What's your favorite SACD, and why? (1 Viewer)

[Lam Nguyen]

What's your favorite SACD, and what genre (classical, jazz, etc.) is it. Why is it your favorite SACD?

I just wanted to get a feel for some of the best SACD out there, so I could know what to get next time. Being 24 yrs., I find that most SACD are music from the 80's or classical.(stuff I would not listen to) Out of the 6 SACD I own, I only listen to 3 of them (Norah Jones, Diana Krall, James Taylor) the others I have to keep b/c they're not returnable. I'm just trying to get ideas so I won't regret making a purchase on something I don't like. Thanks

 

[Rich Malloy]

Pop/Rock: Beck "Sea Change"
Great music, great sound quality, great multichannel remix. The best contemporary pop/rock SACD I've heard.

Classic Rock:
Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon"

Country/Bluegrass: Alison Krauss + Union Station "Live"
One of the finest sounding live performances featuring some of my favorite musicians: Alison, Jerry Douglas, Dan Tyminski. This is what live, multichannel, direct-to-DSD SACDs should sound like!

Blues:
Jorma Kaukonen "Blue Country Heart"
Another "direct-to-DSD" recording featuring Jorma and a ton of great pickers (Jerry Douglas again!) doing some great country blues.

Classic Jazz:
So many great ones... where to begin? The Miles catalog, particularly "Round About Midnight", "Kind of Blue", and "In a Silent Way"; Sonny Rollins "Saxophone Collosus"; Dave Brubeck "Time Out"; Bill Evans Trio "Waltz for Debby"...

Oh, did you say just one?

 

[Jagan Seshadri]

Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon".
Indispensible album on a hybrid CD/SACD disc. The SACD has a stereo and a wonderful multichannel mix.

That is my favorite SACD, easily!

-JNS

 

[Javier_Huerta]

Dark Side of the Moon.

You NEED that disc. It's an historical album - I can almost bet it's (beside the record holder for longest stay on the Billboard chart) the most remastered disc EVER

 

[Rachael B]

I have too many SACD's to just have one fav a this point.

Junior Wells' COME ON THIS HOUSE is some fine blues and R & B.

Manfredo Fest's JUST JOBIM is a really nice package of Antonio Carlos Jobim's Brasilian jazz. It's a trio with Manfredo Fest on piano and bass & drums, all instrumental.

The Zombies Greatest Hits is pristene 63-64 pop rock at it's best.

Rolling Stones LET IT BLEED, terrific album , terrific sound!

Joe Satriani's STRANGE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC is noisey rock guitar done vary well.

Allison Krass' NEW FAVORITE she makes me like kuntry bluegrass more than I would otherwise.

Sonny Rollins' SAXPHONE COLOSSUS is my fav classic jazz title. Max roach's drummng is so good too!

Doc Powell's 97TH & Columbus is my fav smooth jazz title. He picks guitar...

Monty Alexander's MONTY MEETS SLY AND ROBBIE is some really nice pop jazz.

Cowboy Junkies' OPEN, I'm always in the mood for their brand of rock.

The Anthony Wilson Trio's OUR GANG is nice laid back guitar jazz.

Bryan Ferry's FRANTIC isn't as good as the best Roxy Music albums but it's purr-dy good for a grey-haired rocker.

Spyro Gyra... take your pick from ORIGINAL CINEMA or IN MODERN TIMES. This is great fusion IMO. Get'em while they're hot, they're lovely!

Grant-Lee Phillips' MOBILIZE is as about as good a one-man album as I've ever heard. rock.

Oasis' (what's the story) MORNING GLORY rock

Keb' Mo's JUST LIKE YOU is a nice bluesy, R & B sounding thang.

Dave's True Story UNAUTHORIZED is nice vocal and jazz oriented stuff. Dave strums good and Kelly Flints is an intresting singer. Quirky material!

Pieces Of A Dream is jazz and R & B with all the pieces in the right place.

Peter White's GLOW, jazz and R & B guitar, it's smooth and funky.

For jazz vocals I like Jacintha's 3 albums!

CCR's WILLY AND THE POORBOYS & COSMO'S FACTORY are the pick of the litre. gumbo rock!

I think I've gven you a few that are off the beaten path, best wishes!

 

[Jon_Welker]

Oh, Oh, no it's Cyndi Lauper!!!

Give me a break. Why are they brining this out on SACD when there is so much more out there that their resources could be spent better on.

 

[RobBenton]

You can always sell those discs you dont like on half.com for almost as much as you paid for them!

 

[Evan S]

I would have to say that Ryan Adams "Gold" is my favorite SACD simply because it's a fantastic record. It's not the best I have sound wise, but it's close enough that I overlook that and concentrate on the music.

I really enjoy all three Alison Krauss and US discs I own...her solo effort "Forget About It" pales in comparison to her efforts with Union Station "Live" and "New Favorite" but all three are sonic masterpieces and well worth the $$$ IMO.

Three classic staples no collection should be without, Miles Davis "Kind of Blue", Dave Brubeck Quartet "Time Out" and Rolling Stones "Hot Rocks 1964-1971" are all fine in their own right and I also really enjoy the Dave Brubeck "40th Anniversary Tour of the UK" straight to DSD.

I find myself listening to Lang Lang's "Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #3" more than I thought I would. Great stuff if you enjoy classical piano.

The latest wave of stuff I just got is very impressive as well, led by Norah Jones "Come Away With Me", Beck's "Sea Change" (not a big Beck fan, but I am of this record and sonics are to die for!), and Nickel Creek's "This Side"

Honestly, I cannot remember the last regular CD I bought there has been so much good SACD's out recently I can't keep up.

