What's the latest with the Elton John SACDs?

I like the discs for the surround mixes, but for stereo there are better options.

 

Same here. I put one of those SACD's on at least once a month. I have never listened to the redbook layer. My Pioneer 45a is still going strong, waiting for the rest to see the light of day to give them a spin in glorious 5.1 sound. Probably won't happen though. They lost all the momentum long ago. It would have to be marketed well and maybe piggy-back on something else that Elton or UMG would be doing at the same time.

Pat

 

That's what I do. The surround mixes are so wonderful, but it's MCA, DJM and Polydor for the stereo versions.

 

Yes. I have all of the Elton SACDs except for Peachtree Road, and the stereo layer on all of them is bright and brickwalled. I wish they sounded like the original UK DJM vinyl versions.

 

Compressed yes; brickwalled, no. I agree that the SACDs are bright but there's a trade off. On th MFSL of Tumbleweed Connection the piano sounds very muffled and dull on some of the tracks (Where To Now St. Peter, Amoreena) so the brightness on the SACD really helps the piano.

 

I dunno. I've tried recording them the same way I do needledrops and the waveforms are as flat as an army buzzcut. It's not equipment related at all as I can record non-brickwalled CDs that way and the waveforms are intact.