Japan Single layer SACD : "Who's Next" "Aja" "The Velvet Underground & Nico" 6/23

Man, I was not up on this company. Maybe I should have waited on the purcahse.

It was so tempting though, if it sounds like crap I will take a loss on it and sell it.

I heard SACD and got so excited.

 

Understood.

 

Ok, these have arrived, Aja and Filmore.

Packaging - cardboard sleeve 'mini-lp like', Obi with lots of technical spiel on the outside, shm-sacd labelled resealable plastic outer.
Opens out into like 4 panels, with the disc tucked in the rear. White, SHM-sacd embossed inner sleeve.
Rear panels are Japanese notes on the content.

(I am sure there will be some who dislike this. )

Will post some pics in a bit, after I have had a bit of a listen.

 

oh man....

I cannot wait to hear what you think of Aja.

 

very cool

 

Here's what they look like...

 

Fraid I am not an expert on either of these discs, particularly Aja as I haven't heard the early disc.
I purposely bought them as I don't own either in any form, though I have heard em before...

I have a CD-R of the Mofi of the Filmore which I really like so I will be able to talk more about that one.

Early impressions are audiophiles will like these, don't hear compression, brightness, loudness...

 

Your comments are eagerly awaited from all of us. You know that!

Same here regarding Aja. I have not heard it before, but with all the fuss I thought I should go for it. Like the old days with no info available on the spot, when I 'd go at the record store and improvise about what album to get. Of course Aja is considered a classic, anyway...

Other story with Fillmore, a desert island record than accompanies me the past 30 years.

Please advise!

 

Thanks for your postings! We are sure ready to read your updated postings about sound quality.

And I'm ready to pull the trigger to order some more of these babies!

 

I had sent them an e-mail asking them to substitute a different SHM-SACD (Sarah Vaughn) for the The Who Who's Next from my order so it wouldn't get held up until 8/25 and they did so because I also received notification that the shipment has been sent. So, that's something for you to consider if you want to get 'em faster - like NOW THIS MINUTE OR EVEN SOONER or at least in a few days or so.

 

Unfortunately for you CD Japan declares full price on the package, but if you're willing to risk it and wait around to score them on eBay from sellers like eiselvis or neco_kick they'll declare a far, far more reasonable amount on the package without you even having to ask them.

Here are Neco's SACDs:
http://shop.ebay.com/neco_kick/m.html?_nkw=sacd&_sacat=0&_odkw=&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=m270

And eiselvis's:
http://shop.ebay.com/eiselvis/m.html?_nkw=sacd&_sacat=0&_odkw=&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=m270

 

JP only website up, looks like they are planning four rounds of these puppies:

http://www.universal-music.co.jp/u-pop/special/sacd/index.html

 

Too bad the other three tabs aren't clickable yet!

 

They should update their website.... the 2nd batch is ready for pre-order!

 

I've had a listen to both Aja and the Allmans today.
I think Aja is really great sounding, but I am pretty sure it is a great recording anyway and I don't have multiple versions to compare. I don't hear any modern nastiness on this disc, I really don't think anyone who has ordered this will be bitterly disappointed.

For the Allmans I listened to the Mofi and the new SHM-SACD. The SHM-SACD is a transferred at a higher volume than the MoFi, but certainly isn't loud.

There is touch more punch and depth on the bass to the SHM-SACD, and perhaps the vocals are a touch clearer, but I would say the MoFi is a touch warmer and the soundstage marginally wider in places.
Overall I think the SACD is a decent disk and as I don't own the Mofi I am happy with it and think it holds its own.

My impression for both of these disks is that as I hoped, they seem to have just dumped the analog tapes to DSD and not futzed with things.

By the way, the liner notes on both these two speculate that the Japanese analog master was in better nick than the US one, although the Aja disk mentions the 2000 remaster as evidence of this, so I take that with a pinch of salt.

Worth the money? I guess that is up to you, depending on how much mileage is left in these recordings for you,

 

Thanks. I will take care of it. This was my first time ordering from CD Japan.

 

Thanks! this is promising news.

"My impression for both of these disks is that as I hoped, they seem to have just dumped the analog tapes to DSD and not futzed with things."

 

Thanks. I cancelled the order for Aja and Who's Next and placed another order for Aja. Now I'm concerned when and if I'll get Aja. I placed the original order in April and just cancelled and placed the new order today. So now I'm at the end of the queue.

 

Exactly. This is the reason why when I order from cdjapan or hmvcojp, I order 3-4 items so as the value is around 10.000,--yen and the package not too big. Up to now I avoided to pay hte customs.

These sellers are very reliable indeed and they do downvalue the packages (the only minus is that when they offer in-print items, they sell them at the full japanese price that includes the VAT, while the above stores always decrease the final price by this VAT amount).

Thanks for the note!

 

Can't wait to hear what they announce for the next round in August!

 

Kiss,
Sabbath
Dire Straits and more

 

No,that group is FOR August release.At the end of August they will announce the next batch due in October.I'm witholding ordering any potential catalog Universal SHM CD purchases until all the SHM-SACDs are announced.

 

OK, I'll bite. Why?

 

I'd like someone to compare the Universal Japan Aja SACD against the Cisco Aja LP. Kevin Gray used the original master tape for it. Cisco is (was) a Japanese label, btw.

Steve's CD was also taken from the original master tape. Someone should compare that to the SACD too.

Aja is a really great recording and you'd have to try really hard to make it sound bad. That being said, your review doesn't give me any real information about the sound quality of the new SACD vis a vis the "forum favorite" reference versions, so I cannot make an educated purchasing decision about the SACD.

 

How about we do this: The first person with-in two hundred miles of Steve Hoffman who gets Aja should drive to L.A. and let Steve give his impressions.

I'm about 120 miles away - I'd do it.