I discovered SACDin 2020 and have never looked back! It's been an expensive ride to catch up, but it has been worth it! Glad to see an enthusiast out there for this medium.
SACD is an incredible format. There are just so many that sound spectacular it's difficult narrowing it down to just a few. I wish more artists and labels would embrace it. There is some hope that with the resurgence of the CD the SACD format could easily be promoted as a cool luxury audiophile format similar to what happened when vinyl became cool again and dedicated labels focussed on high quality pressings of limited runs and beautifully packaged creating a market for these highly collectable items.
I've got a nice vinyl playback system and I think the audiophile recordings on vinyl are fabulous. But I also think that SACD matches the best vinyl. Not as good at certain aspects but better at others. Once I found out how to output DSD from the HDMI connection of my OPPO player and run it through an I2S adapter box everything changed. The DSD stream now goes directly into my PS Audio Directstream DAC and the sound is beautiful. I still buy vinyl but if it's a choice between a $100 vinyl and a $30 SACD, I buy the SACD.
Thanks for this. I'll consider trying SACD for a few CDs and LPs that sound too compressed to me. (I don't hear a difference on Norah Jones' SACDs vs. CDs). The sad thing is that so few recent SACD players do multichannel. It amazes me that labels like Vocalion (hooray for The Guess Who!) still issue them. The most striking Genesis SACD is "Trespass," which sounds much more alive than the original LP even in stereo.
Norah Jone's "Feels Like Home" was rather amazing to me. Mainly Norah's voice. Was like she was in the room.Little Broken Hearts not so much but still quite good.
i love SACD HDCD format as well. Analogue productions have them typically 30 each and worth it for audiophile quality they just had a sale for Japanese SACD's
I am enjoying stereo and 5.1 SACDs via an OPPO-205 outputting to a Sony Analog Multi-Channel Preamplifier TA-P9000es. The only thing I’ve heard that’s more life-like is Apple Music’s Spatial Audio Dolby ATMOS. Thing is I cannot afford it. The expense of a new preamp that will process ATMOS along with additional power amps and speakers just precludes it, so I’ll be continuing with SACDs.
I hear you on the expense of going to a full Atmos array. One thing you can do, maybe, is snag a processor with Atmos when you can and run it with your existing speakers. It will down-mix to 5.1. At least it will open up that Spatial Audio content for you. Where did you hear Spatial Audio sound that good?
@@lifeinsurround I first heard it at Best Buy’s, the sound of a thunder shower. That sold me, it sounded so real. And I know what real sounds like since I record environmental relaxation sounds like thunderstorms and showers that sound life-like. I also get Spatial Audio off my iMac M1 but it’s only a near field experience. I may indeed buy an AVR with preouts that I can route to my TA-P9000es, which has two inputs. Marantz has a new model for $2500 that may down-mix, not sure yet.
If you want to get the dsd file out of a sacd you need to buy a dbob box which it extracts . What you hear is mind blowing . Best sound you will get from any source
First discovered your channel with your Metallica Black Album DVD-Audio review. As absurd as it may sound I’ve started purchasing a few SACD’s without yet owning a system to play them. Still shopping for the appropriate player. That said I pre ordered the new Pink Floyd Animals SACD (despite it not containing the original mix the DVD and Blu Ray contain, but I’m most interested to see if you’ve heard the other SACD I recently picked up which is Donald Fagen’s Nightfly album. I particularly enjoy the vinyl version I own and can’t wait to hear how it sounds on SACD. Anyhow, thanks for sharing your knowledge and I certainly wish you the best.
I've enjoyed SACD for years, usually with my Oppo 203. But really didnt see that much of a difference until I bought a dedicated (yamaha,) player last year. Really amazing analog like sound. Especially with the human voice. Glad to see that others are enjoying it too.
@@lifeinsurround CDs1000. An older model but this one was made in may 21. Don't know what dac it uses but I use the analog outs, only way to get a pure DSD signal. More of a two channel guy, and the sound is near an analog. Regular CD also sounds great. Coax and Optical pcm outs also. Been wanting one for years and finally pulled the trigger. Way better thsn my Oppo205 but no surround.
