[DarkAngel]

I was afraid that when the Rolling Stones released their new SACD/CD remasters at the end of August those greedy record companies would bend us over and charge a hefty premium.
Looks like Amazon has them listed for pre-order at regualr CD price!

Dam.............I may have to consider getting a SACD player, prices are now equal to CDs! I think this is a real turning point for the SACD format and we may see many other rock groups follow.

For example on 8/27 you can get "beggars banquet" dual format for $13.99 at Amazon........other sites may be even cheaper. These releases appear to be the older Abkco label material.

 

[royboy2k]

That sounds really sweet! One question though, is a dual SACD/CD inferior in any way to a "pure" SACD? Just curious.

 

[timoteus]

DarkAngel-

Read KR's post in the Amps & Source forum and the included Stereophile link for some more Stones SACD info:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...threadid=15539

 

[DarkAngel]

The important news here is the price $13.99! This is why we have a real turning point in SACD format history, the price premium over CD has been eliminated. I would not be surprised now to see many more rock groups release SACD/CD discs.

As to sound, the real knock out will be when mainstream rock groups release new DSD mastered SACDs, the older SACD remasters will probably have varying degress of success since they are converting older master tapes to SACD.

Roy
As to whether dual format is inferior to SACD only discs I don't know, but Telarc classical has some dual format discs.

 

[2 channel]

I won 10 SACD hybrids from Chesky last month, and they sound fabulous. Obviously w/out the same album in pure SACD I can't make an apples to apples comparison, but as I said, the hybrids I own sound wonderful!

 

[DarkAngel]

Here is more info on ABKCO dual format releases for Rolling Stones, plus new greatest hits called "40 licks"
Rolling Stones

 

[KR...]

Quote:

Originally posted by 2 channel I won 10 SACD hybrids from Chesky last month, and they sound fabulous. Obviously w/out the same album in pure SACD I can't make an apples to apples comparison, but as I said, the hybrids I own sound wonderful!

Sure you can, since the CD side is the same as the plain CD.

 

[Calanctus]

My guess is that the Stones SACD price is a special. The release seems designed in every way to win attention for SACD, both from mainstream listeners who have never heard of the high-resolution formats and from DVD-A listeners, some of whom seem to believe that there's more rock available in DVD-A than in SACD. I don't expect the price of most other SACDs to fall.

Hope I'm wrong though.

 

[penvzila]

How can an SACD of material not recorder for SACD sound and better? Wouldn't that be kind of like saying a WAV sourced from an mp3 sounds better than the mp3?

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally posted by penvzila How can an SACD of material not recorder for SACD sound and better? Wouldn't that be kind of like saying a WAV sourced from an mp3 sounds better than the mp3?

All commercially released recordings are made from master tapes. In the process of going from master tape to CD, a lot of information is necessarily lost, due to the CD's inferior data storage capabilities. The SACD can store more data, thus less is lost.

Some audio reviewers even claim that the SACD is equivalent to the master tape (allowing for generational loss, if any).

 

[DarkAngel]

Calanctus
I think I read somewhere where Sony was building capacity so in the not too distant future all releases will be hybrid SACD/CD, not sure where the other major players stand on this but I bet they are thinking the same as Sony. It would be very expensive to issue/stock both formats and people who only need CD aren't going to pay big premium for hybrid disc, so maybe $13.99 is new pricing structure.............which is why I think this is tremendous boost for SACD format.

 

[kelly]

I'll definitely be buying these...

but...

I don't think we should celebrate this as meaning "dual layer SACDs will cost what regular CDs cost" just yet. Remember that the Stones have never been remastered before and that this will be a HUGE marketing push. This well sell in very very high volumes. Thus, they can afford to sell at a reduced price. I don't at all think this means that every obscure band I dig will be able to do the same.

but...

I do think a lot of people kind of over-exaggerate the high price of SACD. For me at Best Buy the average SACD costs about $2 more than the CD of the same title. The only reason they seem high is that there aren't any old $9.99 SACDs yet and there aren't yet the big super hits on SACD that can be sold at reduced margins. I don't mind paying an extra $2 if the quality is worthy of SACD (DSD master or a good remaster)--my only gripe is that so many are single layer. If that goes away and more titles come out, I'm a happy camper.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly I don't think we should celebrate this as meaning "dual layer SACDs will cost what regular CDs cost" just yet. Remember that the Stones have never been remastered before and that this will be a HUGE marketing push. This well sell in very very high volumes. Thus, they can afford to sell at a reduced price. I don't at all think this means that every obscure band I dig will be able to do the same.

Actually most of the Virgin catalog Rolling Stones Cds were remastered by Bob Ludwig in the mid 1990's and sound great.
These hybrid discs are the older ABKCO catalog which ends with
"let it bleed" (Virgin starts with "sticky fingers") The sound quality
on the ABKCO CDs is poor and desperately needs help.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkAngel Actually most of the Virgin catalog Rolling Stones Cds were remastered by Bob Ludwig in the mid 1990's and sound great. These hybrid discs are the older ABKCO catalog which ends with "let it bleed" (Virgin starts with "sticky fingers") The sound quality on the ABKCO CDs is poor and desperately needs help.

That's what was implied, DA? That these recordings have never been remastered before and that's part of why they can afford to put a big marketing push into them -- and expect to sell enough volume to bring the margins down so that they can be priced well.

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkAngel Calanctus I think I read somewhere where Sony was building capacity so in the not too distant future all releases will be hybrid SACD/CD

There was a rumour to that effect which surfaced on the Stereophile website. So far it's not confirmed as far as I know.