Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions SACD v. Redbook

I was hoping someone more with more "technical" knowledge could help verify an assumption of mine concerning the remastered Bob Dylan hybrid SACDs that were released a few years back.

After reading several helpful posts on these boards and an article posted on "The Audio Critic" (http://theaudiocritic.com/plog/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=4&blogId=1) concerning the difference between SACD and standard Redbook CD, it appears that the original 16bit/44.1-kHz "Redbook" standard yields the same two-channel sound quality as SACD mastered discs. Am I correct in my assumption then that the if the mastering for both layers is identical, then the Redbook layer on a stereo hybrid SACD will sound exactly the same as the SACD layer if played on a two-channel setup?

The reason I ask, is the Bob Dylan SACD box set is no longer in print, hence the SACD hybrid discs now cost about $20 each. I know that discs were also released with just the Redbook layer remastered version and are considerably cheaper ($10 a piece) and easier to find. Notwithstanding the Dylan SACD discs that contained a 5.1 multichannel mix (I think there were 3 or 4 of them), if I was playing the discs on my 2-channel M22 set-up would I notice any difference between the SACD hybrid disc and the Redbook only disc?

Thanks for anyone that can help. Hopefully this doesn't sound too convaluted.

-William

I'd say that you are unlikely to hear a difference.

Not entirely clear: are you asking if there will be a big difference between the SACD layer and a older CD version or between the the CD layer of the SACD hybrid and an older CD?

If that is the latter, it depends a lot if the newer SACD was made for "audiophiles" and might have less dynamic compression and stuff like that.

I have a huge number of SACDS (nearly 600, all classical). Some of the remasters have actually better CD versions than their original CD releases, but most of the time. if it is better, I cannot hear the difference (iPod with PXC-250 Sennheiser headphones).

For Bob Dylan, I would mostly look to see if the remaster has more or less dynamic compression than the original.

William, you're correct if the mixing and mastering on the red book is the same as that on the 2-channel SACD, but there doesn't appear to be any simple way to determine if that's the case on the Dylan SACDs(or any others), since they often differ significantly even when on the same hybrid SACD disc.

The blind testing that was reported in the AES Journal and summarized by Audio Critic did pretty clearly establish that the better sound of many 2-channel SACDs isn't due to higher sampling or bit rates than regular CDs, since their sound was audibly identical when run through a 16bit/44.1KHz DAC, thereby "limiting" them to those parameters.

JohnK: Thanks for the helpful response. I didn't realize that the mixing & mastering could differ between the Redbook and SACD layers on a hybrid disc. I guess I'll keep my eyes open for some used Dylan SACDs.