But my favorite is still the Ryan Adams.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

A Tie Between:

:star: Dark Side of The Moon (so good I made it my signature, watershed event for Super Audio)

:star: Ryan Adams Gold (best songwriting I've heard in a while)

:star: Duke Ellington Blues in Orbit (great performance)

:star: Keb Mo The Door (love the performance)

:star: Beck Sea Change (performance and sonics)

:star: Norah Jones (love the style of music)

 

[Philip Hamm]

My favorite is Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" because it's a recording of one of the best musical performances in history.

 

[Lam Nguyen]

Thanks to all who have responded, so far "Dark side of the moon" is the most popular. I thought about getting Alison Krauss a few weeks ago but didn't because it's country, please keep the comments coming.

 

[Marc Colella]

Bruno Walter: Brahms, Symphony No. 4 in E Minor Op. 98 (simply beautiful music and the sound is so warm and sweet. There's tape hiss, but I know I'm not missing any of the music)

Keb' Mo': The Door (Great sound, not all-out blues and not pop... very nice listening)

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out (classic tracks that sound incredible. Hard to believe it's from the 50's)

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (One of my favorite recordings - jazz or otherwise)

Willie Nelson: Stardust (Sounds wonderful and althouh it's short, it's simplicity really comes across beautifully)

If I can actually find the Norah Jones disc anywhere, and if the sonics are a good deal better than the CD - it'll probably be on my list as well.

 

[Rich Malloy]

A couple more "off the beaten track" SACDs (off that track at least in this thread!) would be:

Herbie Hancock's "Head Hunters" -- a crazy multichannel mix that's also a good demo to check your system setup. If you're speakers aren't well-positioned (equidistant), this highly rhythmic, extremely funky album will sound smeared and off-kilter in multichannel mode. If you've got everything dialed-in just right, however, it'll be funk heaven. And if you're not dialed-in, the two-channel track is classic.

Earth, Wind & Fire "Alive in '75: That's the Way of the World" -- are we feelin' funky today? Tough call between this recently discovered live snapshot of EW&F in their prime, and the classic live album from the same tour, "Gratitude". EW&F fans will probably always know these tunes best as they sound on "Gratitude", and I certainly recommend that SACD, as well. But "Alive in '75" easily bests it in terms of sound quality, features some of the same tunes in excellent performances, plus a number of great tracks that didn't make it on "Gratitude". While this is a wonderful sounding live recording, it won't top newer, direct-to-dsd stuff like Alison Krauss+Union Station's "Live" or Chesky's "4 Generations of Miles", but it sounds phenomenal nonetheless. If there's any SACD that might invite a "Notice to Quit" to be stapled to my apartment door, it's probably this one. It'll move a lot of air, to put it mildly. If you're prone to wearing slacks and windbreakers indoors, they'll be flappin' in the sonic breeze of these deep grooves.

 

[Brian-W]

• Norah Jones - Come Away with Me
• Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
• Simple Minds -Best of
• Top Gun (Soundtrack - I know I'm the only one that thinks this sounds great in SACD)
• Wham - Make it Big
• Cyndi Lauper - She's so Unusual
• Bangles - Greatest Hits

 

[Lam Nguyen]

Thanks to all for your comments, I'll definately give the "Pink Floyd" album a try. There's a few others that I might want to check out now that I have a better idea. More vocal jazz recommendations that sound like Diana Krall or Norah Jones would be great.

 

[Rachael B]

Lam, try Christy Baron's Chesky label SACD. She takes rock songs like Prince's THIEVES IN THE TEMPLE and The Zombies' SHE'S NOT THERE and jazz-ifies them. Natalie Cole has an SACD too, it's pretty good. If you like the Brasilian slant try either of Ana Caram's Chesky albums. I like BLUE BOSSA better myself. Last, but not least, try Jacintha. She has a new SACD called JACINTHA IS HER NAME coming up soon. Her other 3 Groove Note SACD's are all good. Best wishes!

 

[Page]

Currently, I'm big on Peter Gabriel's "UP" which just came out on SACD. Sounds great and terrific use of multichannel mastering. (I liked Gabriel's first three CDs best (which I also have on SACD) and this one is more in that vein.)

I also enjoy Allison Kraus and Union Station "Live", Oasis "(What's the Story) Morning Glory", Beck "Sea Change", and the Stones "Hot Rocks" and "Her Majesty's..."

Looking forward to some more ROCK mulitchannel recordings. And replacing my "Blonde On Blonde" Stereo SACD with the new multichannel version that's coming. (Great album. I hope that they do a good job on Bob's upcoming titles.)

 

[Rich Malloy]

More vocal jazz recommendations that sound like Diana Krall or Norah Jones would be great.

Distinctive, to be sure, but in the same ballpark at least would be the three Patricia Barber SACDs from MoFi. My favorite is "Cafe Blue", but I think most folks like "Modern Cool" the best. You might actually prefer "Nightclub". Here's a review of that disc: http://www.highfidelityreview.com/re...ewnumber=53985

In late summer/early fall, Blue Note will be releasing Cassandra Wilson's "New Moon Daughter". I definitely recommend you pick this one up.

I'd also recommend Ana Caram's "Blue Bossa" if you like the latin jazz. An amazingly good sounding SACD.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I'm not usually into picking favorites or making lists, but what the hell:

Favorite rock SACD:

Joe Satriani: Engines of Creation

Yeah, it's only stereo and not a hybrid, but damn it sounds so sweet.


Favorite jazz SACD:

Miles Davis: Cookin'

Picking this one mainly 'cause I'm such a huge Miles fan, but Analogue Productions does such a great job with their SACDs.


Favorite classical SACD:

San Francisco Symphony's version of Mahler's 6th. It's just a monster of a recording, especially the surround track.