Hello Mike. It's been a while since I've commented on your videos. It must be said that they have become a little rarer lately, too. Besides, if I understood correctly (you know, my English and even less my American are not the best), you have other projects, always on the music, but not necessarily on the Surround aspect). But I continue to follow you because above all you are very sympathetic to me. Same passion for multichannel but I'm not as well equipped (no quadraphonic vinyl playback). I can't wait for the next Pink Floyd (already pre-ordered) as well as the next box set of Marillion Holidays in Heaven, just announced by the band. To your next video. Ones of my favorite albums Roxy Music Avalon All the Dire Straits studio albums from Mobile Fidelity Toto IV in SACD multicanal Frankie Goes in SACD Sting albums in CD-DTS Marillion in blu-ray audio (all) All Genesis in SACD Pink Floyd in multicanal Asia Alpha and Astra in SACD (I prefer the first Asia album in CD by Audio Fidelity) Fleetwood Mac Rumours Steely Dan and Donald Fagen albums in Surround. Supertramp Breakfast in SACD (I don't know why only this album was released in SACD). And I pretty sure all of them will be amazing in Surround. The 3 albums from Tears for Fears in Surround (I finaly obtained the Tipping Point in the second edition) Alan Parsons Project (I hope Alan Parsons will continue) The total list will be too long.
If Atmos weren't very cool for a lot of movies I like, I'd be less happy about it. Yes, the music industry is constantly looking for ways to entice us to buy the same albums over and over and over...
I've been with SACD since its inception. I've witnessed it's death and successful revivals. Still remember the first 3 SACDs that I've bought: Police - Every Breath You Take: The Classics, Sting - Sacred Love and Miles Davis - Kind of Blue. After doing the first MCh calibration on my receiver I was in awe with most of the MCh mixes of the format. As for Stereo, one particular highlight was listening to Esoteric's 6 SACD box of the Queens of jazz vocal. I'm always on the lookout for any newly produced MCh SACD, for example like the ones from 2L.
Hey Mike and group. Just getting into SACD & DVD audio. I flipped when I set up my 5.1 around 10 years agowhen I got my flat screen, but never knew that I wasn't actually listening to the SACD on my regular DVD player. Just picked up a Pioneer DV-563A, have a few pieces to listen to and excited to check this out! Waay back in the day I had a quadraphonic system with a turntable that played quad records. haha. Thank you for this great content and your opinions on music and hardware. We have VERY similar taste. Thanks again and keep up the great channel.
There is certainly no need to remix The Beatles, other than the enjoyment of some. Abbey Road in Atmos is amazing. I love it in stereo too, but the Atmos mix makes me feel like I'm in Abbey Road, with the guys.
I'm a recent user. It started with a Tube performance of the Elgar Symphony #1 by a little orchestra in Sweden in the town of Helsingborg. The orchestra was incredible so I went out looking for a CD that I could own........as yet knowing nothing about the format. I just wanted to hear more of the orchestra. In fact, that night I went onto Expedia looking for a flight to Helsingborg just to hear them LIVE. Crazy...!!! Until I can save up for the trip, I decided to just try to find a CD for myself. My searches wound up on Ebay where I found their Complete set of the Brahms Symphonies. They arrived in a few days. In the interim I began researching this strange format that I had never heard of. Back in the 60s we had heard of how the CDs in Japan were at an entirely different level. Knowing little about anything, I thought that maybe the Japanese were into BlueRay. Like I say, I din't know jack. !! When the Brahms arrived I tried it out in my car, a 2011 BMW. I only mention the car because that sound system could have been setup for SACD. Not sure now because other CDs today did not work out there. Apparently the Brahms set is a 'hybrid'. It was amazing. Then things took a turn. I brought the set into my living room and got squat. End of story.....I purchased a SONY DVD/CD/SACD player model DVP-NC685V and today a SONY STR-ZA3000ES receiver. If you are still reading and you have not yet listened to much 'Classical Music'............ with your permission, I would like to recommend that you find a Brahms recording of almost anything. (Of course it needs to be a SACD recording). If you are new to this game, you should be introduced to J. Brahms even before Mozart or Beethoven. (There are technical reasons why those two are less accessible.)
The reason why Genesis albums came out on DVD-Audio (or DVD-A) in the US is because the band is signed to the Warner Music Group, and back then, Warner was a proponent of the DVD-A format (Genesis is signed to Universal Music outside of the US). You may have heard of the "Format War" between SACD and DVD-A. Exact same situation with Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits. The 25th anniversary of Dire Strait's "Brothers In Arms" was a SACD everywhere on the planet....except in the US, where it was released as a DVD-A. In fact, the later MoFi's SACD of "Brothers In Arms" marks the US domestic debut of that album on SACD.
