My first impressions on SACD multi-ch (1 Viewer)

[John Geelan]

I've been ordering SACD's like crazy now that I have a full SACD set-up including Multi-Channel capability.

I've been very impressed with the James Taylor sacd's. Both JT and Hourglass sound fantastic even in multi-channel.
Also the Miles Davis sacd Kind Of Blue is very nice.
Tubular Bells is excellent!

Today I put on Billy Joel's The Stranger and Alice In Chains Greatest Hits[/i] on sacd multi.

Both sound have pretty poor multi mixes. The Alice In Chains disc is particulary bad. It sounds very shrill. I know the music is very good, I wonder what went wrong in the DSD transfer.

This area (Multi) is where DVDA still holds a sizable lead as far as Rock titles go. I wonder if the Alice In Chains had been released as a DVDA would it sound better?

Next I'll throw in the Jeff Beck sacd Blow By Blow and Carole King's Tapestry, both have multi mixes.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Both sound have pretty poor multi mixes.

IMHO, they are. A engineering issue, not a DSD issue, for sure.
Get the new jazz and CCRs from Acoustic Sounds. They are superb...

 

[John Kotches]

John,

Strange as this sounds, I'm with Lee on this one. You can't chalk a mix you don't like up to whether it's on DVD-A or SACD. What you hear, regardless of media, is what the mixing engineer intended to deliver to you.

I prefer the mixes from Elliot Schiener (even if I butchered the spelling), and whoever does the JT mixes (I don't recall who is doing those discs).

Regards,

 

[Micahel C]

I prefer the mixes from Elliot Schiener (even if I butchered the spelling), and whoever does the JT mixes (I don't recall who is doing those discs).

Me Too! When it comes to doing surround, Scheiner is the king. Can't wait to hear his mix for Fagan's "Nightfly" due out next month.

 

[KeithH]

John said:

You can't chalk a mix you don't like up to whether it's on DVD-A or SACD. What you hear, regardless of media, is what the mixing engineer intended to deliver to you.

I wonder about the last part. I sometimes wonder if mixing engineers give much thought into what they are going to deliver. Some discs sound lousy, and some multi-channel mixes are terrible. Just my opinion.
According to the credits, Nathaniel Kunkel did the 5.1 mix for JT, and Frank Filipetti did the 5.1 mix for Hourglass. Andrew Fellus was the Mix Assistant on Hourglass.

 

[John Geelan]

I love both the multi mixes of JT and Hourglass. I'll have to pick up the inevitable October Rain sacd.

Another very fine sacd multi mix is Carole King's Tapestry. Very tasteful and properly done. I've had this one on all day.

One thing I have noticed about sacd in general is that acoustic guitar and piano sound very good. As do vocals. Electric guitar less so.

After listening to about the 8 sacd's I have, I can see why people love the sound of sacd. When it's good, it's very good. When it's poor, it's still better than the Redbook most times.

 

[Evan S]

Can't wait to hear his mix for Fagan's "Nightfly" due out next month.

Is this a SACD or DVD-A future release? I would definately be intrigued to get this title, if it's for SACD.

 

[John Tillman]

Nightfly is on Warner, so it should be dvd-a.

 

[John Kotches]

The Nightfly is slated for release on either Nov. 12th, or Nov. 19th (conflicting information). The Nov. 19th date I got from the latest Steely Dan newsletter. The Nightfly is a WB title, and it will be on DVD-A.

This is one of my favorite titles, and I look forward to hearing the surround mix in addition to the stereo mix.

This is a digital recording, although it is within the realm of possibility they had both analog and digital masters to work with.

Regards,

 

[John Geelan]

Nightfly should be a winner.

 

[John Geelan]

Bought Aerosmith's Oh Yeah Hits SACD tonight and the outer packaging says Multi-Channel but the 2 discs are in Stereo.
They had one package that said Stereo on the outside and three that said Multi-Channel.

Strange that they would print up packaging and get the discs wrong.

I wonder if a Multi mix of these songs are inevitable.

BTW, Aerosmith sounds pretty good in SACD. This collection sounds much better than the horrid Alice In Chains greatest hits SACD.

I also picked up Dave Brubeck's Take Five multi and the Vaughn Williams classical sacd by Telarc. I want to hear a Pure SACD collection for comparison.