[NathanJM]

hey sorry i didnt reply earlier. ive been doing other things lately that didnt allow me time to see this post.


Okay i've been listening mostly to the stereo sacd layer. i have yet to hear the multichannel mix, but am anxious to do so.

my opinion on the stereo:

I tell you this, i didnt have any major problems with the 1992 edition i have, but this fixed everything i didnt realize was broken. I guess a lot 'cleaner' sound. Better resolution, some distortions corrected. Really it is a lot like the previous CD release, but with some quality improvements.

I really do enjoy this album a lot. The quality improvements make the listening experience more, i guess the word would be relaxing. I would describe the sound as being 'what this album SHOULD sound like' although that description wont mean much to one who has not listened.

However, if you are expecting something earth-shatteringly different from the CD version, you probably wont find it in the stereo-mix.

I am so anxious for when i return home this summer and can listen to the multichannel.....

 

[mkmelt]

I had a chance to hear the new DSOM on a good two channel system that included a high-end Sony CD/SACD, B&W 804 speakers and Outlaw amplification.

I have also listened to the Red Book layer on my CD playback system consisting of a mid-fi PCDP and a Dynaco SCA-35 tube amplifier with Sennheiser HD-600 speakers.

I am one of those who believe the best way to appreciate DSOM is through headphones. My previous DSOM sources have included the original LP release, the Mobile Fidelity half speed Original Master recording, and the Mobile Fidelity Gold Disc CD. I no longer have my original LP (wore it out decades ago), or my Mobile Fidelity LP (sold all my Mo-Fi LPs last year). I was able to compare the new hybrid CD (Red Book layer) to my Gold Disc, and my personal appreciation for how this recording sounded after hundreds of listening sessions with headphones.

Using the speaker playback system already noted, the new DSOM sounded noticeably better than the Gold Disc CD version. Using both speakers and headphones, the sound of the new DSOM was very close to the sound of the original LP, as far as I can recall. Listening through headphones, the new DSOM Red Book layer was cleaner and more natural sounding than the Mo-Fi Gold Disc. I only had a short chance to audition the tracks Time and Money using SACD playback vs. Redbook. The SACD sounded more open in the upper range, and the mid bass was not as pronounced. I only had the briefest of listening to the SACD with headphones, too short to form an opinion.

Until I have a chance to really listen to the SACD layer with headphones, and I don't know when that will be since I don't own an SACD capable player (yet), I'll just state that to me, the new DSOM Red Book layer is the best digital rendition of this classic 70s album I have yet heard.

Anyone want to buy a DSOM Gold Disc?

On another note, now that the technology to manufacture hybrid CD/SACD discs looks like it has a promising commercial future, I can't wait for the Beatles catalog to be remastered and released as hybrid CD/SACDs. A recent listen to both the orginal Capital reel to reel tape of Sgt. Pepper and the CD, revealed the mediocre sound of this album in it's current CD release. Listening to the analog reel tape, I know there is much to be gained by remastering again, almost 15 years since the original CD release, and getting it right, or at least better this time around.

 

[Trawlerman]

So is this worth buying just for the Redbook layer? taking into account that I already have the 1994 UK reissue.

I don't have an SACD player at the moment and I'm not particularly that interested in looking at going SACD in the near future either.



Sound As Ever

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

Quote:

The stereo track was clearly designed for speakers, and not for headphones.

Has there ever been an album produced for anything other than speakers?



After listening a dozen (or so) more times.....
I hear no vocal thinness except slightly on "Us and Them", but that whole track seems subdued to me. IMO, the vocals sound nearly perfect just the way they are with that single exception. If anything, slightly foreward; very smooth and clean.
The "Great Gig", as always is packed with emotion. "Time" still hits home, but doesn't sound dry anymore.(maybe I'm getting old

) "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" still bring back memories of the first time I heard this album as a kid. As was noted above, this album screams to be played load, but I don't find it to be bass-heavy in the least. I will definetly agree with Ebonyks, that Mason's "drumming has never sounded more detailed.... with near-perfect decay". I feel that the guitaring sounds nearly perfect as well, and again, right. Not only is there an exceptionally wide soundstage, but also a deep one with very distinct placement of each musician. "Time" has the punch and rhythm that this track always had, and more. "Breathe" is even more ethereal than before here. After thirty years this is still a very remarkable album.
The overall feel of this remaster surpasses any other version I've heard, although, I have yet to hear the Multi-Channel mix...



*9000ES to Classe SSP30 (passthru)
to Outlaw ICBM for bass management,
with Classe CAM 200 monos
and finally into Martin Logan Aerius i's.
Cabling consists of Cardas Nuetral Ref and Kimber KCAG with
Nordost Super Flatline speaker cable. Bolder and VD Power 3
power cables.

 

[soundboy]

Trawlerman,

I don't know how much the DSOTM SACD is in the UK, but I was able to pick up my copy for US$11.50. That's cheaper than most redbook CDs here.

 

[Trawlerman]

Soundboy,

I managed to pick up a copy of this yesterday. I don't yet have an SACD and it's not something that i'm looking to do anytime soon.

However, the redbook layer just blows my old 1994 EMI release away. The sound is so much cleaner and the imaging is so much more precise with the ambience of the recording really shining through.

These guys really deserve all the praise they get and whoever did the remaster did a superb job on it.


BTW, I got the disc for £13 which is around $20us. Hey this is rip-off britain. We always get really screwed on CD prices but this is much much cheaper than normal SACD releases.




Sound As Ever

 

[razerx]

When will this madness end?

I am going to pick up dsotm sacd tomorrow so this will make the 7th time I have purchased this album in various formats and re-masters. I just looked through the sacd section at Amazon and there must be at least 30 titles I already have but must have in sacd. I have a really gad feeling about this and I don't even have a sacd player...well not yet anyway.

 

[soundboy]

Actually, this is my first purchase of DSOTM. I must be the only person on the planet not to have this album in his/her collection. So far, I have only listened to the redbook CD layer on my Panasonic portable CD player thru Grado SR60....this is a 30 year old recording??? This disc is awesome!!! I have a Sony DVP-NS500 SACD/DVD player in my home stereo system, and the quality of this SACD has made me decide to go multi-channel on the home system.

 

[Beagle]

The SACD sounds fine, except for truncation of depth in the soundstage. Some elements (such as the toms on Money) sound more prominent than before. Digital is sounding better lately but I got more thrills playing my LP in the mid 70's. And radio overplay has killed this record for me. You can only listen to something so many times before it 'wears out' it's welcome.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

dsotm and the bends are two albums that could never be listened to too many times!

 

[NathanJM]

Quote:

Originally posted by fyrfytrhoges dsotm and the bends are two albums that could never be listened to too many times!

funny you should mention that....both are perpetually located in my sacd player's 5-disc carousel.