how good is sacd1000 on red book

Sean, I know you are into rock music pretty heavily, but if you have any jazz leanings, I have found that the Charles Mingus "Mingus Ah Um" SACD to be a disc that I really like.

Upright bass is quite realistic; the notes have the correct attack, crescendo, and decay of the instrument, with a believable air around them. Horns have nice bite. The sound of Mingus(him, in particular) on this SACD offers something that I was previously unable to hear through my system through CD.

*** Disclaimer for all the anti SACD fanatics, I HAVE NOT TRIED A $3000+ CD PLAYER IN MY SYSTEM ***

I am not sure if others agree with me being impressed with this disc, but if anyone out there has it, I would appreciate them also chiming in.

This disc might represent something that fans of classical, rock, and jazz might be able to use as a common reference point. It features various instruments, both visceral and delicate, and I find it well recorded despite its age. On the down side, there are no vocals, which I find important and may preclude it from being the Audiogoner reference.

While introducing the Rolling Stones 1960's catalog is big news, I am looking forward to being able to buy whatever I want on SACD. I am more into Led Zep, The Who, The Yardbirds, and a ton of more modern stuff. That's when they'll get my money.

The thing I notice most about SACD is getting the weight of the recording much more correct than CD through just about any CD player I have come across(the elite excepted). That and the "realness" are what sets vinyl most apart from CD to me. And, while I still think that at this point vinyl trumps SACD, SACD represents a definite step closer to what I seek. I think that from the lower midrange on down, SACD makes me happier than CD with its weight and believability. There is also a clarity that SACD recordings seem to possess. I don't have enough experience yet with SACD, but I am holding out hope about the realness.

With each new wave of players, Sony targets the masses. I think that for audiophiles, the best has probably come to us from Sony. I know that my 28 lb 333ES player sounds better to me than any of the 7 lb plastic faceplate stuff that has come since. If SACD will become the future of the high end, companies like Musical Fidelity, Linn, Audio Aero, YBA and the like will need to take us there. Just like it was for CD...

My complaint about SACD is the lack of software, although it seems to be on the upswing. The thing that I don't like about the SACD campaign is the way Sony wages it. They have no idea as to how to market the software. And, Sony does not have the either the intestinal fortitude or brains to fight a format war. Does Sony realize that the real format war may not be with DVD - A, but with CD? Maybe I am crazy, but I think that Sony should stop pressing CDs, and just sell SACD. With the amount of material they control, people will be forced to then buy the hardware, and it will all feed off of itself - others will press SACDs or hybrids. Believe me, people have no adversion to buying hardware(witness DVD, MP3, cell phones, palms, satellite tv and now radio), but you have to make them buy into the software.

Joe: I like all different types of music but listen to rock ( boy, what a BIG "generic" term ) the most. I do have everything from HDCD classical recordings down to a good assortment of jazz and blues with some European folk music thrown in for good measure. While i love the sound of a well recorded upright bass, i agree that vocal reproduction is a very important part of a music system.

As such, i really hope that someone starts a thread on the topic. If someone doesn't ( probably due to being "shy" and / or not wanting to be embarrassed if their selections get "panned" right off the bat ), i'll do it just to get the ball rolling. From there, people can chime in with some of their favorite discs. I guess that they need not be of "reference quality" so long as we have the same discs to compare notes with. Having said that, it would be nice to have a point of reference that was also of excellent qualtiy.

As to your comments about Sony dropping CD and moving to SACD, i sincerely doubt that this thought has ever entered their heads. The problem with this is that they are trying to demonstrate the superiority of SACD while at the same time bump up their profit margin for doing us the "favour" of "giving us" the higher quality recordings.

Since the record industry has run into a brick wall in terms of what people are willing to pay for discs prior to simply pirating music, they would either be forced to bring SACD's down to ( at least ) the price of standard CD's in order to be competitive. Otherwise, most people would reduce the quantity of purchases made even further and find ways to duplicate and distribute amongst their friends. As such, it is such a shame that the average citizen is being pushed to the point of becoming a "criminal" due to the greed of the recording industry as a whole. They simply do not understand that "slightly" reduced prices might open up the flood gates of sales and reduce the problems of pirating. After all, i think that most people would prefer to pay a bit more for a high grade ( HA ! ) factory recording complete with all of the liner notes, artwork, etc... than to have a ( typically ) lower grade boot-legged copy with nothing but the song titles listed on it.

How many of you can remember buying brand new LP's for $3.99 - $4.99 at your local "record store" ??? I can. Then again, i worked at a record store in the 70's. Is the recording industry trying to say it costs 3 - 4 times more to produce and market a CD than it does an LP ? I think not. Besides that, i think that the "defect rate" of LP's was MUCH higher than it is with CD's. As such, their overhead in terms of damaged products has got to be lower. It is pure and simple greed and nothing else.... Sean
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I'm listening to my new 1000, they said I got the last one in the system today. All I can say about it for now is that it sounds very good, I can't wait until it get's burned in. I'm waiting for my stereophile discs with the burn track. Otherwise it is a marked improvement in my system & I'm glad to have it.
I really could use a recommendation on some SACD titles as well, the sampler discs are not really my cup of tea. I can say that I really enjoy the SACD sound but would like to hear what some "rock & roll" vocals & amplified instruments sound like.