Hello Dany. I think the box set of Genesis studio albums in 5.1 for the US were not in DVD-A. They were only in DVD Dolby Digital and DTS, (same as for the SACD version) so with sound compression. The SACD was replaced by a CD.
I don't have the Charisma-Virgin box, but quite a few of the individual discs. I have "We Can't Dance" on Atlantic which I call "DVD-Audio" (minus the swoosh symbol and "high resolution" on the label) because it's really DVD video format. (Lots of recent discs do that trick, unfortunately.) Some of those do sound quite good but more often there's a bit less energy with that (Dolby/DTS) format. My favorite true DVD-A is "Homecoming" by America.
I am embarking on the SACD and DVD Audio journey and was surprised to hear Hemispheres and Trick of the Tail mentions. They are also among my favorites. First purchase was Olias of Sunhillow. I am mostly trying to make sure my setup will play 5.1, but I also don’t really know if the SACD layer is what I am hearing if I go analog out. I am assuming yes, but it also seems that the best quality is to go digital out into a better DAC. Bummer of course that more titles are not in 5.1, for non 5.1 discs is some sort of switching needed to optimize speaker usage?
Much more pop and rock, albeit often classic releases, that are coming out more since you did this video. Death Cab For Cutie has an SA-CD too, but its up to newer artists to consider it. Good thing some 4K and Blu-ray players, plus a few Playstations, can play the format.
Just signed up. I agree The Police and Rush have amazing recordings. The story goes that Neil Peart was influenced by The Police for the Signals album. Looking forward to hearing Tears For Fears SFTBC album in 5.1 (don’t think they released a SACD?).
SACD sure has some special titles, and some of my first surround purchases were in that format in the mid 2000s. I also like that you can just throw the disc into the player and it'll start playing in surround, without having to go through a bunch of menus. Some I really enjoy include the Nickel Creek discs, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Nick Drake, the Art Garfunkel discs from Dutton, Shangri La & Brothers in Arms, as well as a bunch of discs by Elton John, Moody Blues and Peter Gabriel. Hotel California, Rumors and Sea Change also get frequent spins.
@@lifeinsurround the quadraphonic quad reviews are very mixed (just checked for the first time), and they're saying it's a fake surround mix, so I guess don't expect too much. 🙂 I still really enjoy the album, was one of my first sacds.
Jist one thing to all. I think Denon AL24/AL32 does an absolutely brilliant job with PCM in terms of interpolation, upsampling and fixing minimizing quantization distortion. SACD on vintage records....they were not recorded in high resolution ,so unless there's substantial digital audio mastering done then it doesn't seem right.
Vintage records were recorded in analog. Completely different concept from digital resolution. Is SACD an adequate format for capturing the fidelity of vintage master tapes? I believe so.
Yes, totally agree about this one. One of my favorite live albums, albums, anyway. Unfortunately, they did not the same for Three Sides Live, pretending there was the Video but this one was interrupted by interviews and you cannot watch the complete concert.
@@kwinsc9273 I suppose you know that there is a box set, as for the lives in audio, which contains all their live in video (DVD format), except for the live in Rome, they previously released in individual. Let's know, few years later, Three Sides Live came out in bluray and 16/9 format (on the box set, it is only 1.33 ratio). It would have been great too in 5.1.
I was surprised to see you reference The Rush Hemispheres SACD by Audio Fidelity released in 2013 since the 40th Anniversary Edition was released in 2018, have you had a chance to hear the latter?
The 40th anni set for Hemispheres was very disappointing, to me. The SACD sounds great. Stereo only. The 5.1 mix in the 40th set is bad. Very bad. The HDTracks individual album download probably sounds best (if memory serves), but the SACD is close and I love spinning discs!
@@lifeinsurround Very interesting feedback, thank you. I compared the 2013 stereo SACD from Audio Fidelity (the one you showcased) against the 192/24 from HD Tracks and also against the stereo track from the 40th Anniversary Edition (2018) and to my ears there is no doubt the 40th version is the best. Regarding the 40th surround mix, i don't think it's worst than the 2011 Moving Pictures, 2011 Signals or 2015 A Farewell to Kings surround mixes, i would say they're all equally marginal...
