Which SACDs?
n80, As stereo5 said, Acoustic Sounds has Pink Floyd and Jimi for $35 each with free shipping over $49. https://store.acousticsounds.com/c/8/Hybrid_SACDs This is full premium price. Nonpremium SACDs list at $30. You can also check Music Direct (MoFi). They usually have sales 10 - 15% off around holidays. Maybe one coming up for Labor Day. Music Direct usually also has some closeout/on sale SACDs. https://www.musicdirect.com/music/optical-disc?category=Optical%2520Disc&format=Hybrid%2520SACD&sort=popularity%7CDESC&page=1&pagesize=24&c1=tab-products&c2=grid You can sometimes find them cheaper on Amazon. You know how they change their prices. Search ebay for SACD and a lot will come up and then you can sort by genre, price, etc. You can probably find something you’d like there cheaper. |
@n80, Check to see if Acoustic Sounds still has them. The are the ones who produced the SACD. I think I paid around 40$ from them when they first came out. If you find it, be careful. There are 4 versions on the disk: the surround sound on SACD and the stereo version on SACD. Also you have the stereo CD version and the surround CD version all on 1 cd. Thats why it is a bit more expensive. |
Thanks guys. Some good stuff to look into. Got a little sticker shock when I looked for Wish You Where Here SACD on eBay. None used. Lowest price new was about $55. I certainly believe a SACD can sound better than a CD but am skeptical that it would sound 10 times better! ;-) Just read the review above, and some others, of the Hendrix album. It is $45 but I might bite on that one. |
I find the difference between CDs and SACDs usually subtle, but it is a difference that I find enjoyable on many SACDs. I don’t think you’re going to be blown away and start buying lots of SACDs. If you’re not a collector type audiophile, you may just want to improve your streaming gear to take advantage of the many Hi-Res albums available on Qobuz. Tidal and its MQA resolution is controversial, as you probably know, and I’m not familiar with their sound quality. That said, an excellent SACD that I think is clearly better than its CD cousins and is still in print is Hendrix’s "Axis: Bold As Love." Review here: https://www.analogplanet.com/content/best-digital-release-ever-analogue-productions-reissues-%E2%80%9Caxis-bold-love%E2%80%9D-sacd |
My experience, SADC, the real difference is that the noise floor is lower, music emanates from a black pool of silence. Oscar Peterson, Music for my Friends :Piano/Silence, a good example of that I found. After a while, I decided, it's a bit un-natural, so I stopped buying them. Then, I got back into good old noisy LP's, more enjoyable, and my best source: Reel to Reel is noisier than LP |
Here is a source for SACD: https://store.acousticsounds.com/cat/4/SACD Since the Oppo also acts like a DAC, you can purchase DSD files from the same site and play through it. I think you will enjoy the music though SACDs. |
Most of the Analogue Productions SACDs are excellent. Yes, you will be able to hear a difference. I have A-B'ed between SACD discs and regular CDs. The SACD's sound similar to vinyl, while the regular CDs play as though the sound is muffled. With the SACD's, you will hear extended frequency response on both ends of the spectrum and details in the music which you have never heard before. |
A 2nd on the John Hiatt and Muddy Waters recommendations. New West Records doesn't charge an SACD premium on the Hiatt; I got it for five bucks during one of the label's sales! I love the Dylan w/ The Band Planet Waves album (both musically and sonically), and Mobile Fidelity offers it on a hybrid Stereo SACD. It's clearance priced right now at $19.99; get it while you can! One of the best sounding albums I've ever heard is Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens. Analogue Productions offers it on a hybrid Stereo SACD for $30.00. Cat is a little too "girl's music" for my liking (I once played it while seducing a young woman ;-), but the sound is really incredible. Good for demoing hi-fi equipment if nothing else. |
The really good ones are expensive and hard to find. I would be on the lookout for: Alison Krauss and Union Station Live John Hiatt Master of Disaster (skip track 1) Dolly Parton Little Sparrow Muddy Waters Folk Singer Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall All 3 BS &T's Chicago Soundtrack O'Brother Soundtrack Marvin Gaye Collection Sam Cooke There are also some samplers that have a variety of genres that include jazz, pop, rock and even Hugh Masakela! Some are better than others, some great, some debatable if better than the cd but overall pretty good quality. Good luck! |
