High Definition Releases - Reviews
- Thread starter Bigerik
- Start date
During the last Acoustic Sounds sale, I picked up two Henry Mancini SACDs (Analogue Productions) at half price: The Music from Peter Gunn and Hatari!. I have the Gunn on 45 RPM vinyl, but since I've collected Mancini for years, I had to get both of these. (The Pink Panther film soundtrack was not on sale yet, but I have the excellent 45 RPM vinyl.)
So, the sound? Both of these are the best digital versions out there, and especially with the Peter Gunn album, I have heard many. This was Mancini's first recording for RCA in 1959--the label had approached Short Rogers to perform these tracks, but he insisted that Mancini record it himself. Normally a jazz record was considered a good seller if it moved about 50,000 copies; Peter Gunn sold over a million! Copies were selling so fast for a while that RCA could not keep up with production, and some of the LPs had to be shipped in generic RCA jackets. It won two Grammy awards, one of them being Album of the Year, the first time the award was given. The sound on the LPs differed somewhat--the mono LP did not have the reverb that was present on the stereo version, which is now the only version available. The nice thing here is that there is not much of the hard left/hard right panning of early stereo.
The SACD does have a nice smoothness to the sound, but I still feel the 45 RPM vinyl edges it out in terms of it sounding natural. (Strangely, I find that I prefer listening to my 24/96 needle drop over the SACD.) The vinyl just seems to sound more present and alive. If you're running a full digital rig, though, the SACD is the version to own.
I have no CD/vinyl comparison with Hatari! yet (the 45 RPM is being released later this month), but of the three, it is the one that Chad Kassem seems the most enthused about. (He told us at AXPONA this year, "The son-of-a-bitch sounds fantastic."
He had cut it at 33-1/3 RPM originally, but mentioned they were recutting it at 45 RPM.) This is a soundtrack for a film starring John Wayne, set in Africa, so some of the music features a lot of African percussion. The nearly seven minute track "Sounds of Hatari" is practically demo material, starting off with sparse percussion and building up to a large climax. Another good one to add to your collection, if you are into this sort of thing.
So, the sound? Both of these are the best digital versions out there, and especially with the Peter Gunn album, I have heard many. This was Mancini's first recording for RCA in 1959--the label had approached Short Rogers to perform these tracks, but he insisted that Mancini record it himself. Normally a jazz record was considered a good seller if it moved about 50,000 copies; Peter Gunn sold over a million! Copies were selling so fast for a while that RCA could not keep up with production, and some of the LPs had to be shipped in generic RCA jackets. It won two Grammy awards, one of them being Album of the Year, the first time the award was given. The sound on the LPs differed somewhat--the mono LP did not have the reverb that was present on the stereo version, which is now the only version available. The nice thing here is that there is not much of the hard left/hard right panning of early stereo.
The SACD does have a nice smoothness to the sound, but I still feel the 45 RPM vinyl edges it out in terms of it sounding natural. (Strangely, I find that I prefer listening to my 24/96 needle drop over the SACD.) The vinyl just seems to sound more present and alive. If you're running a full digital rig, though, the SACD is the version to own.
I have no CD/vinyl comparison with Hatari! yet (the 45 RPM is being released later this month), but of the three, it is the one that Chad Kassem seems the most enthused about. (He told us at AXPONA this year, "The son-of-a-bitch sounds fantastic."
He had cut it at 33-1/3 RPM originally, but mentioned they were recutting it at 45 RPM.) This is a soundtrack for a film starring John Wayne, set in Africa, so some of the music features a lot of African percussion. The nearly seven minute track "Sounds of Hatari" is practically demo material, starting off with sparse percussion and building up to a large climax. Another good one to add to your collection, if you are into this sort of thing.
nedseg
Well-Known Member
Just DL'd the latest 2L Hoff Ensemble release - Polarity. Also Very Nice.
http://www.2l.no/pages/album/145.html
One of the tracks has a very deep organ note, 30-40hz, that I didn't even know was there on the LSR305s, until I played it on the big system
http://www.2l.no/pages/album/145.html
One of the tracks has a very deep organ note, 30-40hz, that I didn't even know was there on the LSR305s, until I played it on the big system
2channel*
Well-Known Member
So do I! I'm on VaCay the next two weeks; but maybe we can set something up after that. Tell me what you'd like me to bring, and then we could do a reverse if you like.
Just got my Sony 4K Blu-Ray player to output to my Sony HAP-S1 over coax.
That means I can listen to SACDs in my living room. I still can't rip them to the hard drive.
So far, I only have one physical disk with SACD but it is one I dearly love and the DSD layer really sounds special.
Here's a Hoagy Carmichael compilation done with solo singers and small backup groups. So charming!
That means I can listen to SACDs in my living room. I still can't rip them to the hard drive.
So far, I only have one physical disk with SACD but it is one I dearly love and the DSD layer really sounds special.
Here's a Hoagy Carmichael compilation done with solo singers and small backup groups. So charming!
I think what is happening is that the Sony Blu-Ray player sends DSD over the optical link to the Sony HAP-S1 which drove the speakers with its internal DAC and amplifier. I think it was DSD since the TV screen (connected via HDMI) says it was playing the DSD layer.
DVD-A is pretty dead but it could play 96/24 or 192/24 PCM.
The Blu-Ray format could do as well or better but there is very little content available I understand. In any case my player is limited in digital output bandwidth of 96/24 or DSD and has no analog outs.
