***Official "Dark Side of The Moon SACD" Review Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[Rich Malloy]

Jordan, significantly, I've never heard the DVD, but I did read where those who had it were surprised by the negative reviews of the SACD.

Has anyone compared both? Is there a difference that perhaps favors the DVD release?

 

[Philip Hamm]

I just listened to the multichannel tonight for the first time and though I found the mix to be a bit conservative for my tastes, I liket it a lot. Not nearly as conservative as the practically stereo Queensryche: Empire DVD-A, but not as aggressive as I would have liked. Still, quite a nice surround experience.

I really feel sorry for anyone who is not listening with at least three identical speakers in the front. The soundfield up front was amazing on my system, I could not tell between the dedicated and phantom center images. My rears aren't identical but they're darn close, and wow what nice blending of the fronts and backs. Nice showcase SACD.

Mason's Hi-hat sounded like it was in my living room, much like the first time I heard Miles Davis' Trumpet on the Classic DAD of Cannonball Adderly's "Something Else".

 

[Lee Scoggins]

James Guthrie just made some interesting comments on why they chose Super Audio in an interview here...

http://www.audiorevolution.com/news/...darkside.shtml

Interesting...

 

[Phil A]

Lee, I've said the same thing many times. I've helped install many good systems where a quality DVD-A would shine and the people had DVD-A players with no DVD-As. A couple of people tried them and returned them for that very reason. When Linn demonstrated their Unidisk player at my local audio shop, they played "Hotel California" which sounded dreadful and about 40 people (audiophiles) left with a very bad impression of the sound of DVD-A. I had to tell the Linn rep after the demo that he was playing the left and right channel of the multi-channel mix. This problem could more easily be avoided if future DVD-As are authored to the spec that allows the 'audio' button of the remote to toggle between the mixes on the same bitstream. Hopefully future DVD-A titles will be done in this manner and help avoid those issues.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...223371-7991901

Amazon has it at #17, with very positive customer reviews.

It will be interesting to see the Soundscan data on this title.

Hopefully, this will provide a great case study to the Beatles so we have a hirez release from them soon.

 

[Jagan Seshadri]

I just picked up the 30th anniversary release and I am only commenting on the redbook layer. I am comparing it to the 'standard' CD release, whatever that is (not an anniversary edition, not a MoFi).

1) The 30th has less treble, or maybe the standard has too much.

2) On the 30th, vocals are clear when the instrumentation is loud, but on the standard, vocals do not rise above the mix at all.

3) The 30th has a frequency response that gracefully goes out to 22kHz, but the standard is brickwall-filtered at 20kHz.

-JNS

 

[Lee Scoggins]

The 30th has less treble, or maybe the standard has too much.

In the past, some have complained that the releases have had too much treble. The Harvest CD I have is just a shade bright but it is so much more open than the others that I still find it the best.

I still have not had a chance to listen fully to the SACD.

 

[Brian-W]

Finally tracked this disc down (along with The Police) and DSOTM sounds fantastic.

And I like the way they used multi-channel for "Us and Them"

Pure heaven.

 

[Brian-W]

BTW - If this sells a million units, is it time for another "how many purchased this disc for SACD vs. redbook?" thread?

 

[Marc Colella]

BTW - If this sells a million units, is it time for another "how many purchased this disc for SACD vs. redbook?" thread?

Not really, since it's obvious that very few people are purcashing this disc for the SACD layer. It's not even worth debating.

 

[Brian-W]

Not really, since it's obvious that very few people are purcashing this disc for the SACD layer. It's not even worth debating.

I agree, but it's bound to happen. And unlike the Rolling Stones discs, no one can say "the disc had no mention of SACD therefore most didn't buy it because of the high-resolution format"

At Best Buy in Costa Mesa, the SACD discs had their own section, while DVD-A was lumped in with DVD-Videos (movie section) and on the bottom two shelfs. Rather sad

 

[Lee Scoggins]

If this sells a million units, is it time for another "how many purchased this disc for SACD vs. redbook?" thread?

I certainly hope not - I think we all know that there is no way of knowing since the sales are not broken out.

I would not assume that "very few" are buying for the SACD layer since there has been much anecdotal evidence of (1) strong audiophile support, and (2) many Floyd fans posting on several web sites that this release is what drove them to but an SACD player. There may be over 40-50K units sold to SACD fans, which for something in the early adoption stage is quite good.

We should keep in mind that in the current war economy, early sales may not be a good indicator of title demand. I suspect we will see good numbers in any event, but I think the most relevant sales numbers will be for the whole year of 2003.

Much more important is that Sony will be able advertise another success to other bands to get them on the hirez bandwagon. Let's hope EMI listens and talks to Paul McCartney; I would love to hear the Beatle in Super Audio.

Best Buy in Atlanta has end caps prominently displaying the new Floyd album - two managers I spoke with said it was selling well.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Picked it up this morning. This is a stunning example of what is possible in MC SACD, quite amazing. I'll still get the vinyl, but I feel as if I heard this record for the first time today.

 

[Steve Owen]

With this just released, I starting thinking about how many times I've bought this particular title. Needless to say, they've gotten plenty of my money...

1 - way back when, on vinyl
2 - around the mid 80's - cassette
3 - as soon as it was released on CD
4 - 3 got stolen, so I bought another CD
5 - MFSL CD some time in the late 90's
6 - 2002 picked up a used vinyl copy in ex cond.
7 - I'll be picking up this SACD release
8 - I'll be picking up the new vinyl release

-Steve

 

[John Wes]

by Steve Owen

With this just released, I starting thinking about how many times I've bought this particular title. Needless to say, they've gotten plenty of my money...

1 - way back when, on vinyl
2 - around the mid 80's - cassette
3 - as soon as it was released on CD
4 - 3 got stolen, so I bought another CD
5 - MFSL CD some time in the late 90's
6 - 2002 picked up a used vinyl copy in ex cond.
7 - I'll be picking up this SACD release
8 - I'll be picking up the new vinyl release

-Steve

I know the feeling.

1. vinyl in 1973
2. 8 track in 1973
3. Somewhere along the line another vinyl to replace a scratched one
4. The half speed masterd MFSL version
5. UHQR
6. The Quad version.
7. A picture disc version
8. The MFSL ultradisc 1 version
9. 20th Anniverery edition
10. One in the Floyd box set
11. This new SACD

And I do know this is nowhere complete compared to some..

DSOTM is not my favorite Floyd...but I think it's the most collectable.

 

[Al B. C]

Mine either. That designation goes to "Meddle".

 

[Jack Gilvey]

I've also (re)purchased DSOTM in various forms over the years, but I consider this SACD the first worthwhile buy since the original vinyl.

 

[LanceJ]

Who tracks sales figures of these? Soundscan? When do they release sales figures?

LJ

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Who tracks sales figures of these? Soundscan? When do they release sales figures?

Soundscan...weekly. I'm not sure if there is a web link - will check into it.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Here is the Billboard chart list:

http://www.billboard.com/bb/charts/album_index.jsp