Dare I suggest that the type of music used might have had something to do with the outcome? SACD has been kept alive mainly by Classical Music lovers, none of which was used here. I will probably be criticized as Elitist but CM makes more demands on a system than bog standard Pop Music. As just one example, both Shostakovich and Mahler use a lot of low level percussion that infuses even the quieter portions of their music, such as subtle toppings of the gong that fills out the bottom end. One reason that concerts have always bested recordings is that not only can you hear it but the way it seems to infuse the sonic canvas from the ground up can be breathtaking. This stuff gets lost in the mix on most recordings. With vinyl it’s truly lost due to the decreased dynamic range and competition with surface noise. However on a well recorded SACD it’s there, not only as a separate element in the mix, but one that can permeate the listening room while simultaneously being low volume
Oh Ye of Little Format
Tonight our group of 13 people held a blind A/B/C test comparing
Formats of CD, SACD and Apple Sound.
We listened to one minute three formats of five different cuts
ranging from Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Santana
Celine Dion, & one other.
The cuts were removed from the same CD using different layers.
Bottom line- Nobody zeroed in on anything! The Apple Sound actually
was slightly the favorite. Try it yourself.
Sound leveling software was employed and were the services
of sound engineer.
I always thought SACDs were nothing special.
Now if an XRCD had been included I think it would have been preferred
but you can perform the same test using XRCD due to the way
it is recorded.
The fun never stops here...