Hi Gang:
Well, here we go, the following are all SACDs, stereo first, that I
have, and my opinions of them, YMMV of course.

Miles Davis, "Sketches of Spain". A classic "must have" ground
breaking disc.
The SACD sounds only "slightly" better than the special edition and
regular disc and the LP still sounds good, although different.

Buddy Rich, "The Best band I Ever had". This is the same songs and
band on Buddy's "Class of 78" LP. Nice to have the SACD, sounds better
than the LP but not by much.

Weather Report, "Heavy Weather". Could detect no difference compared
to the special edition CD, sounded somewhat better than the regular CD
and the LP still sounds nice, but different.

Patricia Barber, "Modern Cool" hybrid. the SACD sounds "slightly
better in all areas, especially the bass.

Charles Mingus, "Mingus Ah Um" Compared the SACD to the regular 24bit
CD, the differences (levels matched and all that !), hard to say which
I prefer.
each has their strengths and weaknesses. Amazing quality for a 1959
recording though.

The following are all multi-channel SACDs (grain of salt on some
though as we'll see).

Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue". Another classic "must have" disc. Again
there are "slight"differences between the SACD, special edition CD,
too close to prefer one or the other. The regular CD is outclassed by
both the above. The LP still sounds good but different. The front
three channels are active with the rears weak, if you like to use your
center channel, choose the SACD. The special edition CD is stereo of
course, but has a strong phantom center channel in my system.

Dave Brubeck, "Time Out". Another "must have" disc. All the comments
applied to "Kind of Blue" apply here. Strong center, weak surrounds
etc. special edition cd is good here also, regular CD loses out and LP
still sounds nice.

Weather Report, Mysterious traveller". The SACD is a big improvement
over the CD, but the SACD is somewhat lacking in bass. There is a weak
center channel, but the front & surrounds are strong. I have this in
SQ encoded LP and they both sound very much alike. The SQ LP is
encoded in 4 channel, no center or LFE of course. Hey Sony/Columbia,
how about releasing Weather Report's "Tail Spin'in", it was released
in SQ format and would make a nice multi-SACD.

Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moon" hybrid. There has been a lot
written about this disc, a different mix than the one Alan Parsons did
in SQ four channel. If you like special effect movies, you'll like
this disc, makes a great demo for surround sound. Not the music I turn
to for inspiration though.

The following are all classical multi SACDs and it is not fair to
rate rear channel performance as many (most ?) are mixed for ambiance
in the rear channels.

Michael Murray, "The Organ at St. Sulpice, Paris" hybrid. This is a
real PIPE organ, no electronics here ! This'll give your subwoofers a
workout.

Thomas Shippers N. Y. Philharmonic, "Prokofiev & Mussorgsky", Nice
performance and sound, good spread of the orchestra.

Leonard Bernstein "Holst & Britten", Great performance and sound, a
"real sonic spectacular".

Paavo Jarvi, Cinci. Orch. "Stravinsky" hybrid. Great dynamic range,
extended fidelity and good performance. Nice spread of the orchestra.
Don't crank your subwoofers too high for chapter 9 of the "Firebird".

That is all I have of this date, 3 more SACDs on order and will
report when I receive them and can evaluate them. I had the Beethoven
9th in SACD-multi, but the sound and performance were so bad, I gave
it away. Don't remember the conductor or the orchestra.

Still looking for SACDs I might be interested in.

-=Bill Eckle=-

Vanity Web pages at:
http://www.wmeckle.com

"Penury" wrote in message
et...
Hi Gang:
Well, here we go, the following are all SACDs, stereo first, that I
have, and my opinions of them, YMMV of course.

Miles Davis, "Sketches of Spain". A classic "must have" ground
breaking disc.
The SACD sounds only "slightly" better than the special edition and
regular disc and the LP still sounds good, although different.

Buddy Rich, "The Best band I Ever had". This is the same songs and
band on Buddy's "Class of 78" LP. Nice to have the SACD, sounds better
than the LP but not by much.

Weather Report, "Heavy Weather". Could detect no difference compared
to the special edition CD, sounded somewhat better than the regular CD
and the LP still sounds nice, but different.

Patricia Barber, "Modern Cool" hybrid. the SACD sounds "slightly
better in all areas, especially the bass.

