Why does my original vinyl of "Let It Bleed" sound better than my SACD?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by jacksonwalker, Jul 29, 2014.

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  1. jacksonwalker

    jacksonwalker Forum Resident Thread Starter

    And this is the American London issue of "Let It Bleed", as well. After comparing and listening to both on the same system for the last few months, the original London vinyl that I got on the day it came out sounds much better than the SACD.
    I think that it is me.
    I think that the acoustic sound of the original reminds me of when I first heard it on vinyl. Of when I never heard of a "Monkey Man" or of rape and murder being a "shout away".
    So I think that the sound difference lies not in the SACD, but in me.
     
  2. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    I have an original US London pressing as well and I too prefer it. It's darker than the SACD. and this serves the music better, because this is a dark album.

    The SACD sounds great to me too, but I find LP more musical, particularly what you mentioned - the acoustic songs, plus "Monkey Man", and "Gimme Shelter".
     
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  3. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    None of us know what's going on in your head, but there could be any number of reasons you perceive the sound on your US London LP being better, including that it actually IS better by dint of an early master tape being used, something inherent in analog itself, the affect of your record playback equipment vs. your SACD player...All of these things can play a potential part.

    Cue the crowd that will tell you you're fooling yourself, you're delusional or you don't like accurate sound.

    Where's Spidey?!
     
    marcfeld69, audiotom, CDmp3 and 3 others like this.
  4. Michael P

    Michael P Forum Resident

    Location:
    Parma, Ohio
    You just can't beat the infinite sampling rate of analog. :righton:
     
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  5. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    It doesn't matter why it sounds better to you, only that it does. The rest of us schlubs that weren't around on release day will make due with our SACDs. No harm no foul. Happy listening.

    Michael
     
  6. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    Whoops I forgot, I also own a ABKCO London West German CD of LIB, and IIRC it sounds damn fine.
     
  7. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Doesn't surprise me. As good as the SACD sounds, it's one of those albums that just sounds better on vinyl. Like Exile On Main Street, which I never really liked until finally buying the record.
     
  8. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    One thing that I don't like about the SACD is that "You Can't Always Get What You Want" fades out just a tad too early.

    Jimmy plays a great drum fill just before it fades away, but you can barely hear it on the SACD because they start to fade it too soon. What's up with that?
     
    rabblerouser likes this.
  9. BIG ED

    BIG ED Forum Resident

    What stylus do you have?
    What cartridge do you have??
    What tone-arm do you have???
    What table do you have????
    What phono-amp do you have?????
    &
    What SA-CD do you have?
     
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  10. Because digital and high Rez is rarely as good
     
  11. RelayerNJ

    RelayerNJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Whippany, NJ
    oh boy, another analog vs. digital topic. watch it, i just got cursed out mearly implying the subject on another thread ;-)
     
    wavethatflag, DLeet and Captain Vinyl like this.
  12. I'm just shakin it up a bit here. I love it all. It's really only about the music
     
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  13. ellingtonic

    ellingtonic Forum Resident

    Without knowing the system it is hard to say; my vinyl set up is more engaging than my CD/SACD player with most material.
     
    BIG ED likes this.
  14. AlienRendel

    AlienRendel Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, il
    I actually played the SACD the other day and was surprised at how good it sounded. I also have a London US LP and a German Decca. They all sound great, in different ways. The US London LP has the most bass and probably rocks the hardest, but the others have more clarity and definition.
     
  15. fmfxray373

    fmfxray373 Capitol LPs in the 70s were pretty good.

    I have the 3 3/4isp factory reel Let It Bleed and played it once on a Sansui SD-7000, which is a really awesome deck if you have ever heard one. To me it sounded better that the SACD but it could have been many factors...the source, the deck, perhaps the deck sounded louder than my cd player etc....

    some slower speed factory tapes can sound pretty good if you have a really nice deck and they are not one of those awful Columbia Record Club releases from the late 70s
     
  16. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Is not Let It Bleed the one that was "speed-corrected" on the SACD? That may be your answer right there. The speed and tonality of the original LP is what most of us expect to hear after 40-odd years. I don't think that the SACD is a dramatic difference, but that would be a possibly significant factor.

    Or it could be that you just prefer the sound of vinyl. As a vinyl guy, I think the SACD sounds damn good though! :)
     
  17. Halloween_Jack

    Halloween_Jack Senior Member

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    Utterly untrue, by the way. Your stylus & phono stage have very well defined limitations, as do the masters.....

    But the combined (key point) inaccuracies of vinyl do give a nice warmth/body/ambience to the recording though - I love my original Decca LP too, though I'm sure the SACD is far more representative of what was actually recorded... ;)
     
  18. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    It is one of my favorite LPs as far as sound quality. Original US/London. I love the beginning of Monkey Man. Hard to resist drumming along as the song continues, although I am not a percussionist at all.
     
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  19. Most likely the vinyl is better mastered than the SACD or else you're accustomed to the sound of the vinyl.
     
    Linto likes this.
  20. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    I'm pretty sure that Beggars Banquet was the SACD that was speed-corrected.
     
  21. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Well, I had a 50/50 chance of getting that wrong, and nailed it! :laugh:
     
  22. botley

    botley Forum Resident

    I've heard that "Let It Bleed" on SACD has shorter (ie. very little) banding between tracks, compared to the original vinyl. The recent Blu-ray audio release apparently copies the high-res layer of the SACD.
     
  23. BIG ED

    BIG ED Forum Resident

    Yep & my point.
    Not many people's audio systems are going too include completely equal analog & digital playback units SQ-wise.
    [been posting that here for yrs now]
    Additionally, it's was proven too me in the last century working in audio sales & been proven repeatedly on this fine forum multiple times as well...
    analog [specifically vinyl] playback is cheaper too do sonicly well; much more so than digital [cheap digital sounds like cheap digital/whereas even an old tube AM clock-radio can sound amazing].
     
    pinkrudy likes this.
  24. Lucidae

    Lucidae AAD

    Location:
    Australia
    The SACD is overrated if you ask me, it might sound okay on its own but the original WG London CD comes out on top.
     
  25. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    The SACD is more than likely not from the original master. Probably something else...
     
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