95 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SRV on SACD?, June 18, 2002
By A Customer
Plenty of people have written reviews of this album. All I wish to comment on is the quality of the SACD transfer.
I compared the SACD to the original (not the re-mastered) CD of this album, which has been in my collection for many, many years. I had both queued up in two separate players: a Sony DVP-S9000ES for the CD and a Sony SCD-E555ES for the SACD. I used the DACs in the players and used an "analog direct" setup to ensure that no further signal processing occurred. Levels were matched closely enough that we couldn't identify a difference.
With most of the program material we couldn't tell the difference between the two disks. The only difference I noticed with any regularity was a slightly increased sharpness of high transient sounds such as rimshots and cymbals. If there was any difference in guitar, vocals, bass, ambience or spaciousness, we couldn't hear it.
There are other albums that I own both a CD and SACD of where I can identify significant differences. In fact, with the multi-channel SACDs that I've listened to, the sound quality is magnificent. This disk just isn't one of them.
That said, this is one of my all-time favorite albums. This is my third copy (LP, CD and SACD) and even after almost twenty years it gets played frequently. I certainly recommend the album, but I'm not sure it is worth getting in SACD.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SACD is excellent, much better than the CD, December 21, 2003
I respectfully disagree with A Music Fan from Ellensburg, WA USA - listening both on a friend's Marantz player, and my Esoteric transport / DAC combination, there are distinct differences between the CD release and the SACD on both systems. The SACD provides a delicious sense of depth and dynamics, and 'air' on the live tracks, that is lacking on the Redbook release. In addition, the shimmer of cymbals and the attack and release of SRVs guitar work (whether during ferocious or quiet work) is much more detailed and distinct on the SACD - the leading and trailing edges of notes are much easier to discern and follow.
In any case, you can't go wrong with this disc. Highest recommendation!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The SACD release is quite excellent!, March 15, 2005
I strongly agree with Mr. Steinhauer's comments regarding the quality of this SACD release. If you enjoyed the LP (as I have for many years since it's original release), you will rediscover how good this recording is (and of course the music itself). For reference, I am playing the disc on a McCormack UDP-1. Both clarity and depth are outstanding. Man, this is good SRV. (Now I wish there was an SACD release of "The Sky is Crying!")
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