Hi-Rez Highway

The mastering engineer and playback equipment make huge differences...

209.111.93.211

In Reply to: RE: In my experience SACDs better CDs 100% of the time including the Mercury Living Presence SACDs! posted by Teresa on July 01, 2008 at 14:34:09

Teresa said:
"The Living Presence SACDs don't hold a candle to the Living Presence LP reissues from Classic Records or Speakers Corner but they leave the Living Presence CDs in the dirt.

In digital form the Living Presence SACDs rule!

Also I have not found one single recording ever in which the CD sounding as good as or better than the SACD. It has not and will never happen!"

This was my experience also UNTIL I installed a Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD player in my system. I don't fully understand what's going on, but the SACDs lept past the LPs and the CDs are in the same league with the LPs now. The SACDs now give me the impression that I'm listening to the stereo master tape with no generation in between. With the CDs all the haze, edge and hardness is gone and the sound "organic" like the LPs.

It's interesting to note that the mastering is not consistent from format to format. For example, more hiss is left in the CD than the SACD. With SACD I actually think that I hear mechanical rumble of the recorder. Anyway, differences in mastering choices make it a little hard to do a true A-B format comparison. I'll look this weekend to find a CD-SACD set where the mastering engineer was the same to see if that brings things closer together, or not.

Also, I'll be getting in some Linn SACDs that duplicate a couple of my CDs. The CDs are very high production value CDs, so it'll be interesting to compare the CD and SACD and then compare the CD layer on the SACD to the discrete CD.

BTW, prior to adding the MPS-5 I used a modded Pioneer Elite DV-58AV universal player. It's SACD and DVD-A sections were way better than it's CD section, as the Playback Designs now confirms rather dramatically.
Dave

Follow Ups:

RE: Agreed. - navman 08:41:04 07/02/08 (1)
- See my Playback Designs review... - dcstep@swbell.net 09:23:12 07/02/08 (0)

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