Rage Against The Machine: "Evil Empire" SACD mastered by SH on Audio Fidelity coming

Got another email from Bullmoose. Anticipated ship date is Jan 6.

 

Oh come on...

 

Only a few more days!
I've heard the album 100s of times, I can wait.

 

Haha) Me too, just re-listened to the original CD yesterday. I have a little rant because when I pre-ordered the s/t on SACD the date was final and I got it all shipped without delays but here we have like 3rd postponement? Nothing serious of course

 

FWIW, the MOV press of this album sounds fantastic.

 

Steve, was there any chance those tapes for the two RATM albums managed to also cut a set of 33 or 45 lacquers for the future?

 

Oh yeah, I read about it But since Evil Empire is my least favorite of all the studio work, I guess I'll be pretty happy with original and SACD versions

 

Any AF subscribers get their copies yet?

 

Yes. Got my copy on Saturday, but with the holiday, etc - haven't had time to sit down and listen.

 

How does the subscription work?

 

I already ordered my copy from a subscriber off eBay lol. I think it was #163. In the mail right now.

 

Go to AudioFidelity.net and there is a link to subscribe. You might want to call them to see how it works this late in the game. I subscribed right away so I have been getting every release since subscriptions started years ago.

 

btw my copy finally shipped from Elusive Disc! At last

To those who already got it - could you post DR meter numbers? Quite curious to what was made in comparison to the original CD.

 

If you end up buying this SH mastered copy, I'd love to know what you think about it compared to the MOV. My finger is on the trigger for the orange vinyl. Just need a little push to send me over the edge! Thanks bud.

 

Do it!!!
That's the one I have. It's more of a yellow though.

 

Done! haha

 

Its looking like Amazon will have mine here this time next week.

 

Mine is delivered. Will give a listen tonight.

 

I don't have a nice DAC or transport because I don't hear much a difference like in phono preamps and carts . Maybe the DAC just a hair, but I will dump 5 figures into the vinyl playback, but my ears don't hear much with DACs, so take this with that in mind since my CD playback a "cheap" CD player into a very nice system.

Well at first listen, CD layer compared to the original CD is the original is louder overal for sure. The original is definitely more "agressive" sounding. Not in a bad way, just different. The AF is more even and has more air in the instruments. It's hard to say which is better, but both of them are good in their own way.

The MOV vinyl vs the new AF CD layer is a different story. They felt very similar. The vinyl was a bit more holographic as all vinyl is, and I attribute that to a "flaw" in the medium that works out in its favor. So if the AF ever shows up on vinyl I will buy it in a heart beat. I really feel if this wasn't hindered by being a digital format it would shine 10x more. But I have never (even with a Benchmark DAC streaming 24/96) heard digital match the best AAA vinyl.

Just my opinion.

If you want more air in the original CD, buy this. If you want it agressive, it's not, buts not like it's mellowed out. Unless you A/B them you wouldn't notice one is more agressive, so maybe get this just for the air alone.

 

Thanks, @mesaboogie!

 

Just added this to the DR database for everyone.

AF SACD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Evil Empire
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR11 -1.36 dB -14.41 dB 01 People Of The Sun.m4a
DR12 -0.81 dB -14.40 dB 02 Bulls On Parade.m4a
DR11 -1.97 dB -14.57 dB 03 Vietnow.m4a
DR11 -0.74 dB -14.69 dB 04 Revolver.m4a
DR11 -1.25 dB -13.38 dB 05 Snake Charmer.m4a
DR12 -0.52 dB -14.04 dB 06 Tire Me.m4a
DR12 -0.46 dB -14.15 dB 07 Down Rodeo.m4a
DR12 -1.37 dB -15.58 dB 08 Without A Face.m4a
DR12 -0.64 dB -15.24 dB 09 Wind Below.m4a
DR13 -0.85 dB -16.16 dB 10 Roll Right.m4a
DR12 -0.93 dB -15.07 dB 11 Year Of Tha Boomerang.m4a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of files: 11
Official DR value: DR12

==============================================================================================



and from the DR database, the original CD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Rage Against The Machine / Evil Empire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR8 0.00 dB -10.00 dB 2:30 01-People Of The Sun
DR9 0.00 dB -10.47 dB 3:51 02-Bulls On Parade
DR9 0.00 dB -10.29 dB 4:39 03-Vietnow
DR8 0.00 dB -10.53 dB 5:30 04-Revolver
DR8 0.00 dB -9.87 dB 3:56 05-Snake Charmer
DR9 0.00 dB -10.33 dB 3:00 06-Tire Me
DR9 0.00 dB -10.94 dB 5:21 07-Down Rodeo
DR9 0.00 dB -11.01 dB 3:37 08-Without A Face
DR8 0.00 dB -10.88 dB 5:50 09-Wind Below
DR8 0.00 dB -10.87 dB 4:22 10-Roll Right
DR9 0.00 dB -11.30 dB 4:00 11-Year Of Tha Boomerang
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR9

 

Once again since it's not my favorite record from RATM, I'll stay with the original CD and SACD, thanks for describing the difference mesaboogie

And well that's more dynamic for sure in this case. Sometimes I think the production on original was a bit too raw and I wanted more details and separation, so I guess the new SACD will give me that

 

Amazon just informed me they have no idea when they will have this in stock. I placed my order in mid-November

 

Wow, that sucks!