Old Sony SACDs- The Various Slipcovers

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sjcorne

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Here's something I've always wondered about since I started collecting OOP surround discs.

It seems that during Sony's short run of producing Multichannel SACD in the early 2000s, they couldn't quite settle on how to package them.

Here are four Sony discs in my collection with the four different packaging style I've identified so far:

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The funny thing is, on eBay I've seen all four discs in all four styles! However, certain titles tend to appear more in one style than another.

I originally thought it was simple- Gold= 5.1, Grey= Stereo. But there are some grey ones that are also multichannel. The "52nd Street" disc is European so I assume that style takes the place of the gold in Europe. Lastly, there are some that just have that sticker either attached directly to the disc or the shrink wrap. I would guess those are from a later batch as Sony didn't want to over-advertise the multichannel aspect.

Reminds me of how back in '70s Columbia started off big with the gold SQ packaging and slowly dialed it down until quad died. Audio Fidelity did something similar with their quad SACDs recently. History repeats itself I guess.

Personally I really love the gold ones, and it's a shame that the majority of used discs for sale are missing their slipcovers :(
 
Here's something I've always wondered about since I started collecting OOP surround discs.

It seems that during Sony's short run of producing Multichannel SACD in the early 2000s, they couldn't quite settle on how to package them.

Here are four Sony discs in my collection with the four different packaging style I've identified so far:

View attachment 31771

View attachment 31772

The funny thing is, on eBay I've seen all four discs in all four styles! However, certain titles tend to appear more in one style than another.

I originally thought it was simple- Gold= 5.1, Grey= Stereo. But there are some grey ones that are also multichannel. The "52nd Street" disc is European so I assume that style takes the place of the gold in Europe. Lastly, there are some that just have that sticker either attached directly to the disc or the shrink wrap. I would guess those are from a later batch as Sony didn't want to over-advertise the multichannel aspect.

Reminds me of how back in '70s Columbia started off big with the gold SQ packaging and slowly dialed it down until quad died. Audio Fidelity did something similar with their quad SACDs recently. History repeats itself I guess.

Personally I really love the gold ones, and it's a shame that the majority of used discs for sale are missing their slipcovers :(

Maybe the next time Quad Linda is on the forum she could answer your questions...I'm sure she knows..I hate those outer slipcovers...the plastic would show every scuff and would discolor over time...the difference with some of the Sony discs were that divisions of Sony..like Epic and Columbia wouldn't have the slip covers and the regular Sony discs would...and they were the same thing..
 
Here's something I've always wondered about since I started collecting OOP surround discs.

It seems that during Sony's short run of producing Multichannel SACD in the early 2000s, they couldn't quite settle on how to package them.

Here are four Sony discs in my collection with the four different packaging style I've identified so far:

View attachment 31771

View attachment 31772

The funny thing is, on eBay I've seen all four discs in all four styles! However, certain titles tend to appear more in one style than another.

I originally thought it was simple- Gold= 5.1, Grey= Stereo. But there are some grey ones that are also multichannel. The "52nd Street" disc is European so I assume that style takes the place of the gold in Europe. Lastly, there are some that just have that sticker either attached directly to the disc or the shrink wrap. I would guess those are from a later batch as Sony didn't want to over-advertise the multichannel aspect.

Reminds me of how back in '70s Columbia started off big with the gold SQ packaging and slowly dialed it down until quad died. Audio Fidelity did something similar with their quad SACDs recently. History repeats itself I guess.

Personally I really love the gold ones, and it's a shame that the majority of used discs for sale are missing their slipcovers :(

Paper came first; one without a slipcover is just missing it, I think all single-layer released had them to avoid confusing people. Plastic came next. The digipak ones are from much later, and I believe are Japanese issues.
 
I love the old slipcovers. It added to the specialness of SACD. A minor little add on that made the release much more official. I miss those old slipcovers. I'll actually go out of my way to buy an SACD if it has them.
 
My ”52nd Street” and ”The Stranger” do not look like yours, they have the same packaging as your Cheap Thrills one.
 
