XRCD vs. SACD

My system has the dCS Verdi SACD transport which will play both, however the red book is up-sampled to DSD thru the Purcell. I tend to agree with Ghostider45, the best way -or one way- is to compare the three recording of Jacintha. Because "Here's to Ben" is XRCD2, “Autumn Leaves” is Gold CD, and finally "Lush Life" is on SACD (or at least this is how have them). Normally all of her recordings are excellent. Well guess what? I still like the SACD better. So again, if the SACD is properly recorded, it will sound better than any other red book CD, whether it was XRCD, XRCD2, Gold, or Aluminium. This is just what I think.
Hope the above helps

I listened to the Tony Bennett/Bill Evans XRCD on my Richard Kern-modified SCD333ES SACD player, which certainly holds it own on redbook playback. (This is my only XRCD listening I've done.) I was struck by the analog sound, very rich; the warmth and emotion of Bennett's voice and Evans' piano really comes through... took me back to days when I had a VPI turntable. Never heard anything else like it on CD/SACD. However, I prefer the sound of the better SACD's, e.g., the Patricia Barber SACD's from Mobile Fidelity, and several other SACD's, too. The detail, imaging, and dynamics are outstanding. But I sure can understand why you might prefer the sound of some of the XRCD's.

It is my humble opinion that SACD has taken off like a heard of turtles. For being around as long as it has, it has gone nowhere and in a few years will be remembered like 8 track, the Sony Elcassette, SQ, QS and Beta.

Another alternative is to seek a CD player that can play HDCD encoded discs. My Arcam FMJ-CD23 can play HDCD discs and they sound better than standard CD's. More natural sound with better dynamics. HDCD is often overlooked and not promoted enough. I do like XRCD's. I have tried a few of JVC's classical re-issues of Fritz Reiner and Chicago Symphony. They are good, but pricey compared to standard priced HDCD discs.

You're asking people to compare apples and oranges. XRCD is a very careful mastering process. SACD is a digital format. If an XRCD mastering job were put on a SACD, it would probably be indistinguishable from a 16-bit disk.