9:09 No #SimpleMinds #OnceUponATime (1985)! All-time great pop-rock album, with no filler, and great drums. I have it, but no SACD player - I want a player just for it, and a 5.1 surround - I'd probably go near £2k if anyone has a recommendation.
your collection rules! I do find it frusturating that a certain audiophile label is focused so much on vinyl and their process for making vinyl but make no mention about their SACDs they sell or talk about the mastering process to DSD from the original analogue tape. They seem to almost ignore SACD (DSD) even exists. It is a valid hi fi audiophile level format that with the right components can sound just as great as vinyl! Period! SACD for life!
I'm an audiophile and can't tolerate vinyl! Too much hiss and various audible artifacts of the medium that aren't meant to be included - I looked after mine, but they all have some clicks and scratches from new (Limited Edition coloured vinyl, not black, is especially terrible, BTW). I gave all 20kg of it to the #RSPCA shop (apparently scalpers grabbed them all up very quickly) LOL. CDs FTW (not convinced the human ear can tell the difference between analogue/digital encoding, provided the formats are well-produced - but it would hear the hiss)!
Off topic question: over your right shoulder; what is that a picture of? It looks one of the pictures from WW2 that I have. Mine, however, is of my grandfather aboard the USS Missouri. That’s the only reason I’m asking. As for Rush (my favorite band as well) they released “Hemispheres” on SACD? During the early 2000’s I thought SACD was in competition with DVD-A at the time and I thought DVD-A had waaaaaay more albums released in that format than SACD. I may be wrong about that but I thought that was the case. Decent SACD players are hard to find and are typically expensive. That said DVD-A format is my favorite.
Nice work! I haven't really considered stereo SACDs, being more of surround enthusiast. But, being able to turn up a stereo mix without fatigue sounds intriguing. I didn't read all 58 comments, but can you further explain that "experimental" mix of Tubular Bells? Can you perhaps even provide a link? Thanks!
I revisited this video becuase I been listening to albums recorded in DSD or DXD and playback on SACD. OCTAVE records in Cali have the bach cello album....oh my god amazing! theres some really good stuff coming out on SACD. Converting analogue to DSD, im not sold on because the source audio is from tape and tape as much as i love it, isnt DSD l...its usulsually mastered a bit better/differently. All pereonal preference though.
DVDA and SACD are the same thing, in terms of sound output? What plays 7" CDs (only the paper sleeves are 7"?)?! I have a few 3" (actually 8cm) mini CDs - most sleeves were tiny too, so I threw away most of the adapters - they're hard to find now.
Do you recommend an affordable SACD/Blu-Ray player? My current blu-ray player does not play SACD format. I've heard Sony UBP-X800M2 mentioned but perhaps there's something under $300?
Sony X800s are about as affordable as it gets. I have a few and have gifted a few. You might luck out on the used market, but for new purchases, you're on the right track.
I have a couple of SACDs and the number recently doubled (from 4 to 8) when I got 4 jazz SACDs from Japan. cdjapan is a good source of SACDs. All my Blu-ray players are SACD compatible (Sony), including one that can rip SACDs (Sony BDP-S6200).
Thank you for this video. Two questions: where do you learn about new releases and where are you able to purchase them - especially European and Japanese releases.
@@patbarr1351 and SONY UHD 4K blurays players for reasonable price (ref UBP-X800M2) . It's a universal player which can read DVD-AUDIO (yes, even if this format was in competition with SACD in the past ). Now, we have in France a new trademark Reavon created by a French reseller frustrated by the absence of high-end products since the disappearance of the Oppo brand in the field of bluray players. I don't know if they export the product outside Europe. Prices between 800 and 2000 € (3 models).
@@brunocesson6226 Good to know, Bruno. Reavon was reviewed in a US magazine recently, so they are available here. Sadly, few new SACD players do multichannel anymore.
@@patbarr1351 hello Pat. Yes, unfortunately. And as Mike said, SACD can (has to) be considered as a niche (French expression 😁). That is very strange because lots of people ask for hi-res audio on streaming (as Quobuz, Apple Hi-Res, Amazon HD). I suppose it is the same interest in US for vinyls. And I always prefer SACD than vinyl when both exist (because of most of vinyls are produced from digital sources and are more fragile). Regarding SACD in multichannel, I regret that there are even fewer of them. There must be 2 or 3 labels still making the effort (since the creator of the Audio Fidelity label decided several years ago to scuttle) and that's all. No doubt the arrival of Dolby Atmos on streaming platforms and on certain blurays does not push labels to release these SACDs (because limited to 5.1).
