SACD's to avoid?

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emkey

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I'm looking for suggestions on SACD's to avoid and why. I didn't see a topic on this here so I thought I'd start my own. Apologies if I've missed another one.

I'll get the ball rolling. Cyndi Lauper's "She's so unusual" was a big dissapointment. I did a comparison between the SACD and my old CD version and while the instruments on the SACD are much cleaner and less muffled the vocals remain exactly the same. What this leads to is a very poor mix where the vocals sound flat and out of balance.

 
If you are looking for serious surround, avoid the James Taylor "October Road" SACD. If you want to hear the music sound great, then it's a keeper.

Tough to say on these. I guess the Meatloaf Bat Out of Hell gets the worst reviews.
 
I love this title but the SACD did not do much for me. I was not really impressed with the SACD over the remaster CD's
 
Agreed. October Road is very nice sonically.

But in terms of surround, I'd rate other SACDs - including the earlier James Taylor SACDs (Horuglass and JT) - higher.


 
Avoid Chessky SACDs if you only buy surround SCADs. Their rear channels are only a faint ambience. Stereo-wise, they sound good, but they're a big disappointment in surround.
 
I'd agree if you're looking for immersive Surround SACDs, you'll want to take a pass on most of the Chesky SACDs.

A notable exception to that is "Swing Live" by Bucky Pizzarelli. It's a very good use of Surround in a Jazz Club setting using the Ambisonics Soundfield Microphone. Recommended.

>>Avoid Chessky SACDs if you only buy surround SCADs. Their rear channels are only a faint ambience. Stereo-wise, they sound good, but they're a big disappointment in surround.
 
A good surround mix is preferred, but the primary consideration for me is a good mix in at least one of the two possible SACD presentations. Being a hybrid disk also helps. There don't seem to be many of those out there right now and I think its a major impediment to SACD gaining some serious popularity. The Police best of SACD is a nice step in the right direction though.
 
Well, in the U.S. market, all of SACDs except for the Sonys, Red Rose and some of the Universal releases are Hybrids. So the number of those are increasing almost daily.

And Sony Music has already announced that their Bob Dylan SACD series will be all hybrid. So even Sony is getting there!

>>A good surround mix is preferred, but the primary consideration for me is a good mix in at least one of the two possible SACD presentations. Being a hybrid disk also helps. There don't seem to be many of those out there right now and I think its a major impediment to SACD gaining some serious popularity. The Police best of SACD is a nice step in the right direction though.
 
Most of what I can find locally must be coming from Sony and such then. :(

In any case its good to know that things are heading in the right direction.
 
If you want more of the Hybrid SACDs, and they aren't in local stores, I'd strongly encourage you to check out the web stores that carry SACDs - such as Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct and Red Trumpet.

They carry a broader selection of the available SACDs than any of the retail stores. And some of the prices - like $17.99 per Sony SACD at Elusive Disc - are very reasonable !


 
Here is a "peek" at the lack of surrounds on the OCTOBER ROAD SACD. Can anyone find the center channel??? :eek:

<img src="http://pages.cthome.net/iasct/octrd.jpg"/>

:-jon
 
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