bigshot
Headphoneus Supremus
If you want to do a comparison test for yourself, get two copies of a DSD hybrid SACD by a company that doesn't release CDs. Then run them into a line level balanced switcher and go to town.
I did this. I used a Pentatone SACD of Stravinsky by Jaarvi. Lined them up and there was absolutely no audible difference.
Comparing legacy titles was all over the map. Some had completely different masterings on the cd layer as on the SACD layer. The SACD wasn't a guarantee of better mastering either. Some of the classic Rolling Stones tracks were completely remixed (poorly). They might have sounded cleaner to people who had never heard them before, but they didn't sound like the Stones.
I gave up on SACD. My player is in a closet now. The crap shoot as to whether a SACD would be well mastered was just the same as the crap shoot with CD. No reason to buy the same albums again on a doomed format.
I did this. I used a Pentatone SACD of Stravinsky by Jaarvi. Lined them up and there was absolutely no audible difference.
Comparing legacy titles was all over the map. Some had completely different masterings on the cd layer as on the SACD layer. The SACD wasn't a guarantee of better mastering either. Some of the classic Rolling Stones tracks were completely remixed (poorly). They might have sounded cleaner to people who had never heard them before, but they didn't sound like the Stones.
I gave up on SACD. My player is in a closet now. The crap shoot as to whether a SACD would be well mastered was just the same as the crap shoot with CD. No reason to buy the same albums again on a doomed format.