OMG what happened...

[JohnMichael]

...my stereo sounds like crap.

I have been very pleased with my stereo with the addition of the JBL Studio 530's. This morning I was playing my favorite recording of Beethoven's "9th Symphony" by the LSO. This morning it was not sounding good.

I began to question the speakers or maybe I need to switch IC's. I even thought maybe I was developing some sinus congestion. I thought of anything that could cause such a change.

The problem was I was playing a hybrid sacd and I did not set the SA8001 for sacd and had been listening to the cd layer. I am glad I figured it out and switched to sacd. All was right again.

I had never played the cd layer of a hybrid sacd before. I always appreciated sacd's before and well recorded cd's but what happened with this cd layer? It was bad enough to cause me to question if my stereo or I were operating properly. Has anyone else noticed such a quality change between sacd and cd?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

...my stereo sounds like crap.

I have been very pleased with my stereo with the addition of the JBL Studio 530's. This morning I was playing my favorite recording of Beethoven's "9th Symphony" by the LSO. This morning it was not sounding good.

I began to question the speakers or maybe I need to switch IC's. I even thought maybe I was developing some sinus congestion. I thought of anything that could cause such a change.

The problem was I was playing a hybrid sacd and I did not set the SA8001 for sacd and had been listening to the cd layer. I am glad I figured it out and switched to sacd. All was right again.

I had never played the cd layer of a hybrid sacd before. I always appreciated sacd's before and well recorded cd's but what happened with this cd layer? It was bad enough to cause me to question if my stereo or I were operating properly. Has anyone else noticed such a quality change between sacd and cd?

Maybe the CD layer wasn't so bad, but your hearing set the SACD layer as the reference.

I have noticed this difference as well, but only when the master came from DXD, and transferred to SACD. The SACD layer sounded so much better than the CD layer, it was quite noticeable.

[blackraven]

I have always found the Cd layer of a hybrid SACD to sound fantastic. The Cd layer is usually Mastered very well.

[JohnMichael]

I have always found the Cd layer of a hybrid SACD to sound fantastic. The Cd layer is usually Mastered very well.

I would think they were both from the same DSD master with one SACD and then converted for CD

[emaidel]

As an owner of the same SACD player you have (the Marantz SA-8001), I find your post a bit curious: the player automatically switches to SACD playback whenver a hybid disc is inserted. You have to purposely choose the CD layer if you wish to listen to it.

That being said, whenever I've compared the two layers of any hybrid disc I own, the SACD layer always wins out with the CD layer, in comparison, sounding thin, dry and a bit lifeless. I would imagine that if I had somehow selected the CD layer of a particular hybrid disc I listen to often I too would wonder what had gone wrong. Still, I've never found the CD layer to be downright lousy, since it comes from the DSD master of the hybid recoding, though I would never choose to listen to the CD layer other than for comparison purposes, and then, only for a short time.

[markw]

I've heard slight differences myself but never such a gross difference that ruins a fine piece of music.

Is it possible to try the cd in another player of known quality? Perhaps it's actually a software issue.

[JohnMichael]

As an owner of the same SACD player you have (the Marantz SA-8001), I find your post a bit curious: the player automatically switches to SACD playback whenver a hybid disc is inserted. You have to purposely choose the CD layer if you wish to listen to it.

No my player remains at CD unless I select SACD. It works perfectly and sounds great but SACD is manually selected.

[JohnMichael]

Maybe the CD layer wasn't so bad, but your hearing set the SACD layer as the reference.

I have noticed this difference as well, but only when the master came from DXD, and transferred to SACD. The SACD layer sounded so much better than the CD layer, it was quite noticeable.

Thanks for the information. I had no idea there could be that much difference. The SA8001 plays cd's nicely so I was surprised over the lack of focus and detail.