Reference recordings?

[RoyY51]

this the one?

One of many...they were pretty good, don't ya think?

[Maudi]

One of many...they were pretty good, don't ya think?

Absolutely excellent musicians!

[Maudi]

Here is an old favorite of mine, very sentimental almost kitsch arrangements but Paul Desmond plays so very beautiful here, and also the sound of a big group of musicians in one big room, in this case Webster Hall in New York City, gives a kind of unity to the sound that is not easy to find these days.

[David Harper]

I was ready to buy some SACDs until I read (on some link that I'll never be able to find again) a long technical discussion with some Swedish audio engineer in which he says SACDs are not really superior to regular CDs at all. He says AUDIODVDs are superior, but there aren't many of these available yet.
Has anyone here made a direct comparison between CD and SACD? SACDs are so expensive that I'm not sure I want one now.

[JoeE SP9]

I have done this with hybrid dual layer CD's. They have a regular CD layer and an SACD layer.

IME most SACD's sound better than the regular CD's. The technical capability is there for SACD's to sound better. The mastering is what makes or breaks the sound.

One Swedish engineer does not a consensus make. From what I've heard and read most studio engineers are for all the higher resolution formats, including bitstream (SACD).

If you have an SACD capable player why not buy one of the hybrid disks. Play both layers and tell the rest of us what you think.

Sony invented bitstream for the purposes of archiving their master tapes. SACD's are nothing more than bitstream files placed on a CD (physical format).

[Maudi]

I think that downloads in various formats is what the future will bring and that all hardware formats will slowly disappear, except maybe LP's will stay in limited numbers.

It's a logical evolution and it does make it very easy to buy great sounding files very easily.
This 24/96 download sounds absolutely incredible, it betters all my SACD's and is only available as a download in Flac or Wav format;Sound Liaison Music Shop



also the Doug Macleod download that some members mentioned on page 1 of this thread as well as the Carmen Gomes download are better sounding i.m.o.than my ''old'' SACD's.

[JoeE SP9]

I believe your response doesn't address the question of whether or not SACD's sound better than Red Book CD's. IMO/E they usually do. It's also been my experience that some high res downloads sound as good or better than SACD's. OTOH I have some standard Red Book CD's (Groove Note, Mapleshade etc.) that sound better than almost anything else.

As with everything you take a chance whenever you plunk down the money.

[David Harper]

I located the discussion about SACD,s go to;
sound.westhost.com/cd-sacd-dvda.htm
I would really appreciate if you guys would go to this link and read this discussion and tell me what you think

[Maudi]

no you are right. I did not really address the question, sorry.
I do think that SACD's when played on the proper equipment sounds better, than regular CD's.

I believe your response doesn't address the question of whether or not SACD's sound better than Red Book CD's. IMO/E they usually do. It's also been my experience that some high res downloads sound as good or better than SACD's. OTOH I have some standard Red Book CD's (Groove Note, Mapleshade etc.) that sound better than almost anything else.

As with everything you take a chance whenever you plunk down the money.

[Feanor]

I located the discussion about SACD,s go to;
sound.westhost.com/cd-sacd-dvda.htm
I would really appreciate if you guys would go to this link and read this discussion and tell me what you think

I have yet to read the whole article, but I know it is out of date in some respects. For one thing, recording is now possible without using PCM.

Is is true that SACD is higher noise at highest audible frequencies but this is probably not audible. I don't think there is any reason for concern about ultrasonics over driving tweeters.

If Sir Terrence the Terrible should happen to notice this thread, he will be able to speak with more authority on the subject.

[hifitommy]

recordings for reference should first be music that you like and enjoy. most are very well recorded in my experience.

a particularly great piece of music captured in the best resolution turns out to be one i heard long ago on cd (late 80s). i ended up getting it on Cisco 2LP 45rpm form. it is "Minight Sugar" by The Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. whether yo socore it on vinyl at 33.3 rpm, the 2LP 45rpm like mine, sacd, or even rbcd, you will have a wonderful demo disc.

as much as i love it, i try NOT to play it often so as not to tire of it. that goes for any of my favored recordings.

[Feanor]

recordings for reference should first be music that you like and enjoy. most are very well recorded in my experience.

a particularly great piece of music captured in the best resolution turns out to be one i heard long ago on cd (late 80s). i ended up getting it on Cisco 2LP 45rpm form. it is "Minight Sugar" by The Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. whether yo socore it on vinyl at 33.3 rpm, the 2LP 45rpm like mine, sacd, or even rbcd, you will have a wonderful demo disc.

as much as i love it, i try NOT to play it often so as not to tire of it. that goes for any of my favored recordings.

That's a good point about playing the great sounding recordings too much. I have to use self-discipline too; fortunately there's a lot of good music that aren't top recording quality.

