Dire Straits Self-Titled SHM SACD

Great!
Can you please write down: Supertramp and Supertramp, and post it!

Thanks for your help!

 

I believe the quote was "the ones we've received so far.."

 

Huh?

 

+1...on the way to Canada as of yesterday!

 

So if a SACD player doesnt decode the DSD sound properly...what kind of player are you suggesting? Not being a smart-a$$...I am just confused as I don't understand what you're saying...?

 

Would be great if you could do a comparison for us....

 

That's what i'm sayin....mines on the way!

 

When Aja was released in Canada, ABC Records was at that time distributed by GRT Canada. GRT released a red and yellow limited vinyl editions of the LP. I was not aware they also issued it on green vinyl. It's entirely possible. I've never seen one.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Steely-Dan-Aja-Red-Vinyl-LP-/130415170429?pt=Music_on_Vinyl

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Steely-Dan-Aja-Y...ABC-1977-RARE-/170521123692?pt=Music_on_Vinyl

 

Many SACD player converts DSD signal to Pulse Code Modulation signal (sort of CD signal) somewere in the chip-sets. And many player has a very complex analogue output stage.

When I first read about DSD on the internet, I think it was in 1997, I remember I read that a DSD player could be made very simple; no traditional D/A converter needed, just a simple low-pass filter.
No commercial player do this. But mine is modded in Switzerland. So it skip over the D/A converter and the analog section. There is a very simple low-pass filter design in the player that work as a "1-bit D/A" and as an analoge output stage (0,7V). That's all. Very simple and very musical!

But, this is not the only way to make good SACD sound!

 

Okay, you've heard all the SHM-SACDs that have been released so far, right?

 

I second that emotion. I mean, The Doctor is sitting on the Who's Next SHM SACD that we know about. And -- if I may allow myself to read between the lines, since he posted he is reviewing the non-SHM, SACD -- he is likely also nesting the new Dire Straits SHM SACD. I would beseech The Doctor to throw us a bone or two.

For myself, I haven't ordered the Dire Straits -- yet -- as it is not comprehensible to me that the extant SHM Japan Mini LP can be improved upon. But I am all ears on that item. It is, after all, a fresh remaster, SHM and SACD. I would love to be surprised.

My Who's Next SHM SACD is being held to ship with the Karajan conducted R. Strauss, Thus Spoke Zarathrusta, which, even though the order was placed July 6, 2010, is apparently still being "processed" rather than "on hand," as the rest of the order is "on hand." I am surprised and disappointed that CDJapan didn't get enough of the R. Strauss to fill and ship my order, placed about six weeks ago, upon the release date. But let us look forward to the matter Dire Straits, et al.

I am especially keen to discover what others have to say on the 8/25/10 release date items. To wit, Dire Straits, The Who and even 10cc. TIA

 

Woo-Hoo! T-Rex-The Slider will be the 1st one I put down for shure!

 

It must be your gear.

 

Just curious,how many lines (entry spaces) does it have for title suggestions? I think I'll have to write very,very small to get all mine in

 

..or his mood? Maybe not enough sex?

 

To be clear, as you saying that the Dire Straits SACD was sourced from the original master tape? I thought they were using some kind of copy tapes for these SHM-SACDs.

 

For myself, I had misunderstood that The Doctor had reviewed an existing version of the Dire Straits S/T SACD. My understanding now is that only Brothers In Arms has previously been available in the SACD format.

I'm eager to learn what The Doctor has to say about the new Dire Straits SHM-SACD, should he elect to chime in with more a more robust report.

 

He said the Japanese master tape, the national master tape. And Dire Straits do not belong in Japan, so it's not the original 2-track master.

 

- Some SHM-SACDs are from the original master tapes (as The Who)
- Some SHM-SACDs are from Japan copy/production tapes (as Dire Straits)
- Some SHM-SACDs are from digital tapes, mostly DSD tapes produced for previous SACD releases (as Rolling Stones)

 

That is correct, and it won Chuck Ainlay the Grammy for his 5.1 mix.

 

Is the address "viewable" in English?

I will type a whole list of releases and suggestions

I guess you can only recommend Universal Japan artists?

 

Many do - but not all. In general, the Sonys do not.

That's a pretty fair observation. Overly complex and not as good sounding as they could be. The other area of concern is the overly complex filter sections.

 

Ok - very unscientific comparison.....
My SHM-SACDs were waiting for me when I got home from work so I got out the latest SHM-CD of Dire Straits (which I believe is based on the latest Bob Ludwig re-master) to compare two cuts off that disc to the new SHM-SACD. Compared "Down to the Waterline" and "Water of Love".

1) The SHM-SACD is mastered a bit louder than the SHM-CD, so I had to turn the volume down when listening to the SHM-SACD to try to match levels.

2) The SHM-SACD has quite a bit of hiss present that can be heard during the quiet parts of the two songs, mostly heard at the beginning quiet part of "Down to the Waterline". The hiss is actually "loud" enough to cut into the quiet build up of the song at the beginning. The SHM-CD has no hiss, so either Noise Reduction was used or a better tape (I don't know).

3) The SHM-SACD has a more full sound, but I was surprised that I wasn't blown away by any "difference" between it and the SHM-CD. The SHM-SACD seemed to have a more "forward" sound than the SHM-CD, but to it's advantage it seemed to slightly tame the brighter high end on the SHM-CD.

My overall feeling is that for the price paid, I am not sure I got the same step up in quality in sound as compared to the ratio of cost of any CD version vs. the SHM-SACD.

I then listened to the whole SHM-SACD, and it sounded OK. But I'm not sure my overall opinion is swayed. I guess I was expecting to "blown away".. and I wasn't. My expectations were greater than what I felt I got from the disc. Funny though, the Sultans of Swing, to my ears, sounded better than the rest of the disc.. not sure why. Weird.

I am going from memory here, but I have listened to it quite a bit over the past few months, and I believe the new remastered vinyl version that came out more recently is better than the SHM-SACD. Maybe I will do a comparison of that vinyl version vs. the SACD in the days to come.

Overall, The SHM-SACD of the Dire Straits album sounds OK - a bit better than the SHM-CD, but I'm not sure it is worth the near $55.00 I paid (when you figure in shipping).

Now to sample the SHM-SACD of Who's Next compared to Steve's MCA mastered CD version.

 

Jeff, I usually agree with you but I was very impressed with the Aja SHM-SACD.

 

Excellent review Mike. Thanks for taking the time.

I'm still going to buy it of course. Love the album. Besides, I only have a dozen analog and digital copies which is not nearly enough.