Police - Reggatta De Blanc SACD sounds bright

[MarkLaughery]

<font color='#000000'>I recently bought the Denon DVD2900. &nbsp;My first 2 SACDs are Billy Joel 52nd St. and Police - Reggatta De Blanc. &nbsp;The Police SACD sounds bright and painful. &nbsp;The Billy Joel sounds good, but I can't say it knocks me off my feet. &nbsp;However, considering how old it is I can understand this. &nbsp;I have a good system, and my reference CDs sound great. &nbsp;I recently bought the Eagles - #### Freezes Over &nbsp;DVD, and it is amazing. &nbsp;I am going to buy some DVD - A disks, but am surprised by the Police SACD sound. &nbsp;Has anybody else found this to be the case?</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#000000'>I've got a couple of the Police ones, and they do show their age. &nbsp;They are a little thin sounding (but be sure it's not the way your bass management is set up on the Denon- I haven't had a chance to dial mine in yet, and it can be hit and miss).

I love MC music, but the arbitrary remix of &quot;Every Breath You Take, The Singles&quot; isn't really very good. &nbsp;&quot;Syncronicity&quot; sounds pretty good on SACD.

You can't totally blame age, though: &nbsp;in you don't have Pink Floyd's DSotM on SACD, then turn off your PC and RUN out and get it. &nbsp;Absolutely amazing, just how it always sounded in my head. &nbsp;The mix is stellar and the bass astounding.

Some of my favorites for music quality and sound quality:
SACD:
DSofM- &nbsp;A classic all around.
Nickel Creek, This Side- If you like &quot;newgrass&quot;, this album is a
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; winner. &nbsp;Very clean and natural spaciousness, with
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;no gimmacky surround.
Beck, Sea Change- &nbsp;Conceived with the idea of surround in
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;mind, this is truly SOTA. &nbsp;The stereo CD version is
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;unlistenable compared to this.
Norah Jones, Come Away With Me- &nbsp;Maybe overexposed, but
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;the SACD improves on the already superb sounding
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; CD version.
Joe Satriani, Strange Beautiful Music- &nbsp;Not quite as good as
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Surfing With The Alien or Engines of Creation, but
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;still good, with a great surround mix and very tight
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; clean bass.

DVD-A:
Steely Dan, 2 Against Nature; Everything Must Go; The Nightfly (Donald Fagen)- &nbsp;It would be hard to top these 3,
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; soundwise, and musically they're really good. &nbsp;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The mix is busy but 'organically right', though I
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;haven't heard them on CD. &nbsp;Just about the best
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;bass of any recording I can think of.
Foreigner, &quot;4&quot;- &nbsp;Despite the age (which you can hear a bit),
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; this disc is near SOTA. &nbsp;The surround is mixed
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; for surround very conservatively, and the sound
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;is much more open and alive than the CD.
R.E.M., Automatic For the People- &nbsp;TAS calls this a reference
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; MC recording, and I agree. &nbsp;Super sound and
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; one of my fave REM albums, to boot.
Diana Krall, Love Scenes- Sounds better than my 2 DK SACDs,
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; although that just MHO. &nbsp;Very natural sound, if
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; you dig her music.
Neil Young, Harvest- &nbsp;The age shows, but this 4 ch version is
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; how Neil originally intended, as it was recorded
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; for quad. &nbsp;Some of his best songs (eg, Needle &amp;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;the Damage Done, Old Man, Heart of Gold).

Just some of the discs I've really liked. &nbsp;Enjoy your Denon.

Rob</font>

 

[MarkLaughery]

<font color='#000000'>Thanks for the reply Rob. &nbsp;I don't have a surround system, so I wonder if DSotM is still worth getting. &nbsp;I must have three different copies of it. &nbsp;I have the Echoes CD and was amazed at how good a job they did with the sound quality on that one. &nbsp;My only complaint with Echoes is selection of songs. &nbsp;How could they leave off Run Like Hel*, and put some of those older ones on? &nbsp;Oh Well. &nbsp;I am defitely looking for some good sounding SACD and DVD-A disks to put these formats through their paces. &nbsp;Do you happen to know if the disks you mention sound as good with a 2 channel system? &nbsp;Of course one solution is to just go out and buy a surround setup. &nbsp;Hey, why is my wife coming at me with a sharp instrument? :^)</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#000000'>Yes, Mark, SDotM is most definately worth getting just for the 2 ch version. &nbsp;The CD layer creams all the previous remasterings of the album, including the gold disc one.

Some of the aforementioned discs (SACD at least) only have a MC version. &nbsp;Most hybrid SACDs that I have/have seen contain a 2 ch CD layer &amp; a MC layer. &nbsp;Some non-hybrid MC SACDs are MC only. &nbsp;But, if you are sure to carefully look at the box it says on the back which versions it has.

With DVD-A the situation is a little better. &nbsp;Almost all of them contain a hi rez stereo track alongside the MC one (and a DD version too). &nbsp;Most of them have a very easy to read matrix on the box that tells you all the versions the disc contains. &nbsp;I wish SACD had that!</font>