorite disc right this minute is Dave Bruebeck's 40th Anniversary Tour of the UK, a Telarc live recording in DSD. It is open, dynamic, full and has one of the lowest noise floors I have heard yet on SACD. The dynamics, IMO a trademark of Telarc discs, the nice balanced soundstage and the musicality are amazing. As this is a disc that will play in normal and SACD machines, it makes for a good test and comparison disc when checking out new stuff.

Look, stuff that was poorly recorded will always sound bad. I am just hoping that telarc and co will push SACD to the limit and make the best of it. It has potential.

Niels.
I remember searching for good vinyl and CD recordings, and today I search for good SACD recordings.

In almost every case the Sony SACDs sound better than their CD counterparts.

However, to truly experience the benefit of SACD, the master should be in DSD. Telarc, FIM, GrooveNote, Red Rose, and a handful of record labels are selling DSD/SACD recordings and sonically are superior to the Sony releases. However, some of the performances fall short. For example, Jacintha's Autumn Leaves is great sonically, but I listen to Carole King or the Bangles Greatest Hits more.

Sony is beginning to release new DSD/SACD material. I'm not sure if the master is DSD, but this week I understand that Sony is released CD and SACD versions of Train's Drops of Jupiter. Soon to follow is something new from Offspring and Aerosmith's most recent recording.

Like the move from 78 to 33, 33 to CD, VHS to DVD, etc. it takes time to build a library.

I've had my SACD player for 3 months. Today, I listened one of my favorate DVD-videos, Fleetwood Mac's The Dance. It was the first time I listened to it since I bought my SACD player. It sounded flat, fuzzy and grainy. SACD has spoiled me.