[Sathyan]

Which of the available Alison Krauss SACDs would you buy if you could only buy one:

New Favorite
Live
Now That I've Found You
Forget About It


I especially like instrumental works/passages.
I'm looking for, as Stereophile has often put it, best music, best performance and best recording.


thanks,
Sathyan

NP Natalie MacMaster In My Hands (SACD)

[Lee Scoggins]

Here's my view:

I think New Favorite may have the best sonics.

I think Now That I've Found You collection is the best performance and music (and with great sonics just not as crystal clear as New Fave).

Live may be the best combination of both.

I really like the MacMaster SACD by the way.

[Rich Malloy]

It's not even close for me... "LIVE".

The only "direct to DSD" recording of the bunch, although "New Favorite" sounds so good that it might as well be. Also, only "New Favorite" and "LIVE" are multichannel, so that may be a factor for you.

But for performance-quality, sound-quality, wealth and depth of music, and one of the most satisfying "you-are-there" experiences, I say go with "LIVE" first.

And pick up the others next week...

[Mike Broadman]

I didn't even now that the latter two are on SACD.:b

I picked up the live recently and only listened to the stereo track so far and have New Favorite. If I had to pick, I'd say Live just because there's twice as much music on a double set.

[Sam Owens]

New Favorite for me - simply put, it's stunningly well recorded (I was listening to the stereo track on a $A115k system consisting of two Halcro DM68 monoblocs and a matching DM10 pre-amp running Dynaudio Contour S 5.4 speakers the other night) and has an interesting M/C mix (unlike Live which sticks to a standard concert style M/C mix). 'Live' is good, but I'm happy with the DVD of the performance which adds visuals and a few extras at the expense of ultimate sonic fidelity (the $A115k was sadly not mine, meaning that in practice the differences are small on my system).

[Evan S]

I have all of them but "Now That I've Found You" and I have to say that "Live" gets the most play on my system. It's phenomenal.

[chung_sotheby]

Yeah, I would have to add a vote to Live. The thing is that on Live, I like the 2 channel mix better than the multichannel mix, while on New Favorite I find both mixes to be about equal. But I like the concert-hall ambience feeling that comes from live, as well as the amazing performances. Also I read a great article about how Live was recorded straight to DSD, and how the reviewer thought that the DSD mix might actually be better than being at the concert. Here is the link:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/art...article_id=248

I will be seeing AKUS "Live" next Monday night at the Santa Fe Opera House. Really looking forward to it!

I guess I need to pick up "Live" before then for comparison!

BGL

[Lee Scoggins]

Quote:

I was listening to the stereo track on a $A115k system consisting of two Halcro DM68 monoblocs and a matching DM10 pre-amp running Dynaudio Contour S 5.4 speakers the other night

[Sam Owens]

It was indeed an amazing experience Lee.