Drubin: J-10, in his review of SCD-1 id Stereophile also said that RedBook part of hybrid disc sound worse then sinle layer CD's. So you are not alone in this opinion. My 2 cents that in all identical recordings I compared available as single CD and Redbook part of hybrid, hybrid ALWAYS won and with big margin. But, I am not professional reviewer. The difference is huge and one had to be blind not to hear it. Unless, entire system is highly colored, of course - Simon
SACD, MSB/Upsampling, LPs Compared
Using a S9000ES, Audiophile Audition reviewed 10 SACDs and compared them to the identical CDs (using the S9000ES and MSB DAC with upsampling) and at times to LPs. SACD was the clear winner, even though the LPs were close. The article even noted that the CD layer on hybred discs sounded better than the CD.
http://www.audaud.com/audaud/FEB01/setFEB01.html
http://www.audaud.com/audaud/FEB01/setFEB01.html