HiRez Poll John, Elton - GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD [SACD/DVD-A/BDA]

[HDave]

Interesting research Fredblue on the comparisons of formats, I for one have preferred the DVD-AUDIO over the Blu-Ray. My thoughts were and are probably a small sampling, that SACD mch were made from the dvd-audio mixes. But in this case the 30th Anniversary DE sacd was released before the DVD-AUDIO and are possibly the same. I might not open my recent delivery (Amazon CA 12.00 cdn) that I ordered in Jan and received today ?
I think having members like you get to the meat of the issue will help others spend wisely, cause we want the one that ultimately sounds the best.
My goal was to replace all I had with Blu-Ray audios and sell off the DVDs and SACD's, now it's reducing my inventory for what sounds the best with my setup(forget the packaging or extras) I'm an audiofanatic don't need posters/patches or knic knacs. Impress my ears not my eyes......
Oh here's my didn't think I'd get it, and may not keep it. .....Price was great....

 

[wavelength]

I got my SACD copy and I definitely prefer it over the blu-ray. For one thing, the bottom end is fuller; for example the bass drum is stronger on the SACD. I find the overall fidelity of the SACD easier to listen to; where I struggle to get through the blu-ray (for me there is a harshness) I have enjoyed the SACD from start to finish. The SACD bonus tracks, especially the acoustic mix of Candle In the Wind, are a nice extra as well.

 

[Simon A]

I got my SACD copy and I definitely prefer it over the blu-ray. For one thing, the bottom end is fuller; for example the bass drum is stronger on the SACD. I find the overall fidelity of the SACD easier to listen to; where I struggle to get through the blu-ray (for me there is a harshness) I have enjoyed the SACD from start to finish. The SACD bonus tracks, especially the acoustic mix of Candle In the Wind, are a nice extra as well.

So what did you vote?

 

[wavelength]

So what did you vote?

8 for the SACD. I prefer the Greg Penny mastering of the other EJ sacd's. He really nailed it imho.

 

[GOS]

8 for the SACD. I prefer the Greg Penny mastering of the other EJ sacd's. He really nailed it imho.

Sure did - they are so warm and fuzzy sounding. :banana:

 

[woody]

These recent threads have validated my thoughts on the BDA- I just don't find it 'engaging' like the SACD's I own of EJ. (Never been able to work out why.?)
Anyone has a spare SACD of this they wish to part from?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I recently got the ability to extract SACD tracks from disk. I extracted the tracks from my copy of this SACD, At the end of both the stereo and the 5.1 layers of the second disk was a short track of silence. Its exact title was:

14 - This album is a tribute to the genius of Gus Dudgeon

 

[edisonbaggins]

Never been crazy about the BD-A, so I just snagged what I hope is the 2 SACD set from eBay for $21 shipped. I'll have to have the Mrs. and Mum do an A/B listening for me.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Never been crazy about the BD-A, so I just snagged what I hope is the 2 SACD set from eBay for $21 shipped. I'll have to have the Mrs. and Mum do an A/B listening for me.

Mrs. Baggins reports that the SACD sounds better!
It's nice to know I wasn't crazy, thinking that the BD-A didn't sound as awesome as the EJ SACDs I love so much. And now I have them all!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Mrs. Baggins reports that the SACD sounds better!
It's nice to know I wasn't crazy, thinking that the BD-A didn't sound as awesome as the EJ SACDs I love so much. And now I have them all!

I have the DVD~A and it sounds absolutely brilliant on my system. Every time I play Benny and the Jets I crank up the volume and it's like you're right there! Cannot believe I didn't vote until now......A SOLID 10!

How are you doing, Mike?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Yeah, I've never voted either. I have had the SACD since it was released. A 10 from me as well.

 

[edisonbaggins]

How are you doing, Mike?

I'm hanging in there. I have it way better than some people in this part of the world (infantry, refugees, people living under tyranny, etc.), but definitely miss friends, family and the comforts and safety of home.
My missions, plus the master's classes I'm taking online (quite the challenge with shitty to zero internet, at times) keep me pretty busy. I also read as many books via video as I possibly can for my little son. The USO mails the books, plus the video on SD card home for me. For his 1st birthday I'll be reading a book I wrote for him recently. Stuff like that helps keep me sane.
Thanks for asking!

 

[Frogmort]

Listening to the blu-ray. This sounds absolutely great, if maybe a bit hot overall. I grew up with this album; my older brother and sister each had their own double record set, which I borrowed from each quite frequently. The funeral music from this and some of the Close Encounters sound effects are some of my earliest scary memories, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

 

[jefe1]

I also read as many books via video as I possibly can for my little son. The USO mails the books, plus the video on SD card home for me. For his 1st birthday I'll be reading a book I wrote for him recently. Stuff like that helps keep me sane.
Thanks for asking!

I just want to commend you for being the best dad you can. What you are doing for your son is far more important than your other activities and hopefully builds many memories for him. Much good luck to you.

 

[JonUrban]

I have a rip of the BluRay on the USB SSD drive in my car, and my usual demo for a non-surround passenger will include "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" because the mix fucking SHINES in the car. The use of all 4 corners as a base with the center highlighting certain passages and instruments hits front seat passengers in the face as the sound reflects off the windshield. The price of this disc justifies itself on this first track alone.

(I will admit that if they stick around long enough, I skip over "Candle" right to "Benny", because although I loved "Candle" in the '70s, it's been over exposed as is, and as the "England's Rose" version, I just can't sit through it anymore and won't subject passengers to it either.)

 

[edisonbaggins]

I just want to commend you for being the best dad you can. What you are doing for your son is far more important than your other activities and hopefully builds many memories for him. Much good luck to you.

I quite agree! I thought this might be an appropriate opportunity to share the book I wrote for my son's 1st birthday (he's sitting next to me right now, watching ELO Zoom Tour Live). In a big way, reading books for him all year influenced the Life in Surround music review YouTube thing I'm doing:

 

[Beefalo]

I bought the 2003 DVD audio. It was way too loud & the high frequencies were too hot for me. I did enjoy the m/c mix.
I looked around and got the 2010 UIGY-9052. It has normal equalization and loudness. Unfortunately its only stereo.

 

[beerking]

Still catching up on the polls voting..

Young Mr Dwight was at the peek of his powers with his partner in rhyme Mr Taupin..imo, in producing this release.
This just has it all.
Pure utter brilliance
A 10 is never in doubt.

 

[Fourplay]

I too have been delinquent in voting on this. It is one of the discs I frequently reach for as a demo. A definite 10.

I grab the SACD because of no menus, and the reviews here say it is better. Did not bother with the Blu because of the reviews.

 

[ssully]

re: DVDA vs SACD.

I have ripped both (the SACD was ripped to 88/24 PCM).

I loaded 'Grey Seal' into Audition, upsampled the SACD to 96kHz (to match the DVDA) and ran high resolution frequency analysis on the front left channel of both.

Here's the result: (DVDA green, SACD blue)





Little if any mastering difference there. The two curves track each other. The difference @ >20kHz is inaudible (unless you play this so loud that it causes distortion in your system)

This is also a good example of 'ears are not eyes' and 'not everything matters'. The waveforms look different at their 'top and bottom' edges-- but the SACD is likely just a transcode of the DVDA.

DVDA






SACD (-->88kHz PCM)





The one caveat is that LFE (not shown) can conceivably vary between formats, due to inconsistency in how LFE is treated both in production and in home systems.