Customer Reviews

Abraxas (Sl)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had the CD, and thought that the SACD would be incredible, but alas, I've A/B's them and damn if I can tell the difference, and my equipment is quite good.

Be forwarned, if you do have the CD version, don't buy this SACD. You already have what you'd be paying extra for.

I have this album on SACD, vinyl, DTS and CD. This SACD sounds identical to the regular CD. The other SACDs and DVD-Audio discs I own absolutely blow the CD and vinyl versions out of the water. To me, it sounds like they went back to the 24 bit/44.1k PCM master used to make the CD rather than to the original analog tapes. No matter how good the SACD format can sound, it cannot produce sound better than the source material. Garbage in, garbage out!

The DTS version is also not worth purchasing as they forgot the bass. Santana's music is very dense, with tons of percussion and Santana's amazing guitar. He is one of the Guitar Gods! No one can get into the meaning of a note the way he can. The bass is needed to balance and ground the music and gives it a primal feel. It is sorely missed on the DTS version.

This is probably Santana's best album. The music is 5 star all the way. It, and the public, deserve better. Buy the CD, save the extra 5 to 10 bucks and be happy until it is done properly.

To the reviewer who says "the SACD version blows away the CD version only if you have the right equipment," I have a near audiophile HT theater system consisting of a Yamaha C-750 DVD-A/SACD player, a Harman/Kardon Signature 2.0/2.1 pre/amp coupled to HK Citation 13 main speakers (the larger precursors to Shahinian Accoustic' ARC speakers) with a Velo sub. (Since writing this, I "upgraded" my speakers and sub to Infinity Kappa 9s with a dual 12" Infinity sub and Kapp 7.1 surrounds with no change of opinion.) To me, with the right equipment, the SACD still sounds identical to the CD.

This album contains some of the finest work of Santana, unfortunately this Super-Audio CD does not sound like a Super-Audio CD, it sounds like an older compressed and clipped format, barely a Redbook CD. Obviously it was not transfered from the original tapes because it contains none of the space and hyper-resolution one expects of a SACD. If you already own the standard CD of this fine music, don't bother switching because the sound engineers wholly failed at their job on this one.

Does anyone else notice or have a problem with about 5-10 seconds cut off the beginning of Hope You Are Feeling Better on the SACD version of this album, on the CD remaster it is fine????

I have a hard time agreeing with other reviewers on this CD. It is one of the best reflections of what a SACD format CD should sound like. When I play this for guests, that are Santana fans, they are blown away with the clarity of the music. Perhaps it's the audio equipment the other reviewer have that didn't bring out the sound? I have both the LP and the regular CD. The tubular bells on track one stand out, immediately having my guests turn to look at one another. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen kick butt. My favorite track is Toussaint L' Overture. I saw Santana in San Jose, at the Center for Performing arts, many years ago......sounds like I am there again, hearing this live.

I have this SACD and the CD. I believe they went back to the 24 bit PCM master rather than to the original analog tapes. The other SACDs and DVD-Audio discs I own absolutely blow the CD and vinyl versions out of the water. This SACD sounds identical to the regular CD.

This is probably Santana's best album, and one of my 10 favorite rock albums. The music is 5 star all the way. It was an album which altered the path and perception of rock music. It, and the public, deserve better. Buy the CD, save the extra 5 to 10 bucks and be happy until it is done properly.

my first SACD-- i put this on my new sacd player and the guitar sounded like it was coming out of my Fender SFTR (guitar ampliier),instead of my stereo system-- it was quite astounding. i believe that this technology will improve to the point that it will rival audiophile vinyl recordings for sound reproduction capability--it is very good right now. i must say the live tracks that are bonuses are a let down but the album as a whole is a true classic and this is a very nice sounding disc.

It is too bad if you expect 5.1 or 7.1 surround from this SACD. The remastering engineer is too honest to reprocess this to 5.1 or multichannel that during the time or recording was not available.

SACD Stereo is meant for stereophiles or audiophiles with equipment carefully chosen to bring out the best in recorded stereo music for two channels only...and never for 5.1 channels unless you have a DSP which will remove the essence of the recording anyway. And I have to emphasize the quality of the playback system since SACD has higher frequency data not possible to be included in the CD. If your system can only playback the audible frequencies then you are missing a lot of information particularly imaging (depth and width) and ambiance.

In short, the SACD version blows away the CD version only if you have the right equipment. I could hear the increased in depth of the soundstage and clarity of the instruments...My comparison is based on a remastered CD played on a very good CD player, versus this SACD played on a midrange SACD/DVD-A player. The CD player costs 3 times as much as the SACD player but still the SACD wins hands down.

So before you write reviews for or against this SACD make sure that you have listened to it using the right equipment...
Denon DVD2200,Audiolab CD Player,Metaxas Marquis Preamp/Solitaire Amp, Nordost Blue Heaven interconnect and Super Flatline speaker wires, Martin Logan SL3's and Descent Sub, PS Audio P600 regenerator.

I disagree with the criticisms of the previous reviewers. This SACD doesn't have a showy sound of the newer productions - but to my ears it just gets close to the old original master tape, with its limitations like tape hiss. I like the sound but I bought this SACD really for the great music.

I MUST AGREE WITH JAMES CROAK THIS IS THE WORST I HAVE HEARD. I MUST SAY IT SOUNDS SO BAD IT IS TIED WITH BOB DYLANS "BLOOD ON THE TRACKS" THAT WAS ALSO RUINED WHEN THEY PUT IT ON CD, AT LEAST BLOOD ON THE TRACKS DID NOT COST THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT IS ASKED FOR THIS PIECE OF JUNK.
I TRIED 2 DIFFERENT SACD PLAYERS BEFORE I REALIZED IT WAS THE CD ITSELF.I THINK IT IS ALSO ON DVD AUDIO OR DTS CD. I HOPE THEY DID BETTER THAN THIS.