OK, so I just grabbed the Pioneer 563a player. I want to hear some SACD's!
Here's what I have now:
Peter Gabriel 'Up'
John Barry - 'Dances with Wolves - soundtrack '
Billy Joel - 'The Stranger'
at the top of my list to purchase are...
Elton John - 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'
Pink Floyd - 'Dark Side of the Moon'
Miles Davis - 'Kind of Blue'
What else do you recommend? What are some "must have" discs?
oh...and if you recall awhile back I was on a quest to find the "Diamonds & Pearls" album by Prince on SACD. I've still not found one. I'll pay $40 to the first person to come up with one.
I enjoy Grover Washington's Winelight... first couple times in surround mode was "a little too much" because it sounded so different from the Stereo (I have had a version of this album since college around '84)but I have grown to enjoy it very much.
Also, I got my girlfriend the Shania Twain's UP SACD and I actually really enjoy many of the songs (some I cannot stand due to the over rhyming).
Foreigner 4 is ok if you like Foreigner.
Norah Jones is awesome.
Also have Hotel California (DVD-A).
Jane Monheit's Never Never Land.
Insane Clown Posse (j/k...)
I would recommend Aerosmith's greatest hits. Its only a stereo mix but the dynamics are great. Pink Floyd will blow you away. I DO NOT recommend Michael Jackson's Thriller. His #1's that just came out on redbook sounded better than the Thriller SACD. Elton John is the next on my list.
IMO the #1 multichannel SACD is Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon; it's just mind blowing. After that Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust. Roxy Music - Avalon is very good. For DVD-A, The Eagles - Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac - Rumours.
Let us know the results of listening to these on Axiom speakers!
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll add the Aerosmith and Nora Jones to my list. I already have the Fleetwood Mac DVD-A, and it is indeed very nice.
Alison Krauss and Union Station Live sounds absolutely fantastic - downright incredible considering it's a live performance.
If you want to try something in a different vein, try either of Gordon Goodwin's "Big Phat Band"'s albums.
I know, I know....I don't buy music that has the word "Phat" in the title. (I know I didn't until I heard this band...)
Seriously, if you have not heard this big band, give it a listen...Both "Swinging for the Fences" and "XXL" are very good.
In case you do not know who Gordon Goodwin is, he is / was the band leader for the band that backed Johnny Mathis...
These even sound great on my standard Sony player with my Axioms (M60 fronts, 150 center and M22 rears)...no SACD or DVD-A universal player for me yet...they have not come out with a decent 5 disk player yet...unless someone knows about one that I do not...
Anyway, my .02,
WhatFurrer
It's not a SACD, but the recent release of Alan Parsons' "I Robot" on HDAD, though only in 2 stereo mixes, one at 96/24 and the other at 192/24, has awesome clarity, and with my M60's, allows for an almost 180 degree soundstage. A must have for al Parsons fans.
Mark
In reply to:
Alison Krauss and Union Station Live sounds absolutely fantastic - downright incredible considering it's a live performance.
I second this. It's a great DVD with excellent 5.1 surround.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006LLLN/qid=1080232768/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-6090985-5252742?v=glance&s=music&n=507846
Also Roger Waters - In the Flesh [Live] is a fantastic performance with the best 5.1 sound I've heard on a DVD video. He does several songs from Dark Side of the Moon. Roger Waters originally wrote all the songs on that famous album.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000053EZS/qid=1080232811/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/104-6090985-5252742
i gambled somewhat the first of the week and bought some unheard artists which just arrived. renee fleming, jane monheit and eva cassidy/songbird. i also scooped santana/supernatural and steeley dan/guacho. good thing the wife works 'til 8 tonight and i still have sound on my dvd player. if you live close to boston you might hear traces of each tonight.
dan
joema,
The Allison Krauss Album is also an SACD, which Adam was referring to.
Beck Sea Change is great on SACD. I'd also recommend Alison Krauss Live, Aerosmith Toys in the Attic, The Who Tommy, Steely Dan Gaucho, and any Dylan album (I love Blood on the Tracks--Tangled up in Blue in surround is incredible) and many others.
For DVD-A, I'd strongly recommend the 2 Grateful Dead DVD-A. Truly awesome. And I'll second the Gordon Goodwin discs as well.
If you're into hip-hop at all, Outkast Stankonia on DVD-A is great. The bass on some tracks is the most intense I've heard from music, and really tests my SVS. On one track (I think track 10), there literally is real, deep bass coming out of my QS8 surrounds in addition to the fronts and sub. I had never heard deep bass from my surrounds before, and it sounded really good all around.
In reply to:
Beck Sea Change is great on SACD.
I can't believe I forgot this one - definitely a must have. Great music, and a really good surround mix.
In addition to what's already been mentioned, here are some of my favorites:
Ryan Adams - Gold (70s sound, but released in 2001)
Credence CLearwater Revival - any if you like their sound
Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks (1964-1971 Greatest Hits)
Steely Dan - Gaucho (the rest of their catalog will be released in July)
Suitcase Pimps - Love Is Grand (Alternative Rock)
Thorns - Thorns (released last year - sounds like Tom Petty or CSNY)
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Peter White - Glow (smooth Jazz)
You didn't ask about DVD-A, but here are some suggestions in addition to those already listed:
Barenaked Ladies - Everything To Everyone
Donald Fagen - Nightfly
Glen Phillips - Abulum (formerly of Toad The Wet Sprocket)
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
R.E.M. - In Time: Best Of 1988-2003
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
Steely Dan - Everything Must Go
Widespread Panic - Ball
David
Outkast is good in DVD-A? Really? Gotta admit that's the first hip hop album that I've seen w/ actual thumbs up, let alone a mention.
