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Quality of CD layer on hybrid SACD's

I was reading a review of the Dodson 218 DAC in an old issue of Enjoy the Music. The reveiwer was Wayne Donnelly. In a section of the review where he was comparing the performance of the Dodson to SACD on his SCD-777, he said, and I quote:

"One observation deserves commentary, however. The difficult-to-distinguish comparisons described here were between the original single-layer CDs and the SACD layers of the hybrids. The CD layers of the hybrids were inferior to both the SACD layers and the single-layer CDs. I have heard two theories about this. One is that the necessity of reading through the SACD layer disrupts the laser just enough to cause some degradation of the CD layer's sound. The other -- what we may call the conspiracy theory -- holds that in order to promote SACD, the CD layers of hybrid discs are deliberately being made to sound worse. I'm damned if I know; does anyone out there have an explanation?"

Has anyone else compared the CD layer of a hybrid with a redbook version of the same CD? Just curious......
pardales

Showing 2 responses by pardales

pardales OP
652 posts
 
Mejames: thanks for the reference, it was enlightening.

Chadnliz: Let us know what you find.

I am going to try and make some comparisons myself between the CD layer of some hybrids I own and the the most recent redbook remastering of the same CD. I don't think I have more than few cases where I have all these versions. I think it would be really interesting if several people could make some comparisons like this on their own systems. Can anyone else weigh in on this?
pardales OP
652 posts
 
I did a camparison between the redbook CD version of Dylan's John Wesley Harding and the CD layer of the SACD hybrid. I did enjoy the hybrid CD layer over the redbook CD. Mind you, it was not night and day, but there was a difference with the edge going to the hybrid.

Anyone else?
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