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ooh I love a Sony SACD! (preferably Surround and in a slipcase but you can't win 'em all..! :D ) i don't know what incarnation of slipcase came when or where as I was late to the SACD party but they are a lot of fun and so pretty! :sun

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(ps. sorry for the Ray Charles and Mancini "slipping" in the 1st pic there.. if you'll pardon the pun! :p )
 
just to add, I got a number of these still sealed (including Strange Beautiful Music, 52nd Street, The Stranger, All That We Let In, Astronaut, Get Lifted, Reality, Chorus Line, Zorro, Phantom, Yo Yo Ma w/Morricone, the 2 x John Mayer's, Tony Bennett & Friends, Danny Elfman, Switchfoot) and none of them came in any kind of slipcase (paper or plastic! :yikes ) but all came with pretty little stickers which I like almost as much as an itty bitty cutey slipcase so that made up for the lack of slipcase action! :p
 
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FWIW the James Taylor Hourglass SACD I just got in the mail came with one of the gold slipcovers.

I've seen this one in the paper sleeve as well, and there is also Adam's euro version pictured above that has different cover art. I'm listening to it now and it's phenomenal- highly recommended. I'll be sure to rate this one in the poll soon.

Regarding the evolution of the packaging I'd say ubertrout is probably right- only the earliest releases have the opaque paper sleeves (Blow By Blow, The Stranger, Hourglass, etc), then Sony switched to the gold & silver slipcovers and reissued some of the old discs, and finally the stickers replaced the slipcovers.
 
just to add, I got a number of these still sealed (including Strange Beautiful Music, 52nd Street, The Stranger, All That We Let In, Astronaut, Get Lifted, Reality, Chorus Line, Zorro, Phantom, Yo Yo Ma w/Morricone, the 2 x John Mayer's, Tony Bennett & Friends, Danny Elfman, Switchfoot) and none of them came in any kind of slipcase (paper or plastic! :yikes ) but all came with pretty little stickers which I like almost as much as an itty bitty cutey slipcase so that made up for the lack of slipcase action! :p

na you don't count! you got everything! not fair!!:mad:
 
The US Sony SACDs never got the square stickers....slipcase or no slipcase

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Aside from the Living Stereo SACDs, very few Sony SACDs came in the Super Jewel Cases.
 
Aside from the Living Stereo SACDs, very few Sony SACDs came in the Super Jewel Cases.

Thanks for those pics- I really dig the look of the European slipcover

I thought most of the Analgoue Productions and Universal SACDs came in the smaller size Super Jewel Cases (not to be confused with the taller DVD-A ones). Some have the old hinge style, like most DVD-A, and others have the newer square one.

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread- I didn't think my obsession with gold slipcovers would spark much conversation
 
The US Sony SACDs never got the square stickers....slipcase or no slipcase

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586139418_89f8e50094_n.jpg

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Aside from the Living Stereo SACDs, very few Sony SACDs came in the Super Jewel Cases.

most of my Euro Sony SACDs have square stickers of some variation.. but one of my Isley 3+3 SACDs and my only Ship Ahoy SACD came with square gold stickers AND gold plastic slipcases and Ship Ahoy i got sealed in Virgin Megastore.. weird.

one Sony SACD I found (MCh with a non-existent surround mix, fwiw) in a Super Jewel Box is from a later time period than all these slipcase jobs, Andreas Scholl Goes Pop.
 
Thanks for those pics- I really dig the look of the European slipcover

I thought most of the Analgoue Productions and Universal SACDs came in the smaller size Super Jewel Cases (not to be confused with the taller DVD-A ones). Some have the old hinge style, like most DVD-A, and others have the newer square one.

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread- I didn't think my obsession with gold slipcovers would spark much conversation

iirc many of the Universal MCh SACDs came in narrow hinge SJBs but some of the latter ones (2003/2004?) have wider hinge cases.. wish UMe had carried on at least long enough to get Pretzel Logic and the other Elton's out.. sigh! :p
 
The OST from "Zorro" is the only US Sony SACD in my collection with a Super Jewel Case.

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very cool..! :upthumb

mine came sealed (as a drilled out job so it could have been anything when it started life) from an Amazon marketplace seller in a clear/crystal CD jewel case (but with groovy SACD stickers! which made me fall for its authenticity as new sealed old 2005 stock.. phew! possibly not but I slept soundly that night deluding myself it might be anyway :p )

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I love the old slipcovers. It added to the specialness of SACD. A minor little add on that made the release much more official. I miss those old slipcovers. I'll actually go out of my way to buy an SACD if it has them.

If you are talking about the paper slipcovers, oh yes. My take on the paper slipcovers is that they are unique to that specific release and can not be found anywhere else. As a collector, I look for the titles that include the paper slipcovers. Btw, last year, at about this time, Hong Kong Sony Music reissued several SACD titles on single-layer SACD with the old slipcovers....

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