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SACD/CD Question

I've got a question for you SACD guys. I don't have SACD, but have a high-quality two-channel system. I recently bought my first so-called hybrid compatible CD/SACD, a Sony recording, made live in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2002, of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto played by Arcadi Volodos, with the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa. I have no idea what this one sounds like on an SACD system, but on my two-channel system the orchestral sound is just conspicuously AWFUL! This was all the more surprising to me because I'd earlier bought the same pianist's performance of the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto, also recorded live, in the same hall, in 1999, with the same orchestra under James Levine, also on Sony (but with a different recording engineer), and this one's NOT a hybrid compatible CD/SACD but a plain stereo CD, and it sounds just fine. Can anyone shed some light on what is going on here? I'm reluctant now to buy any more so-called hybrid compatible CD/SACD discs after getting burned.
texasdave
aceto
273 posts
 
Without any corroborating evidence, I must mention that in the print media I noticed a story that said these bi-discs would have intentional degradation of the sound quality of the old format, another said that the player would degrade the old sound. This sounds somewhere between an ambush on the writer's side so conspiracy on the issuer side. But I do like my Phillips 963 and buy hybrids or straight sacd or dvd. It is rare that I buy a straight CD anymore. I am afraid of the future of my investment past and future in CD for format turnover. Oddly, I feel much safer buying a new LP.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,424 posts
 
You wrote: "Without any corroborating evidence, I must mention that in the print media I noticed a story that said these bi-discs would have intentional degradation of the
sound quality of the old format, another said that the player would degrade the old sound."

Sure. There are many reports. Just remember to pay attention to the first four words.

Kal
ben_campbell
1,164 posts
 
As somebody already said on this it depends on the mastering.

For example the Dylan SACD hybrids have been totally remastered on CD therefore they sound quite a bit better than the original releases.
This is true for most new SACD hybrid releases.

Paradoxically Sony after they released the SACD hybrids then released the Dylan series on CD alone-a marketing strategy bound to damage SACD.

Texasdave has found imho one of the odd anomolies that can exist in buying remastered material-for instance Kind Of Blue sounded worse to me on SACD (not a hybrid)than it did on the remastered CD version,others disagree on that though.
I would bet part of the problem may well have been expectation.

I beg to ask is the redbook layer remastered?
texasdave OP
144 posts
 
In reply to your post, Ben campbell, you ask is the redbook layer remastered? The recording I asked about is a new release (recorded 2002) and has been issued only in the compatible CD/SACD format. The piano sounds fine, but the orchestral sound is really bad.
ben_campbell
1,164 posts
 
Sounds like it's just a recording not to your taste-I might be wrong but I suspect you wouldn't like the SACD layer either.

It would be interesting if you could hear it.
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