Oh Suzie Q SACD just taught me a lesson, lol...

[ImcLoud]

OKK, so every copy of Creedence Clearwater's Suzie Q I have is "hissy", cd, itunes, what ever it sounds old, so my brother just bought me a SACD copy {$50 insane} but I brought the cd player up and plugged it all in to play the sacd {I own a few super audio's and never noticed a real increase in sq}, but suzie Q sounds better, I have to say the best I ever heard it in my life and I love that song...

If you were to compare most sacd's to say Itunes on my system through a pc into the dac you wouldn't e super impressed, BUT if you play this song through both to test the difference, people would all be sold on sacd..

I listened to the sacd vs the cd and it is night and day, I am not sure why, but the original has a hissing noise through out it, some systems won't pick it up, like my trucks radio, you don't notice it at all, but on my csb1's and evo2-40's its rite there, you can almost visually see it, it is so prominent... Play the sacd and its gone...

Anyway thought I would share this since i am normally pro pc...

 

[j_garcia]

It is all about the tracks, not the format. I've been saying that for a long time. People can quickly get over the novelty of multichannel, but REALLY well done ones never get old and I frequently listen to the 2ch tracks anyway. The CCR discs are a bit grainy IMO, as I have Willy and the Poorboys and even on SACD it isn't perfect, but damn does it sound good. That's the recording but that sound is also part of the album to me, so I don't mind it.

The better SACDs are all like this IMO - not all of them are night and day difference, but pretty much all of the best ones I have are easily noticeable and some are definitely night and day. I am a big fan of SACD and DVD-A. Do yourself a favor and pick up Porcupine Tree In Absentia or Deadwing on DVD-A while they are still available. The man is a multichannel master.

$50 is a lot NOW, but you could pick up some of the best titles when they were out at the time easily for $15-20.

 

[ImcLoud]

I agree about ccw being griany, it is part of the sound, but in the cd and itune, I hear this hiss and sacd its gone... I will check that dvd out, thanks

 

[Adam]

It is all about the tracks, not the format.

Agreed. After reading Irv's post, I just assumed that the SACD was mastered differently.

 

[j_garcia]

I agree about ccw being griany, it is part of the sound, but in the cd and itune, I hear this hiss and sacd its gone... I will check that dvd out, thanks

I don't have the standard CD, so I can't compare the pre-remaster. There's a delicate balance there where it would be good if they clean things up, but got to be careful not to remove any of the audio itself. Po' boys is pretty well mastered too; they usually went back to master tapes when they remastered for SACD.

Agreed. After reading Irv's post, I just assumed that the SACD was mastered differently.

Yes, they remastered most or all of the albums for SACD and they sound great. I picked up Po' boys pretty cheap and regret not picking up some of the others because they're really expensive now. Cosmo's Factory is around $80 used and a lot more new.

 

[Swerd]

Reading this thread the other day made me pull out my old CCR records, the vinyl albums I bought back in their 1968-70 heyday. I used to play those records a lot. And then rarely, if ever. I really can't remember the last time I played them.

Except for Cosmo's Factory (recorded in 1970), all of them had a very grainy sound. In fact with my present speakers, they became painful to hear . No wonder I had ignored them for so long. Sad because I used to love them.

I even looked up Credence Clearwater Revival on wikipedia and read their sad history.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The youth, inexperience, and ignorance of the band members, combined with the greed and shoddy practices of a record company owner, make a very sad story. Considering all the craziness that went on, it's a small wonder the recordings were made so poorly. By 1970 recording equipment and practices had significantly improved. But not all studios and not all record companies were up to speed. Some records made at that time sounded very good and others didn't. Most of CCR's hits were played on AM radio and, apparently, their record company wasn't interested in releasing quality sound.

Do any of the more recent digital releases of these old CCR recordings fix this problem?

 

[ImcLoud]

Swerd, The sacd gets rid of a lot of it, I have some ccw vinyl but honestly I don't know if I ever played them, picked up a lot of stuff and never even put it on the table... But with the cd's and digital download stuff you will be check your tweeters to see if they are clicking after the first track... It almost sounds like they put a microphone next to an speaker and recorded it while playing the album... BUT with the sacd, I am not sure what they did when remastered it, but its rite, it sounds cleaner and clearer without losing the real world feeling... I don't listen to sacds or cds much, but that is one of the bands I will have to fire up the cd player for... I may try getting it from the sacd to the ipad if that is possible? Does that work like a regular cd?

 

[j_garcia]

You can tell on Willy and the Poorboys that there's something soft about the vocals, possibly in the recording, as I don't recall it ever sounding better than this (I don't have the vinyl). The percussion, guitar and bass all sound excellent though. Its the best I've heard Fortunate Son and Midnight Special sound.

 

[markw]

I think that grainy sound is John fogerty's natural voice. Seriously, it's all in what the engineer puts on the final mix. Unles they went through some pains to somehow "ungrain" the master tapes, the masters are as good as they get. And, remember, these were originally recorded on analog equipment and if they did overdubs, more noise was added.

FWIW, Green River was always my favorite album.

 

[sterling shoote]

I remember my most memorable experience with CCR-a friend pulled into my drive behind the wheel of his new 1970 428 Super Cobra Jet Ford Mustang. I recall the car's AM Radio was tuned to Louisville's WAKY. Accepting an invitation to go for a ride, we were soon on River Road where a drag race with a 62 427 Galaxy pursued . I recall being slammed to my seat as the engine wound-up and CCR's Up Around the Bend played. As my friend shifted from 1st into 2nd at just short of 7000 RPM we passed the Galaxy as well as a little bit of our youth.

 

[ImcLoud]

I remember my most memorable experience with CCR-a friend pulled into my drive behind the wheel of his new 1970 428 Super Cobra Jet Ford Mustang. I recall the car's AM Radio was tuned to Louisville's WAKY. Accepting an invitation to go for a ride, we were soon on River Road where a drag race with a 62 427 Galaxy pursued . I recall being slammed to my seat as the engine wound-up and CCR's Up Around the Bend played. As my friend shifted from 1st into 2nd at just short of 7000 RPM we passed the Galaxy as well as a little bit of our youth.

that was well before my time, you guys had the best cars thats for sure.... Your friend is lucky that ford big block stayed together at 7 grand , lol..

 

[bilesteve]

Suzie Q

that was well before my time, you guys had the best cars thats for sure.... Your friend is lucky that ford big block stayed together at 7 grand , lol..

Try to find the original version of Suzie Q by Dale Hawkins. It won't be stereo as it was a mono 45, but I always thought it much better than CCR version.