[depaulhifi]

So I'm slowly filling my new 5G iPod with music again. Last night I added a bunch of stuff, and the item in question is the Deluxe Edition of The Downward Spiral. This is an album I have heard billions of times on Red Book and I'm reasonably familiar with the additional trickeries revealed on the SACD version. I encoded it at 128k AAC (same as I always do, and more than adequate for portable/non-discrimiate use...) using iTunes 6.0. My question is, can an SACD sound markedly better than Red Book when compressed? And to clarify before the question of the placebo effect comes in... my thought process went as follows:

1. "wow this sounds really good, better than I've heard before"
2. "but its compressed"
3. "no this really does sound better..."
4. "can an SACD still sound better than CD, even when compressed?"

and not...

1. "hmmm, this is an SACD, I wonder if it will sound better"
2. "why yes it does!"

To further clarify, my brain registered the music sounding better first, and the fact that it was an SACD second.

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by depaulhifi I encoded it at 128k AAC (same as I always do, and more than adequate for portable/non-discrimiate use...) using iTunes 6.0. My question is, can an SACD sound markedly better than Red Book when compressed?

You didn't encode the SACD layer unless you played it back through your SACD player and put the analog output through a A/D convertor to digitize it and then compressed that file.

 

[depaulhifi]

This I am aware of. Any possible explanation to such an anomaly?

 

[Davey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by depaulhifi This I am aware of. Any possible explanation to such an anomaly?

OK, that's all I meant to say, that you compressed the CD layer, not the SACD layer, but you understand that.

 

[xixco]

they ...lowered the midrange in the remaster

...and then generally when you compress to lower quality levels, more of the midrange gets "lost," so maybe you're just really enjoying the "sweet" sound you're getting. similar effect to turning up bass & treble, or high & low end.



now here's the part where tons of people come in and tell me i'm wrong about everything i said, haha.

 

[EdipisReks]

The Downward Spiral remaster sounds a hell of a lot better than the original (though i actually prefer the original mix), and 128 AAC is good enough for this to come through, to a certain extent. no big surprise.

 

[depaulhifi]

I think the new version sounds better, although I haven't listened to the CD layer on the new version. I noticed a tigher, more pronounced bass note in "Piggy" and the initial "strike" of the virtual drum against the virtual skin also jumped out.