Billy Joel - The Stranger Mobile Fidelity - Anyone have it?

Thought there were only the multi channels...a quick lookup on SA-CD.net confirms this.

 

I have the SACD only "The Stranger" and was very keen on it. Nice sound and very analogue in its presentation.

 

That's when I bought mine as well Keith. As a matter or fact, the sampler disc that came with my SCD-1 has "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant " on it, and that disc was printed in 2000. So, it's quite possible that "The Stranger" was actually one of the very first Sony SACD's released in 1999.

 

Nope, stereo-only for sure.


Oops, I'm wrong it was multi-channel as well, sorry about that. My disc also says it was printed in 1998 which is a bit strange to me as well.

 

There's only one listed on Wiki, 07/31/2001, and my copies of both were multichannel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_(album)

 

That's where Sony dropped the ball, IMO with regard to this format, by not releasing them as hybrid multi-channel discs. It would have been backwards compatible to pretty much everyone and it would have showcased the multi-channel option. We may have more companies backing the format by now and maybe Sony would have kept pushing forward with it instead of dropping it, but that's just speculation on my part. Gary

 

Yep, sorry MYKE I changed my post.

 

I can see where that SACD player Only sticker intimidated consumers, and they'd leave it on the shelf.

 

Got it. I remember when I put both out on eBay, even with my stern warning that you had no recourse if you buy it without an SACD player...both SACDs sold in a frenzied flurry of bidding. I did very well

 

I got my first SACD player in October 2000. At that time, Sony was only releasing stereo SACDs. Sony introduced multi-channel SACDs in 2001, and some stereo-only titles were reissued in multi-channel. Examples include 52nd Street and The Stranger. I have both versions of both albums.

 

Was it ever determined what happened to "New York State of Mind" on the MFSL SACD? Does the original master sound that awful or did they play back a non Dolby master with Dolby?

 

I thought Wikipedia was gospel. Another US Sony SACD that had both was Tapestry.

 

I got my copy of The Stranger from Import CDs and had a chance to play it over the weekend. Overall it's a nice sounding disc but it didn't impress as much at MoFi's recent James Taylor SACDs. Those sound really good to my ears.

I'm glad I bought the multi-channel SACD of The Stranger when I had the chance. It's still one of my favorites.

 

As I recall, it was once claimed here that the stereo mastering differed between the two discs, but that was later proven to be false.

One SACD that benefited from reissue (besides the obvious gain of a multi-channel track) was Toto IV. The original stereo SACD has clicks. They're gone from the stereo track on the multi-channel reissue.

I've also read that the stereo track is better on the multi-channel reissue of Lady in Satin. Apparently something went wrong with the transfer on the original stereo SACD, but I haven't heard it. Unfortunately, the stereo SACD has bonus tracks and the multi-channel SACD does not.

(I know we're getting off-track here. )

 

I feel the same way....great multi-channel release!

 

It's the better release of the last batch.. I was not impressed by 52nd Street and Glass Houses. I think Mofi's reputation is overrated today :thumbsdn:

 

Well, we all know what you think of MFSL. You don't have to keep telling us.

As I've said before, I think part of the issue is that the Billy Joel albums were not recorded so well to begin with.

 

The Stranger multi-channel SACD is special to me. It's probably the only Billy Joel album I really like from start to finish, and I used "She's Always a Woman" to show off my 5.1 system. That track isolates the acoustic guitars in the surround channels as I recall, and was always good for some "oohs" and "aahs" from visitors. I also loved "Bootylicious" from the Destiny's Child SACD, where the guitar riff from Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" moves in a circle around the listener. That stuff got old after a year or two because, frankly, music doesn't really sound like that, and I haven't pulled them out since.

Two channel for me; and a warmer analogue sound - I look forward to hearing the MOFI.

 

Claus it really depends on who did the mastering. One of the mastering engineers gets it. The other two like sucked out midrange and over the top highs.

I think The Stranger by MOFI is a great sounding SACD. I cranked it up and it just sounded better. Well balanced eq and great sound stage.

 

Digital clicks are heard on the Redbook layer.
This seems to be a trend with Mo-Fi lately.
(Think The Band "Music From Big Pink".)

 

Any word on a release for the vinyl?

 

Listened to my copy last night. Another fine release - bass notes noticeably tighter and a modest improvement in clarity over the CBS release.

 

Can you list a few instances where the digital clicks are on The Stranger?

 

So does anybody hear these? I haven't noticed any clicks, and yes, I did listen to the redbook layer.

 

Well, I'm annoyed to report that I have found at least one very audible one. Sounds like a standard digital error. It's at 54 seconds into track 1, "Movin' Out" on the CD layer. I didn't catch it when listening the other day with headphones, but did notice it today listening in the living room.

Why does this happen? Are they doing some conversion or processing on a unit without enough CPU power?