Hi folks,

I just picked up the SACD hybrid of Nashville Skyline, one of my favorite Dylan albums. I don't possess the means to play the SACD layer, so I could only evaluate the CD layer. At first, I was blown away. I could plainly hear details that had eluded me before, but the general level of background noise was bothersome.

I checked the first two tracks out in direct comparison with the earlier CD release, and it was very revealing for me. The new mix has a definite "wow" factor, but a lot of it has to do with a not-subtle boost in the overall volume. I'm convinced that the rest of it is probably compression - that is, taking the lower volume sounds and bringing them up. The bass seems lower and the treble seems higher (sometimes uncomfortably so).

Both of them, truthfully, suffer in comparison to my 1981 CBS Master Sound Half-Speed Mastered LP. The original CD mix is a hell of a lot closer. Maybe somebody with an original pressing of the LP can chime in.

You should probably find a way to listen to the DSD layer (I.E. SACD) -- there are often two completely different mixes, and it may not suffer from compression as much.