The Concert For New York City SACD in hand! (1 Viewer)

[EricK]

I just picked this up today...was a total surprise...

Looks like some good tracks :

Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, The WHO, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Paul McCartney and Elton John to name a few...

Anyone else get this yet? I'll be listening to it tomorrow and will post some feedback on either Thurs night or Friday afternoon.

Eric.

 

[Michael_T]

Alot of the performances are what's to be expected when an artist plays live with a "generic" backing band. Actually alot of the cuts use the David Letterman band with Paul Shaffer, etc.

There are some bright spots on the disc, and others that may be good for one or two listens. Personally, IMO, Adam Sandler should have been left off this release, but I didn't pick the cuts, so I can't do anything about it.

The sound is nothing to write home about. Not one of the better SACDs sonically. A touch bright and at times "harsh" on my system (which includes a 2 week old XA777ES - which is still in the break in period). Some cuts have super low end response, while others don't. The disc was mixed, song by song, by two different producer/engineers - and the difference in the mixing style shows through. Bob Clearmountain, whose cuts I would have expected to sound great, were the cuts that seemed sonically inferior to those mixed by Thom Cadley.

If you are a fan of these types of compilations, or like the majority of artists represented, you will probably have a good time listening to this disc. Just don't expect too much from it sonically.

At least you can rest comfortably knowing that your purchase of this disc helped contribute a little bit to those who might still be suffering from the tragedy on 9/11.

 

[EricK]

I listened to this today and so far...

The disc was mixed, song by song, by two different producer/engineers - and the difference in the mixing style shows through. Bob Clearmountain, whose cuts I would have expected to sound great, were the cuts that seemed sonically inferior to those mixed by Thom Cadley.

This surprised me when I read the album credits. And I for sure thought that the Clearmountain mixes would rule...not so.

I think the use of two different engineers was a bad move, as the album definitely has high and low points on it.

I would probably rank this in the median of my collection as far as sonics and sound quality. It is nice though to have some cool tracks by artists we may never see on a high rez format!

Eric.

 

[KeithH]

Eric and Michael, thanks for the info. I will definitely try to track down this title. Has Best Buy gotten this title in yet? I would guess not. Best Buy seems to get in new DVD-Audio discs, but not too many new SACDs.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Count me in too.

KeithH,

I am also having trouble with the SACD selection at best Buy. Maybe a petition is in order....

Tower is pretty good, but prices are sky high!

Lee

 

[KeithH]

Lee, Best Buy seems to be sticking with their initial selection of SACDs for the most part. They have added an occasional new title here and there since initially stocking SACDs (e.g., Top Gun), but there are many newer titles they have not gotten in. Very disappointing. I would guess that Best Buy is putting minimal financial resources into SACD because initial sales probably have not warranted anything more, but of course, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. :frowning:

 

[EricK]

Keith and Lee,

I found this SACD at CDWorld 2 days ago.

I was totally shocked to even find it!! Was not expecting to see a new release that wasn't even announced anywhere...

Eric.

 

[KeithH]

Eric, thanks. I'll have to check out CD World. If you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay?

 

[Michael_T]

Keith,

Mine copy cost me $35.99 at CDWorld. I also saw this at Coconuts in Totowa, NJ for $36.99. I passed at $36.99 thinking CDW would be much cheaper, but it wasn't.

 

[EricK]

Keith

I believe that CD World charged me 32.99 + tax for this.

Eric.

 

[KeithH]

Michael, thanks for the info. Since posting my question, I got an e-mail message from Elusive Disc advertising it for $34.99. If Best Buy were to get it, it would probably be $32.99, which is probably the best price one could find. Circuit City sells the Roger Waters two-disc set for $28.99, but they are even worse than Best Buy in updating SACD inventory.

 

[KeithH]

Eric, I just saw your post after replying to Michael. As you can see, he paid $35.99 at Compact Disc World. $32.99 is about the cheapest I would expect to see it for.

 

[Michael_T]

I expected it to be $32.99 at Compact Disc World. The one problem I find with Compact Disc World at times is that each store may have different prices on certain discs. I think that certain items come into the store unpriced, and the manager has to price the items. Depending on the store, what they might find in their computer, and other variables, prices may be different between each store.

For instance, the East Hanover store where I shop the most has DVD-Audio discs for $20.99, while the Parsippany store seems to price their DVD-Audio dics (or at least the majority of them) at $19.99.