[Feanor]

recordings for reference should first be music that you like and enjoy. most are very well recorded in my experience.

a particularly great piece of music captured in the best resolution turns out to be one i heard long ago on cd (late 80s). i ended up getting it on Cisco 2LP 45rpm form. it is "Minight Sugar" by The Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. whether yo socore it on vinyl at 33.3 rpm, the 2LP 45rpm like mine, sacd, or even rbcd, you will have a wonderful demo disc.

as much as i love it, i try NOT to play it often so as not to tire of it. that goes for any of my favored recordings.

It's a good point about trying to avoid playing the great sounding recordings too much. I have to use self-discipline too; fortunately I have a lot of great music on less than really great recordings.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I was ready to buy some SACDs until I read (on some link that I'll never be able to find again) a long technical discussion with some Swedish audio engineer in which he says SACDs are not really superior to regular CDs at all. He says AUDIODVDs are superior, but there aren't many of these available yet.
Has anyone here made a direct comparison between CD and SACD? SACDs are so expensive that I'm not sure I want one now.

That Swedish engineer did not have any confirmation of his conclusions about SACD. It really does not matter that much anyway, as SACD was nothing more than a security container for the DSD stream. We now have access to the direct DSD stream without the container, so this whole SACD wasn't any better than CD is a moot point. His contention was with the 1bit SACD stream architecture, but with double and triple stream DSD, his argument is outdated. He spoke about the high band noise level in SACD, but with double and triple DSD, the noise is so high up in frequency, no component or playback system can possibly reproduce it. Another moot point.

Claims were made that 24/192khz PCM was inferior to redbook 16/44.1khz. This was based on early DAC's of the mid and late 90's, but not a reflection of advances in DSP's today. 24/192khz is clearly superior to redbook CD

[Kaudi]

This one is excellent.
Depth, placement, soundstage, intimacy,....highly recommended.


link to wav 24/96 download that is what I got, they have Flac as well.
Road to Memphis (WAV)

[Kaudi]

I think that downloads in various formats is what the future will bring and that all hardware formats will slowly disappear, except maybe LP's will stay in limited numbers.

It's a logical evolution and it does make it very easy to buy great sounding files very easily.
This 24/96 download sounds absolutely incredible, it betters all my SACD's and is only available as a download in Flac or Wav format;Sound Liaison Music Shop



also the Doug Macleod download that some members mentioned on page 1 of this thread as well as the Carmen Gomes download are better sounding i.m.o.than my ''old'' SACD's.

Here is another great Live album;
Maybe not the stunning sound quality of the Sound Liaison downloads but lots of emotional content to compensate. Highly recommended.

[Kaudi]

I think that downloads in various formats is what the future will bring and that all hardware formats will slowly disappear, except maybe LP's will stay in limited numbers.

It's a logical evolution and it does make it very easy to buy great sounding files very easily.
This 24/96 download sounds absolutely incredible, it betters all my SACD's and is only available as a download in Flac or Wav format;Sound Liaison Music Shop



also the Doug Macleod download that some members mentioned on page 1 of this thread as well as the Carmen Gomes download are better sounding i.m.o.than my ''old'' SACD's.

Here is another great Live album;
Maybe not the stunning sound quality of the Sound Liaison downloads but lots of emotional content to compensate. Hihgly recommended.

[Kaudi]

I think that downloads in various formats is what the future will bring and that all hardware formats will slowly disappear, except maybe LP's will stay in limited numbers.

It's a logical evolution and it does make it very easy to buy great sounding files very easily.
This 24/96 download sounds absolutely incredible, it betters all my SACD's and is only available as a download in Flac or Wav format;Sound Liaison Music Shop



also the Doug Macleod download that some members mentioned on page 1 of this thread as well as the Carmen Gomes download are better sounding i.m.o.than my ''old'' SACD's.

What do you think is the future of DSD as downloads?
Did you buy this new Sound Liaison download? and if so in DSD or in PCM.
It has been recorded direct to two separate master recorders.
Sound Liaison Music Shop

[David Harper]

What do you think is the future of DSD as downloads?
Did you buy this new Sound Liaison download? and if so in DSD or in PCM.
It has been recorded direct to two separate master recorders.
Sound Liaison Music Shop

I have been an audiophile for forty years, and I have never heard any digital music recording/ playback, in any format, that sounds as good as vinyl LP.

[hifitommy]

likewise, i have been into audio on a quest for best sound for about 40 years. vinyl is my preferred format but sacd (and DSD) come close, still not QUITE as good but close. there are precious few mixing boards equipped to mix down native dsd which is why many so called dsd recordings have been downconverted to pcm (always a bit of degradation for there) to enable the engineers to mix down or re-mix the recordings.

native dsd and hi-rez downloads can be jawdropping such as those by peter mc grath. i have hear some masterful work there played back on magic S5s with Constellation electronics. with full orchestra density at crescendo levels, i was able to pick an instrument and listen only to IT during the climax. not an easy trick for the recording OR playback equipment.

progress is being made, we must be patient.