DVD-A is pretty dead but it could play 96/24 or 192/24 PCM.
The Blu-Ray format could do as well or better but there is very little content available I understand. In any case my player is limited in digital output bandwidth of 96/24 or DSD and has no analog outs.
BirdOnAWire
Active Member
I just canceled TIDAL about an hour ago (after a year) because I can't figure out what MQA is vs just 24/96 Qobuz and I want my $20/month back.
I'm incapable of hearing better than that. But I did buy some DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 and DSD512 just to assure myself - I can't hear any benefit beyond 24/(any). I *think* I can feel the difference between a 16/44.1 and 24/something.
But - I CAN hear the difference between the DACs I've played this last year (Dragonfly red one, Fiio Q5, Fiio M11 Pro, Chord Qutest).
I'm incapable of hearing better than that. But I did buy some DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 and DSD512 just to assure myself - I can't hear any benefit beyond 24/(any). I *think* I can feel the difference between a 16/44.1 and 24/something.
But - I CAN hear the difference between the DACs I've played this last year (Dragonfly red one, Fiio Q5, Fiio M11 Pro, Chord Qutest).
I've never read a cogent explanation of how MQA offered me, the music buyer, better sound quality or greater convenience for purchased music. It seemed more about copy protection (I suspect) than some technical advance in hi-res sound reproduction.
Just checked on HDTracks and their pricing took a big jump. One example is the former RCA Living Stereo classic of Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade. They want $25 when it was reissued as a DSD disc for $10 back when SACD came out. To cover, they push very limited discount coupons good for only a few items but not this DSD version.
Just about all new releases are done as hi-res now, so I guess I'd have to review everything I buy?
The most recent was Pat Metheny's From This Place. I have mixed feelings about it musically. Parts of it are cinematic, vast, sweeping. Others sound like I've heard the tunes before, like "Sixty-Six" (which is like a modified "Last Train Home"), and a few others reminiscent of Secret Story. One track I hid in Roon was the title track since, like other butthurt musicians out there, Pat feels as though he has to make a political statement. It's a vocal track with a guest artist. At least it wasn't like Burt Bacharach's At This Time which dropped an F-bomb because he was similarly butthurt. (And don't get my started on Brad Mehldau's bitter, enraged Finding Gabriel that similarly drops an F-bomb about "the wall"....and I'm not talking Pink Floyd here.) I listen to music to get away from that non-stop media and political BS, not have it smeared in my face by every butthurt artist I listen to.
The sound quality is kind of strange. At times it opens up beautifully and has clarity. In others, the music sounds congested. It doesn't sound like it's brickwalled, but the dynamics are still rather flat, and sound also a bit dulled at that time. I've certainly heard plenty of other Metheny albums that sound better than this one. In fact, the Group's Letter From Home had a recent hi-res release.
This is an album that Metheny fans will probably like, but I certainly don't recommend it as a starting point for his catalog. There are much better ones out there.
The most recent was Pat Metheny's From This Place. I have mixed feelings about it musically. Parts of it are cinematic, vast, sweeping. Others sound like I've heard the tunes before, like "Sixty-Six" (which is like a modified "Last Train Home"), and a few others reminiscent of Secret Story. One track I hid in Roon was the title track since, like other butthurt musicians out there, Pat feels as though he has to make a political statement. It's a vocal track with a guest artist. At least it wasn't like Burt Bacharach's At This Time which dropped an F-bomb because he was similarly butthurt. (And don't get my started on Brad Mehldau's bitter, enraged Finding Gabriel that similarly drops an F-bomb about "the wall"....and I'm not talking Pink Floyd here.) I listen to music to get away from that non-stop media and political BS, not have it smeared in my face by every butthurt artist I listen to.
The sound quality is kind of strange. At times it opens up beautifully and has clarity. In others, the music sounds congested. It doesn't sound like it's brickwalled, but the dynamics are still rather flat, and sound also a bit dulled at that time. I've certainly heard plenty of other Metheny albums that sound better than this one. In fact, the Group's Letter From Home had a recent hi-res release.
This is an album that Metheny fans will probably like, but I certainly don't recommend it as a starting point for his catalog. There are much better ones out there.
That's pretty much the story of everything released, no matter which format, and why there is always a lot of confusion as to which version sounds better. The mastering can be really poor on some 180g or 200g records, while others might sound way better than any other version. I'm not much of a rock listener, but a friend sent me the 24/96 (?) files for the Nirvana Nevermind album and they were horrible--it was from one of Universal's smashed 90s remasterings that had all the life sucked out of it I think the old Mobile Fidelity gold CD (from the 90s?) and even the original CD release sounded way better to my ears. There is no general rule for any of this. But I would say that if the tonal balance and dynamics are identical in two different formats, the only thing you gain with HiRes is the added resolution. Whether or not that's worth the cost is up to whoever is listening to the files. As for new releases, I'd rather buy the file in the highest resolution possible if it's available to me. I can always downsample it in the rare event I needed to burn it to a CD.
At least a few jazz labels out there still care for quality sound, like ECM, and they've been reissuing some of their more important early titles on HiRes. Sadly though, even with new pop/rock releases, the dynamics are often slammed through a brickwall filter, and even the vinyl releases sounds terrible.
That is one good advantage to Qobuz--I can preview a title in HiRes and see if it is any better than what I own.
That is one good advantage to Qobuz--I can preview a title in HiRes and see if it is any better than what I own.
