Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" coming to SACD in May!! (1 Viewer)

[Danny Tse]

For the 20th anniversary of its release, this seminal album will get the 5.1 surround sound treatment on SACD. From Mark Knopfler's official website....

http://www.mark-knopfler.co.uk/ragpi...s/new_news.php

 

[Geremia P.]

I'm assuming this is a UK release, right?

 

[Marc Colella]

This was recorded at 44.1/16bit, so I don't expect much of an improvement in sound quality.

Artistically and sonically, I'd prefer Love Over Gold.

 

[Justin Lane]

Great news. I have been waiting for some Hi-res Dire Straits. Like Marc said, I wouldn't hold up too much hope for improvement on the stereo track, but there are a lot of possibilities for a nice 5.1 mix.

I would assume this would get a DVD-A/CD double disc release in the U.S since Warner distributes it here and the other Knopfler discs got the same treatment (SA-CD overseas, Double Disc in the U.S.)

J

 

[Brian L]

Since this was a DDD recording, I would think that a DVD-A would be the preferred choice, not that an SACD will not sound great.

This is a great choice, but I would have preferred Love Over Gold, probably the finest recording I own, regardless of the media.

I think I have heard Money For Nothing a few times too many! Then again, I said the same thing about Aerosmith's Toys in the Attic, yet the 5.1 SACD totally rocked.

BGL

 

[Rachael B]

I'll be ordering atleast one copy! It's time to update or supplement my vinyl here! Cheery-oh!

 

[cwhite]

Has it really been 20 years since we all "wanted my MTV"? This one will be on the wish list, too.

 

[Phil A]

Should be interesting. The XRCD2 I have sounds as soncically good as many hi-rez discs.

 

[Ron Etaylor]

Maximum respect for Dire Straits, but I've heard BIA too many times to invest again. I so wanted this format to succeed.

 

[Danny Tse]

Currently there are 2,942 SACD titles listed at sa-cd.net, and with May 9th being just a month away, will "Brothers In Arms" become the 3,000th SACD titles released?

Edit: There're an average of 76 SACD titles added to that website each month for the first 3 months of 2005.

 

[Justin Lane]

Would this mean anything?

J

 

[Marc Colella]

So does that mean we should ignore your "Save SACD Petition" post?

 

[Lewis Besze]

I agree, which makes me wonder about that pesky "upsampling" feature new CD players and some receivers have. The big news for me is the surround track of course.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Since this is a low-res PCM recording, I'll just pick up the domestic Warner Bros DVD-A instead of importing the SACD.

 

[Danny Tse]

It's up to you.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

There could be sonic improvements even with a low rez digital master. You could have a better mastering process and a lower jitter production process in an SACD.

 

[Ron Reda]

I agree. In fact, it's the disc I use to demo my system...even more so than some of the SACDs/DVD-As I own. Using a Musical Fidelity A3CD transport > MF A324 DAC upsampling to 24-bit/192kHz, I doubt many could tell.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Are you suggesting that high-res stereo is a waste of time and that the industry should focus on better Redbook mastering?

 

[Danny Tse]

Link to Amazon UK for pre-order of "Brothers In Arms" SACD....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...Fencoding=UTF8

Brian Moura's article on highfidelityreview.com regarding the upcoming "BIA" SACD, including a second version....

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...umber=15140897

 

[Phil A]

Danny, thanks for the info. I may be in the UK in the near future and may pick up a copy for a friend and an extra one. If I like it better than the XRCD2 I could keep it and if not trade or sell it. Michael, Brothers in Arms in the only XRCD2 I have. They pay careful attention to the mastering process - http://www.xrcd.net/Shopping/process.asp

"The xrcd process starts at the mastering level. The analog signal is taken directly from the mastering console and digitized using JVC's 20 Bit K2 Super Coding. The K2 is a 20 bit, 128 times over-sampling analog to digital converter which provides a dynamic range of 108 dB, -96db THD, flat frequency response in the passband to within +/- .05dB, and a substantial reduction of harmonic distortion for low level signals. The K2 Super Coding also provides a bit down mode to convert 20 bits to 16 bits, and interface signal reshaping to eliminate time base jitter in the digital data stream....

These two functions are taken advantage of during manufacturing. The 20 bit digital signal is then transferred to a PCM-9000 using SDIF-2. The PCM-9000 stores the information on a magneto-optical disk instead of transferring it to the U-matic 1630 format tape. The xrcd process takes advantage of the stability of the magneto-optical disk, as well as its 20 bit capacity, by using it as the audio storage medium for delivery to manufacturing.


At the JVC manufacturing plant in Yokohama, the 20 bit PCM-9000 magneto-optical disk is converted to 16 bits using the K2 Super Coding in bit down mode, via a SDIF-2 connection. This stage resolves the high resolution 20 bit signal to 16 bits while retaining the integrity of the low level information, which insures a true 16 bit dynamic range without using noise shaping. The 16 bit signal is then EFM encoded.

Another K2 circuit, called the K2 Laser, is used to reshape the EFM signal right before going to the laser of the glass cutter. This last stage is the same circuit used for the K2 Super Coding interface, which eliminates any time based jitter that may be present in the data stream. Throughout this process, the word clock is amplified and distributed to the other stages to keep signal quality at a maximum. Similarly, all equipment is run off regulated AC power feeds to provide a pure base from which to work. All cables and connections between equipment use the SDIF-2 interface for sonic quality and music integrity. Tests determined the SDIF-2 offered a superior transmission of digital audio, far above the AES/EBU standard. A variety of materials, including 24K gold and pure copper were tested. Ultimately aluminum was decided upon after extensive listening tests. The end result of this manufacturing process is the highest quality digital transfer from mastering to compact disc."

All I can say from Brothers in Arms (and I have a fairly high end system) and MoFis and any quality transfers such as these, it shows that great sound can be gotten from CD. The question I have is one of price and quality vs. SACD (or DAD ar any other high quality disc - I love the DADs I have too). I'm hoping to eventually be able to compare Brothers in Arms and reach my own conclusions at least based on that disc. I know the XRCD2 sounds superb.