Rush - Counterparts Audio Fidelity *SACD reviews*

Got it the other day (with CttE) and am looking to book time on ProgUK's bada$$ system to put it through its paces. I think Counterparts gets overlooked as Rush's attempt to sound grungy, but save for a few weak songs, it's a solid album. It always did sound a little crispy on every system I've heard it on, so I'm looking forward to hearing the differences that Lyle_JP talks about.

I only have Presto and Hold Your Fire on vinyl from the late period Rush. I sure hope they do a vinyl re-release in the not too distant future because even my old copies of the early catalog that I bought in my teen years is looking pretty beat.

 

Mine showed up Monday but I wanted to wait until the weekend to give them the attentive listens and comparisons they deserve. I plan to crack these open very soon.

 

Right now I'm doing a comparison between 4 different discs -

The original '93 release
'93 German Import cd
2004 Remastered cd
2013 SACD

I'll post my thoughts soon.

 

from www.rushisaband.com....."Stick It Out is 18 seconds longer and Nobody's Hero is 10 seconds longer on the SACD. There are about an extra four measures or so included at the tail end of each song."

 

My SACD arrived today and I'm just now getting through the first listen. It's definately more crankable than the original 93 release, which is the only other version of Counterparts that I own. Overall, it seems "tighter" though I dont know how else to describe the effect I'm hearing other than that. There's more detail and Geddy's bass sounds fantastic. Everything is superior to the original release. Overall, its a winner. The SACD is definately going to be my go to version. The original 93 CD is just too damn loud to begin with, which makes everything else muddled, while the SACD is crystal clear. Awesome job!

 

Yes, I prefer the AF (CD layer) as well, and by a respectable margin. Kudos to Kevin Gray.

 

SQ means shipping quality, you goof.

 

It's 10:32 pm Eastern time Thursday. So we're looking at, what, another day, fractionally more if you count the remainder of tonight? A day plus?

 

This is my feeling as well. I've only listened to the new SACD a couple times (SACD layer), and while it sounds OK, it's just not making me do cartwheels in the living room. To me, the soundstage is quite narrow, and it does sound "monaural-ish" for lack of a better term.

I have a CD version of Counterparts around here somewhere, so I'm going to dig it out and compare them this weekend. Perhaps this new SACD is night-and-day over that CD, but I haven't heard it in so long, I can't remember in order to comment - yet.

 

I like this one the same as RtB, not a huge night-and-day difference but an improvement over the original CD. I never got the remaster so no idea how it compares with that.

One small issue: there's a typo in the SACD's "scrolling text" -- Nobody's Hero is shown as Nobody's Here. I kind of like that title for a Rush song, maybe Neil Peart will come up with some lyrics for it.

 

Has anyone compared the SACD to the German vinyl?

 

Disapointed there is no 5.1 mix, other than that it sounds pretty decent.

 

Yes, some people have posted favorable comparisons in the Yes/Rush thread...

 

Another easter egg that mentioned in the other thread, Nobody's Hero is also extended! (At 4:05) The release that keeps on giving it seems.

Oh, and my favourite Rush instrumental, Leave That Thing Alone, sounds clear and crisp.

 

OK, I got to do a comparison last night between the original CD and the AF SACD (SACD layer). Although I would not call the difference "night and day," the AF does sound smoother and more "analog" than the original CD. The original CD definitely has an edge to it that gets fatiguing after a while. The AF was more pleasant to listen to, and I didn't get fatigued during the listening session.

That said, I could hear very little improvement - if any - in the soundstage, instrument placement, or "breathing room" of the AF over the original. The bottom line: Couterparts is what it is, and the AF presents it in a smoother, less fatiguing, more "crank-able" manner.

If you really love the album, it's probably worth the upgrade. If you're not a big fan of Rush, you're not going to use this as a demo to show off your system.

I was listening via my headphone rig: Oppo 970HD > Darkvoice THA332 > Sennheiser HD-650

 

I agree, LTTA sounds quite good.

 

I gave this a second spin the other night. Everything I stated before still holds, but I want to re-emphasize the improvement in soundstage depth. The compressed original CD sounds congested compared to the A.F. But thanks to Kevin Gray's fine mastering, there are now quite a few little musical/sonic touches that have been unearthed to see the light. For sure, Counterparts is a dense mix, but now it is a dense mix that actually breathes. The beast is awoken.

I can't wait to hear what Kevin can do with Presto.

 

Well, this must be selling. I saw two copies at Zia today, and neither had any limited edition numbers. I'm glad these prog-related SACDs are doing well.

 

Rush did do this recording to vinyl, I own it. Asked about the sq several months ago when I found out I had it, got no responses.

 

The Counterparts vinyl was not a very easy to find album when it was released. It was a German import and not released in the US. I was never able to score myself a copy. It goes for to much money IMO. Back in '93 I wasn't really collecting much vinyl so I let it slip by when it was released. That's probably why you didn't get any responses because not many people own it.

 

What happened to posting your thoughts soon?

 

I'm gonna have to sit down and do it again, family life got in the way. I'll try to get to it today.

 

Yes, I know it was released on vinyl but it's tough to get now. A lot of us weren't buying vinyl back then, unfortunately. Somebody should reissue it, is all I'm saying.

 

The Amazon reviews have been really quite silly recently. It's compounded by this guy "Soundman" making the same comment over and over in every negative review:

I tried to warn people about how the quality would suck way before it was even released. It was not from an analog recording. It was recorded in digital 20bit/48kHz originally. But I got SO MUCH **** from people for saying what I did I removed my comment.
Just because some release states "From the original master recordings" does NOT mean that those tapes were analog.​

Wow, great point there. Just ignore the whole removing compression, limiting, clipping, etc. stuff and go back to this banal point. Also ignore the fact that an official vinyl version was made (he previously suggested that any vinyl copy would be an unauthorized version, lol).​

 

I haven't done a comparison with the Atlantic albums boxed set, but I just got this and think it sounds great!