I asked the manager at the East Hanover store if maybe the Concert for NYC on SACD was priced wrong at $35.99, since all their other double SACDs they ever sold were priced at $32.99. He check his computer and told me he priced it correctly based on the information he had. I bought it anyway.

You could go crazy trying to save a dollar or two - so why bother. But if I would have known it was going to be $35.99 at the East Hanover CDW, I would have picked it up at Coconuts, where they put it out for sale 5 days earlier than release date. Then I could have listened to it over the long 3-day weekend.

Anyway, life goes on.

 

[KeithH]

My parents picked up a copy of The Concert for New York City SACD set for me at the Tower Records in King of Prussia, PA today. It was $38 with tax (!). Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until the weekend to get it from them. :frowning:
I almost bought the CD version this weekend. Best Buy had it for $19.99, while Circuit City had it for $14.99. Talk about variability in price. These prices were at stores in State College, PA.
By the way, the Circuit City in State College, PA had several copies of the Roger Waters In the Flesh -- Live SACD for $35. I bought it at a Circuit City in Delaware for $28.99 a couple of months ago, and have seen it marked $28.99 at many Circuit City stores since. I always thought $28.99 seemed cheap for a two-disc multi-channel SACD set. Maybe the powers that be at Circuit City thought so too, giving them cause to raise the price.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Keith,

Picked this up earlier today. I really like it, but some of the tracks are weak and I will agree it is not one of the best sonically.

I like Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger, Billy Joel (Miami 2017 is outstanding), The Who, and of course OPERAMAN!

Also in heavy rotation on my SCD-777....

Willie Nelson, Stardust - Superb!

Misha Mengelberg Quartet, Four in One - great classic jazz if a bit unusual at times

Peter White, Glow - new age guitar craftsmanship

All highly recommended.

Lee

 

[KeithH]

Lee, I can't wait to give the Concert for New York SACDs a spin. Even if not the greatest sonically, there is some great music there, and I'm sure the SACD beats the CD version. Thanks for the other suggestions. I'm not sure I would like the music there, but I have heard good things about the Willie Nelson SACD in the past.

 

[KeithH]

O.K., I've given The Concert for New York City SACDs a listen on both of my stereo systems, and I do agree that it is not one of the better SACDs out there sonically. I am still glad I picked it up, however. Great artists, great music, great cause. However, this is not a title I will use to demo SACD. I wonder if this SACD release is really any better than the CD. Seeing as I do like the music, I might just pick up the CD version for $14.99 at Circuit City to compare it to the SACD and to listen in the car and at work.

 

[EricK]

Keith,

How have you found the SACD's of the O'Jay's "Ship Ahoy," Mary Chapin Carpenter's "time*sex*love*," and Carole King's "Tapestry?" I recently was able to purchase these in Multichannel/Stereo discs, but wont be able to check them out until Thurs afternoon.

BTW...O'Jay's "Ship Ahoy" was a bargain at Tower in New York City for 8.99 (marked 9.99!). I wonder if Sony is discounting some of the older, less "popular" titles to push SACD sales???

Thanks!

Eric.

 

[KeithH]

Eric, I very much like The O'Jays and Carole King SACDs. I have the stereo-only version of Tapestry, though I will buy the multi-channel version at some point. Anyway, the SACDs of Ship Ahoy and Tapestry are not the best-sounding SACDs in my collection, but they are much better than the CDs. These are older recordings, and it shows on the SACDs, but the CDs are not nearly as fluid. I should mention that I have both the Sony remastered CD and the MasterSound gold CD of Tapestry, and neither compare to the SACD.
I do not have the Mary Chapin Carpenter SACD, but I might pick it up. I read on Audio Asylum that it is not really country music. That was good news for me, as I do not like country music. Anyway, this SACD has gotten high marks sonically.
As for The O'Jays SACD at Tower, that appears to be another case where an SACD was marked the price of the CD. I just bought the Ship Ahoy CD at Circuit City this past weekend for $9.99, but I paid $21.99 for the SACD at Tower about six weeks ago.
Speaking of SACD bargains, I ordered the Dave Brubeck multi-channel SACD for $10.18 and the Weather Report Mysterious Traveller multi-channel SACD for $8.48 from www.digitaleyes.net the other day. I won't get them for awhile because the Weather Report disc won't be out until the 26th.

 

[EricK]

Keith,

Is Weather Report a jazz type? If so, what kind?

I might pick this up when it comes out....

Eric.