Have had the 3 titles I purchased for almost a month now, plenty of time to soak them in. Also have listening a lot to my DCC Endless Summer, Spirit of America & Pet Sounds lately. Almost wall to wall BW & Beach Boys stuff leading up to the release of "Love & Mercy". I truly mean this when I say, these Analogue Productions Hybrid SACDs are the perfect companion to those DCC discs. It's a shame these aren't garnering more attention. I can only imagine the price tag is scaring people away. Looking forward, I'm guessing the next batch of vinyl will be out in probably April or May, perhaps? With the hybrid SACDs of the next batch following a month or so after the fact? I'm guessing the next batch will be: All Summer Long Today Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) Party! And I imagine the last batch will be the remaining titles, including Pet Sounds through Holland, probably later in the year. Thoughts?
Your schedule sounds about right. I think we'll see these all by November. Coming up for me is the meat of the order. Although there are some great tracks on the albums that have been released so far, too much filler for me to justify buying these again. Holding out for the Today SACD.
I just listened to "Surfer Girl". Excellent! Good dynamics, good sound stage, good detail. I like that you get both the mono and the stereo albums on one disc. I should add that I only auditioned the SACD layer.
Has anyone compared the new vinyl vs. SACD yet? Anyone have both? I am trying to decide which format to go with. On one hand, the LPs are possibly the most beautiful reissue jackets I have seen. These blow away even the Beatles mono box. The one title I do have is the vinyl SURFER GIRL and it is amazing sonically. On the other hand, there are the SACDs that contain both mixes for the same price. What to do? What to do? What to do?
Good to hear. I'm surprised too that there isn't more talk about these. Maybe since the original thread was trashed -- people got scared away? I don't know. Regardless, I'm definitely in for all of these, just need to save up. In my case, the price is steep right now -- especially knowing that I'm going to go all in. The Beach Boys are my favorite, so I can't resist. But since I've got every dang digital release thus far, I'm not feeling the urge I thought I'd feel to sell another kidney to get these right away. I will eventually.
Where is the cheapest place to get these for those of us based in Europe and, yes, what happened to the original thread?
Very early on, there was a critical discussion of the sources for the first few vinyl reissues, the point being that they could only be as good as the quality of the tapes used. I think some folks took that as being critical of the series, and the thread disappeared. That many folks here have raved about them would indicate that these early conclusions were without basis. Personally, I'm waiting for the versions of the middle period albums, which are the ones that I prefer.
Bill, Thanks for the history. Source is so important, but so are other things. Look at the Beatles vinyl reissue where the same Abby Road team started with the same tapes and made a 24/48 (or was it 24/44.1) stereo version and a pure analog mono version. One could argue they came from the same source. Many of us love to drill down on every little detail and to discuss and debate every little nuance which we should because that is part of enjoying music and sound, but we also need to remember this is a hobby for most of us that is meant to be enjoyed and we should treat others who have the same love of music as we do with respect even if they think the exact opposite of what we think.
Some people here write things off or cast judgment with no knowledge. Maybe they really are here just to argue.
I am not going to argue with you on this point, but from my memory it was our host who first brought up the issue of the sources, and then a few reviews came in where it sounded like second generation tapes may have been used on some of the songs, which were included in the 1966 Greatest Hits comp. Much of that, as you are right to point out, was based on conjecture not experience, but there was one knowledgeable member who had the lps and noticed a difference in sound quality. Again, if my memory serves me well.
That's exactly what happened. And unsurprisingly without the influence of that original discussion on sources for a few songs most people think these sound great. It just goes to show you how a single comment/thought can sour peoples opinion on something.....which is probably why that original comment went poof.
I hope I have understood your post correctly. If the knowledgeable member was pointing out that the original LP's and the reissues from AP sound different in someways I, for one, am not surprised at all. Almost all reissues are remastered sometimes for the better (usually the case when Steve and/or Kevin are involved) and sometimes for the worse (horribly compressed CD's). My original copy of SG is far too trashed to even consider using it for comparison (I played it on my parents GE console stereo) and any badly faded memory that I have of the original sound would be based on what came out of the GE stereo. All I can say is that, IMHO, this AP reissue sounds wonderful (I should point out that my SCD-1 player is out of service and I played the SG SACD on my Sony XA5400ES player which sounds very close to the SCD-1).
For those of us who can't access the High-Def layers, can someone please report on the Redbook layer quality on these hybrid SACD's? Surely someone must listen to these at some point, if only to check the SQ in comparison to the other layer? If not how can you tell one is better than the other? The mastering should be identical, so it's simply a question of your ears being able to "hear" high definition. I know there are reports everywhere concluding that most humans can't hear a difference but that's another argument for another day.
Is a comparison to the original LPs (in good playing condition) fair? What is the condition of the original tapes now? Are they all usable or was Analogue Productions forced to use copies in some instances? This is all a possibility with older recordings, but one should not write off reissues without hearing them. Besides, I'm sure few of us have mint original Beach Boys LPs from 50 years ago.
i don't have an sacd player myself, so the redbook layer is the only thing i've listened to at this point. i can say without reservation that, after years of wishing for pleasant-sounding digital versions of these albums, these releases don NOT disappoint--i've listened to this music intently for years, so there's not too much "uncovering layers that i didn't know were there" or anything, but to hear the vocal blend so cleanly on these early recordings is a thing of beauty. and for the first time (to my ears), to have the drums occupying a really natural soundspace (the ride cymbal in "surfer girl" is a good example) is just the nicest icing on an already delicious cake. these are neither ear-fatiguing nor processed-sounding. i'm just waiting for the next batch, and wishing there was a way to round up the singles, non-album tracks, and oddities, pastmasters-style. i'm rarely one to offer endorsements, but regarding the redbook layer, i'd say "buy with confidence." smitquest
Since I can rarely get downstairs and be alone with my SACD machine, I've been redbooking the crap out of these via my trusty Sony Discman. I have listened quite closely. I have A/B'd with the Pastmasters (not to mention 2-fers and 2012 discs, just for giggles) and I still stand by my assertion that these new AP discs are phenomenal, whether you're redbooking, SACDing, or rubbing the discs against the side of your head. I am extremely pleased with the audio presentation and I can't wait to throw more money at them.
Positive words from The Zodiac! Great stuff, keep 'em coming. I wonder how "Pet Sounds" will compare to MOFI's stereo and AF's mono, then?
^ This. Plus they aren't all out yet. I've been tacking one or two onto my recent Music Direct orders to qualify for the free shipping, but still waiting for the rest to come out (plus umpteen other MFSL releases). Getting them all as they trickle out... eventually. The few I have sound great - at least on par with the Pastmasters CDs. Shames the 2012s for the pieces of sh!t we all knew they were.
I imagine it will be on par with MFSL. Honestly, they did such a great job with that stereo disc it will be hard to top it. I preferred the DCC to the AF when it comes to the mono. But it's all a matter of personal taste. If anything the new AP will give us the convenience of not having to play two different discs to hear both mixes in highest quality. I can't wait to hear "Sunflower" and "Holland" with this royal treatment. Gonna melt my brain with pleasure.
Regarding a comparison with the original LPs, we have instances as with the original mastering engineer mastering Pet Sounds with a 5 dB boost at 5 kHz, 4:1 compression, a 10 dB cut at 100 hz and a treble cutoff of everything above 10kHz or lower. The originals are not any kind of gold standard by which we should compare. Of course, we only get some of the mono albums on original vinyl and the 2012 CDs. So, our sources of comparison for mono album tracks aren't that great to begin with. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...stered-pet-sounds-in-1966-info-is-here.37344/
