First SACD?

codyc1ark

So, as most of you know I just got an Oppo. I can really see how this player is going to drag me into the rabbit hole of CDP's. Another story for another time.

Any recomendations on my very first SACD purchase? I'm into most everything music wise, I'd really like to find a good SACD bluegrass album or two, but that doesn't have to be my first one. Lets hear em'!

decal

I suggest something that you are intimately familiar with.

DaveHo

www.sa-cd.net

Start there to see what is available & to get a general idea of cost. Be prepared for sticker shock...

kuntasensei

Nickel Creek and Nickel Creek - This Side were my first two SACDs (with the BDP-83 as well), and both are pretty fantastic. Bluegrass really makes the advantages of SACD obvious. Looks like neither are available new anymore, but Amazon has them listed used for fairly reasonable prices.

(And I envy anyone with Alison Krauss SACDs, because I could never find any for prices that didn't make me want to stab myself in anger.)

PSOVLSK

I'm not a huge Elton John fan, but I picked up several of his SACD's on the cheap and they are VERY good. I probably prefer Capt. Fantastic the best.

codyc1ark

DaveHo wrote: »

www.sa-cd.net

Start there to see what is available & to get a general idea of cost. Be prepared for sticker shock...

Yeah, I've been browsing Amazon and eBay, prices are all over the place. I may do a SRV album, as decal said, I know most of his work fairly well.

One question though, who in the heck is Byrn, and where does he get off selling his album for $115.00?!?

timalan

When I was in a similar boat a couple of years ago, I went with Diana Krall's "When I Look Into Your Eyes" as what was basically a test disc for SACD. Amazon has a couple of like new copies in their warehouse deals that are available for less than $9 shipped free if you've got Prime. Sounds amazing, has a great low jazzy bassline to several of the songs, and her vocal range is sublime. Track 5, "Popsicle Toes," is one of my favorite tracks to test how a whole setup is integrating... beautiful lows and highs and a playful tune.

Other options, if you want something more folksy, is to go with any of the hybrid SACD, DSD Bob Dylan CDs. Many of his SACDs are available used through Amazon and other sources for ~$6-$10 including the $3 shipping charge.

One other thought is the Chris Thile (of Nickel Creek), whose solo album hybrid SACD is $11 new on Amazon, but it's only a 2-channel mix -- just has higher bitrate and a very different mix than the CD layer, and maybe some extra songs, reading reviews I wasn't entirely clear. A good deal for a folk SACD, but it won't show off your system the way something else would.

Or of course, the Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" SACD is only a few dollars used... you can always go with a classic.

There are many SACDs I would love to own, but the pricing makes me do a double or triple take on most of them. The handful I have are mostly ones I've picked up used for $5-$10.

codyc1ark

Alright, I ordered Diana Krall's album per timalan, and also DSOTM on sacd. Both to my door for $23.00. Should be here Monday, I can't wait to spin these.

kuntasensei

timalan, I never bought that Chris Thile SACD because I read where Sugar Hill Records acknowledged that there was a problem in the mastering of the SACD mix that slows the tempo down and changes the pitch. Love his work... but I wish some of the stuff he has done with Punch Brothers was on SACD. And if you want to hear two of the best musicians I've ever heard playing together, check out Chris Thile & Michael Daves' Sleep With One Eye Open.

pitdogg2

PSOVLSK wrote: »

I'm not a huge Elton John fan, but I picked up several of his SACD's on the cheap and they are VERY good. I probably prefer Capt. Fantastic the best.

I was in the same boat. Never had any of his stuff then one bought 3 on Ebay for less than 5.00ea. madman across the water and Tumbleweed connection are my favorites. All up to yellow brick road ARE VERY well recorded you can't go wrong. Pink Floyd DSOTM is worth a buy also.

BlueFox

I bought an Elton John SACD a few years ago, and was recently looking at it, and realized I was sent a regular CD. I should have been more careful when I first got it. Live and learn.

PSOVLSK

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I was in the same boat. Never had any of his stuff then one bought 3 on Ebay for less than 5.00ea. madman across the water and Tumbleweed connection are my favorites. All up to yellow brick road ARE VERY well recorded you can't go wrong. Pink Floyd DSOTM is worth a buy also.

Ahhh...Tumbleweed Connection. How could I forget about that?

IMO these are some of the best you can get for the price. I don't know why they can be had for so cheap because the SQ is top notch. I'd never listened to an Elton John album, only his hits. I found that I like a lot of his stuff that I'd never heard better than I like the more popular stuff.

As other have mentioned you can't go wrong with DSOTM. Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms is another good one.

Danny Tse

timalan wrote: »

Or of course, the Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" SACD is only a few dollars used... you can always go with a classic.

Make sure you get a Japan-for-US pressed SACD (it says so on the back). The older US pressed SACD develops crack near the center plastic hub over time.

If you're into classical music, try the Living Stereo series of SACDs....usually about $10.00/each and sound amazing.

chumlie

Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East. What Byrn were you looking at or was it David Byrne from Talking Heads.

agfrost

Aerosmith Rocks.

HHStuart

It depends heavily on what kind of music you like. I now have 215 SACD's, half of them classical.
Here are a few of my favorites -
Jacques Loussier Trio Best of Play Bach
Chris Thile Not all who wander are lost
Diana Krall The Girl in the Other Room
Dire Straits Brothers in Arms
Eagles Hotel California
Fiona Joy Hawkins Blue Dream
Elton John Elton John
Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John Madman Across the Water
Ensemble Galilei From the Isles to the Courts
Fleetwood Mac Rumours
Jordi Savall The Celtic Viol
Moody Blues Days of Future Passed
Moody Blues Seventh Sojourn
Police Every Breath You Take
Ola Gjeilo Stone Rose
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Roy Orbison Black&White Night
Classical
Beethoven Paavo Jarvi Symphonies 1 and 5
Biber, Muffat A Virtuoso Faceoff
Dvorak Slavonic Dances
Handel Jordi Savall Water Music/Music for the Royal Fireworks
Holst/Mora Andrew Davis The Planets/Japanese Suite
Mendelssohn Swensen Symphony # 3 "Scottish"/Hebrides Overture
Mozart Jordi Savall Eine Kleine Nachtmusik/Le convert des Nations
Mozart Marriner Four Horn Concertos
Mozart Wind Concertos
Mozart Jordi Savall Piano Concertos 21 & 23
Paganini Szeryng Violin Concertos 1 and 4
Rachmaninoff Lang Lang Piano Concerto No. 2/Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
Rossini Mariner Famous Overtures
Vivaldi Ozawa Four Seasons
Vivaldi/Weiss Katona Twins Concertos & Sonatas for Guitar
Various Composers Julian Bream Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar
Various Composers Melodies
Various Composers Fiedler Pops Caviar
Various Composers Stockholm Guitar Quartet A Unique Classical Guitar Collection
Various Composers Stokowski Rhapsodies

Prices on many of these are quite reasonable.
I haven't really enjoyed any of the samplers except for the Pentatone one,

obieone

Blyther Smith, 'Addressing the Nation With the Blues' is mixed pretty well.