Mofi Dire Straits Brothers In Arms SACD - July 2013

How come more devices aren't coming out with SACD or DVD-A support? I'm just wondering why if they keep releasing music on SACD, why won't manufacturers build support of it into their hardware? Also, everybody has Blu Ray players these days, so why not put music on a Blu Ray disc? They have support for DVD playback in Blu Ray players, and everybody has one or the other (sometimes both), it just seems silly they don't use that advantage.

Put music on a DVD or a Blu Ray, make it playable in regular DVD or Blu Ray players, make the audio streams at 192/24 2ch or 96/24 5.1 or include both (Blu Ray has the space for it).

 

Confused to the references in this thread about Brothers In Arms being a "hopeless case" and awful sounding etc. My go-to copy has been the original RL vinyl for years and I have always considered it to be one of the best sounding albums I have. Why the distaste for this album's sound?

 

The CD version is a textbook example of music subjected to 16/44 Pulse-Code Modulation, for better or worse.

 

I have the old UK/WG Vertigo CD as well as the JPN for US Warner Bros. CD. The latter sounds slightly better to me.

They can use that CD as a starting point. Convert to high res and try to improve the EQ.

 

Licensing costs?

 

Rickie Lee Jones "Pirates" was also a very early digital recording and MOFI's SACD sounds great to me. I'll pick this one up if the consensus is that it sounds good.

 

A terrific transfer from MoFi, yes. And the SACD layer sounds better than the CD layer, in the way that SACD typical does.
It is a 50kHz digital recording.

 

I think the original CD sounds pretty freaking good. The 90's remaster sounds a little less freaking good. The XRCD sounds a little freaking bad. The last SACD sounds pretty freaking bad. YMMV.

 

I actually like the stereo XRCD even though it is compressed. It certainly isn't brick-walled, and it does have a fuller overall sound which the original lacks. However, if MFSL can get some warmth out of the masters and keep the dynamics then this will be an auto buy. I await patiently--daring to hope for the best.

 

Agree in principle with this, I hate upsampling (and as pointed out by others, DSD is not 24 bit, but your point is 100% correct).

On the other hand - I bought the double LP mastered by Stan Ricker (with the full CD length versions of all songs rather than the truncated version on the original LP) and it sounds - quite wonderful. And this coming from a committed analog guy. Oh well.

 

I know, but I just said it because most SACD systems convert to PCM sampled at 24 bits anyway.
Mine doesn't however.

 

I had no idea my original LP had truncated versions...that's kind of a drag hmmm. Any extra details you can tell me on what was edited?

 

Steve- did they? If so,

 

Details on the recording...

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may06/articles/classictracks_0506.htm

 

Why does one need MoFi to do all this? Take original CD, rip, play around with the equalization, upconvert to DSD , etc, and there you go.

 

"I mixed to DAT with a very nice-sounding Prism converter and a pair of Auratones," recalls Dorfsman.

 

CD and cassette
"So Far Away" 5:12
"Money for Nothing" 8:26
"Walk of Life" 4:12
"Your Latest Trick" 6:33
"Why Worry" 8:31
"Ride Across the River" 6:58
"The Man's Too Strong" 4:40

"One World" 3:40​

"Brothers in Arms" 7:00​

Total length: 55:07​

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LP

Side one​

"So Far Away" 3:59​

"Money for Nothing" 7:04​

"Walk of Life" 4:12​

"Your Latest Trick" 4:46​

"Why Worry" 5:22​

Side two​

"Ride Across the River" 6:58​

"The Man's Too Strong" 4:40​

"One World" 3:40​

"Brothers in Arms" 7:00​

Total length: 47:21​

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Brothers in Arms was one of the first albums to be directed at the CD market, and was a full digital recording (DDD) at a time when most popular music was recorded on analog equipment. It was also released on vinyl and cassette.​

It was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the United States and on 19 September 2000 in the United States. It was also released in XRCD2 format in 2000, then the 20th Anniversary Edition was issued in Super Audio CD format on 26 July 2005 (becoming the 3000th title for the SACD format) and DualDisc format with DVD-Audio 24 bit/96 kHz track on 16 August 2005, remixed in 5.1 by Chuck Ainlay[8] and winning a Grammy for Best Surround Sound Album at the 48th Grammy Awards ceremony.[9]​

In 2006, a half-speed-mastered vinyl version of the album was issued. Mastered by Stan Ricker, this version consists of four sides on two 33 1/3 rpm discs, containing the full-length songs on vinyl for the first time.​

 

Thanks. I realized you were referring to those Fleetwood Mac and Fagen albums, but I didn't catch the relevance to this thread. I think the issue here is that I am not up on vinyl releases.

 

It's probably that some people actually like the album. Just a wild guess.

 

I sure hope it doesn't sound like the Ludwig SACD. If it sounded like one of the early CDs, that would not be a bad thing, but then again, just about everyone has at least one early CD pressing. Can MFSL improve upon the early CDs?

 

I'm sure MFSL won't reveal the source that they use for the SACD. The fact that they aren't releasing an LP could mean they could not access an analog mix.

 

There is NO analog mix.

 

MoFi's lack of disclosure about source material patronizes its customers. But as several of the posts here suggest, some people don't want to know, and take an 'in MoFi we trust' stance. The company must calculate that it has less to lose by keeping quiet.

 

I celebrate the original compact cassette edition of this album.