Charles Mingus, "Mingus Ah Um" Compared the SACD to the regular 24bit
CD, the differences (levels matched and all that !), hard to say which
I prefer.
each has their strengths and weaknesses. Amazing quality for a 1959
recording though.


The following are all multi-channel SACDs (grain of salt on some
though as we'll see).

Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue". Another classic "must have" disc. Again
there are "slight"differences between the SACD, special edition CD,
too close to prefer one or the other. The regular CD is outclassed by
both the above. The LP still sounds good but different. The front
three channels are active with the rears weak, if you like to use your
center channel, choose the SACD. The special edition CD is stereo of
course, but has a strong phantom center channel in my system.

Dave Brubeck, "Time Out". Another "must have" disc. All the comments
applied to "Kind of Blue" apply here. Strong center, weak surrounds
etc. special edition cd is good here also, regular CD loses out and LP
still sounds nice.

Weather Report, Mysterious traveller". The SACD is a big improvement
over the CD, but the SACD is somewhat lacking in bass. There is a weak
center channel, but the front & surrounds are strong. I have this in
SQ encoded LP and they both sound very much alike. The SQ LP is
encoded in 4 channel, no center or LFE of course. Hey Sony/Columbia,
how about releasing Weather Report's "Tail Spin'in", it was released
in SQ format and would make a nice multi-SACD.

Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moon" hybrid. There has been a lot
written about this disc, a different mix than the one Alan Parsons did
in SQ four channel. If you like special effect movies, you'll like
this disc, makes a great demo for surround sound. Not the music I turn
to for inspiration though.

The following are all classical multi SACDs and it is not fair to
rate rear channel performance as many (most ?) are mixed for ambiance
in the rear channels.

Michael Murray, "The Organ at St. Sulpice, Paris" hybrid. This is a
real PIPE organ, no electronics here ! This'll give your subwoofers a
workout.

Thomas Shippers N. Y. Philharmonic, "Prokofiev & Mussorgsky", Nice
performance and sound, good spread of the orchestra.

Leonard Bernstein "Holst & Britten", Great performance and sound, a
"real sonic spectacular".

Paavo Jarvi, Cinci. Orch. "Stravinsky" hybrid. Great dynamic range,
extended fidelity and good performance. Nice spread of the orchestra.
Don't crank your subwoofers too high for chapter 9 of the "Firebird".

That is all I have of this date, 3 more SACDs on order and will
report when I receive them and can evaluate them. I had the Beethoven
9th in SACD-multi, but the sound and performance were so bad, I gave
it away. Don't remember the conductor or the orchestra.

Still looking for SACDs I might be interested in.

-=Bill Eckle=-

Vanity Web pages at:
http://www.wmeckle.com


Nice report, Bill. For what it is worth, where i have the SACDs, CD's,
vinyl etc. my impressions back yours right down the line.

"Penury" wrote in message
et...
Hi Gang:
Well, here we go, the following are all SACDs, stereo first, that I
have, and my opinions of them, YMMV of course.
*snip*
The following are all classical multi SACDs and it is not fair to
rate rear channel performance as many (most ?) are mixed for ambiance
in the rear channels.
*snip*

I think that this comment is very interesting and highlights the primary
reason that the audiophile community has been so slow to accept the validity
of multi-channel playback in a music only environment. The primary goal for
a multi-channel music system is to provide the additional reflected and
ambient sound of the recording venue that stereo is physically incapable of
reproducing. This is a very different goal than multi-channel film scores
and other synthesized sounds, who's primary goal is to place you within a
soundstage where audible events are occurring all over the stage.

Your presumption appears to be that since the rear channels of the classical
CDs you mention only contain ambient information, they aren't difficult
enough to be used as a reference for rear channel performance. I believe
that it's much easier to assemble a multi-channel system for the "bang, boom
and flash" of a movie soundtrack than it is one for musical reproduction.
The subleties of the reflected sound of a Steinway being played on stage at
Carnegie pose a much greater challenge to accurately reproduce, than do the
synthesized rear channels of Weather Report or Pink Floyd. While you could
throw any speakers on the back wall, level match them and have a reasonable
system to listen to movies on, the timbral mis-match between mains and
surrounds would be far more noticable on a well-recorded multi-channel
classical CD. JMHO