I may give that a try, I like most of the released songs and they are pretty tight in concert.
Yes, Outkast is good in DVD-A. Well, to me at least. You won't see too many references to hip-hop hi-rez because there's basically none of it. Outkast Stankonia and Missy Ellie Mis-E So Addictive are two of the very small crop. I'm telling you, the tracks "Spaghetti Junction" and "I'll call before I Come" have bass that is a true test/show off of your system.
For the record, my buddy has the Missy Elliot and said that sounds very good in DVD-A as well.
And I'll second Porcupine Tree In Absentia and the Suitcase Pimps as well. In Absentia is one of the best recent albums I've heard in some time. Listening to it right now in fact.
In reply to:
oh...and if you recall awhile back I was on a quest to find the "Diamonds & Pearls" album by Prince on SACD. I've still not found one. I'll pay $40 to the first person to come up with one.
The offer still stands, I've still not found one!
There appears to be one for sale at
this Russian site. When I had babelfish translate it, it was 96 rubles (or about $32).
I've seen that before too, but wouldn't have the first clue as to how to order from that site.
I'd also be concerned that they'd send me the standard CD, and it would be a huge hassle, if possible at all, to return.
I just got the SACD version of Roxy Music's Avalon. Thumbs up!
My first copy of this album was on cassette. I used to listen to it in college after tennis practice. For some reason it really helped me wind down.
hmmmm, because of musical tastes differences (hehe) does anyone know a place that has lists of these disks? (for sale or not, jsut curious what is available out there)
/sigh
Its so depressing the stuff I listen to is just not in demand for things like that. thx for the lists however, a few things pop'd out at me
As much as I hate to "re-buy" albums I already own...
Peter Gabriel's So
review
fyi...update.
I've listened to Billy Joel - 'The Stranger' a few times now, and it's superb. Truly worth owning.
Question: I've read that on some SACDs, CD mix provides 90% of the quality that you get on the SACD mix. Is this true?
I don't have my SACD player setup yet but I already notice an improvement in Bob Dylan's 'Highway 61 Revisited'. I have a regular CD version of 'Highway' and the SACD version sounds the better - on a regular player. Can't wait to hear it on new speakers and a SACD player.
As far as I can tell a REALLY well recorded, mixed, and engineered CD will sound just about the same as a 2 channel SACD. The problem is that most CD's aren't REALLY well recorded, mixed and engineered. I've yet to hear a bad sounding SACD. (Of course I haven't heard all that many yet)
Then of course you've got the 5.1 sound with most SACD's that you can't get with a standard CD. Well mixed, it's quite a treat to hear. I wouldn't have thought that Billy Joel in 5.1 would be all that great, but it is.
There's a thread over on the AVS forum where a guy is complaining that his SACD purchases were pretty uninspiring (including that Miles Davis SACD you mentioned Spiff). The responses that came in were hilarious: it was his "low-end" player, his crappy sub, his "mass market" Denon receiver. Pretty funny.
Of course, a few guys pointed out that there may be some other factors at work, too.
I'd submit the Thriller SACD as a bad mix, well not really a bad mix, just not as good as the recently released Michael Jackson #1's on redbook.
For stereo, that might be true. But as Spiff said, how do you distinguish between improvement from remastering vs improvement from the SACD format? Many people report SACDs sound a lot better, but so do some CDs that have been carefully remastered.
For multichannel SACD and DVD-As it's even more complex. They've been remixed as well, plus there's the multichannel factor.
I attribute much of the improvement to the remixing and multichannel format (and only when well done), not to the CD vs SACD format change.
For example I have several multichannel DVD-As I play on a regular DVD player (using the Digital Dolby or DTS 5.1 compatibility track). The good ones sound about equal to my good multichannel SACDs, despite SACD having a theoretical significant technical advantage in sample rate and dynamic range.
By contrast poorly-mastered/mixed multichannel SACDs and DVD-As both sound poor. Of course the technical audio quality of the original master tapes is also a factor.
Another example: my Elton John Goodbye - Yellow Brick Road multichannel SACD sounds superb -- it's up there with DSOTM in terms of audio and mix quality. Is it SACD that causes this? Well my stereo CD of the same album also sounds very good when played in Dolby PLII. Not as good as discrete multichannel SACD, but very good. By contrast the stereo CD Elton John - Don't Shoot Me is acoustically flat and lifeless by comparison, despite good material. Yet it was recorded in the same studio, by the same artist, using the same recording engineer as Yellow Brick Road, about 1 year apart! This well illustrates how there are very signifcant factors at play besides CD vs SACD technical details and alleged player quality.
Well said joema.
Ultimately you would need to get the exact same recording, from the same master, placed onto both the SACD and DVD-A formats to even begin discerning b/w the two. I somehow cannot see that happening.