I'd actually say that we are getting interesting SACD selections from both Intervention Records and Dutton Vocalion these days. Intervention Records is tackling the Flying Burrito Bros and some upcoming Matthew Sweet releases, while Dutton Vocalion is putting out a wide array of unique albums new to SACD like Art Garfunkel and others. Both seem committed to the format as long as the market is there. Losing Audio Fidelity is rough but another label could always pick up where they left off. I'm more worried about Oppo's exit and what it means for the SACD market. The inclusion of SACD on their universal BD/UHD players kept the middle class audio market afloat in viable SACD hardware.
Don't forget the fact there are also sometimes dropping new SACD titles out of the blue sky, like this one, not coming from an audiophile label: https://www.amazon.com/Boocheemish-Mystery-Bulgarian-Voices-Gerrard/dp/B07BF3T9HM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1526970005&sr=1-1&keywords=Lisa+Gerrard+The+Mystery+of+the+Bulgarian+Voices++"BooCheeMish+SACD Lisa Gerrard used to be part of the band Dead Can Dance and that band got allready a fine SACD box set (by MFSL) for their albums. Maybe Gerrard is remembering that fine format because of that? This album (at vinyl, cd and SACD) is being released the 25th of may. @soundboy : did you count this album allready in your list 0f 2018 releases?
I read about the Lisa Gerrard SACD somewhere. It's counted at HRAudio.net.... HRAudio.net - The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices feat. Lisa Gerrard: BooCheeMish
With the exit of Oppo, Marantz, and maybe Pioneer, I think we're down to Sony, Yamaha, and Cambridge Audio for SACD-capable players under $1K.
Oppo killed off a lot of their audiophile competitors in the universal player market. Sony hopefully remains interested in keeping SACD around on their players.
From my previous post from about a month ago.... As of right now, based on current numbers extrapolated for the rest of the year, there will be more than 600 new SACD titles released this year.
I was going to revise the projection for the year, but 30 new SACD releases* (8 of them being SHM-SACDs) within the last 2 months by Hong Kong Universal Music is throwing off the numbers. At the end of July 2018, 408 new SACD titles for the year (so far).
Soundtrack to the movie “Schindler’s List”, Carpenters - Gold, and Diana Ross - All The Great Hits. These are stereo hybrid SACDs, pressed in Japan by Sony. These titles are intended for the HK and Macau markets only, so even though one can order them on HK Universal’s online shop, once a non-HK or non-Macau shipping address is entered....no sale. However, these titles are available at importcds.com.
Has Universal Japan stopped licensing new titles? I see sometimes reissues but not completely new releases. Btw tried my first Steely Dan mqa cd today, and positively surprised.
New SACD titles are usually announced before release. Just look for upcoming releases at importedcds.com, hraudio.net, and cdjapan.co.jp everyday, in addition to Acoustic Sounds and Elusive Disc. There aren't that many markets in which SACDs are being released, so that cuts down on the research.
How's the quality of the Schindlers List SACD? Is the master from a analogue source? Or just the 16/44 CD master as they often do in Hong Kong?
The disc sounds pretty good ... Unfortunately, there is no information about the transfer to DSD ..... My album has the number 0488
That's what I don't like about some Japanese and Hong Kong releases. A couple of years ago I bought the Japanese SHM-SACD of The Planets on Decca by Zubin Mehta/Los Angeles Philarmonic from 1971. It sounded fine, it has a SPARS code of ADD what may mean that they used a digital copy, most likely PCM, at an unknown resolution. Then in November 2017 I got the same title released from the original analog master tape on SACD by Analogue Production, this one TROUNCES the Japanese SHM-SACD and the Analogue Productions SACD is/was cheaper than the Japanese SHM-SACD.
Nothing about Japanese and Hong Kong releases can be trusted unless you have positive info that it was correctly done. For example, there is a two box set out there from the Japanese magazine called "STEREO SOUND" "Contemporary Records, Volume I and Volume 2." Both volumes have five disks, Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, etc. Licensed from Concord, USA and mastered by me and Stephen Marsh, pure DSD. You can trust those. Not much else unless you have concrete knowledge.
Now that I think about it, there could be four volumes with 20 Contemporary Jazz albums in all. Worth finding. The real deal.
FYI: Cellist Alisa Weilerstein is now a Pentatone artist. Her recent album, “Transfigured Night” is her first on SACD, but it’s packaged in a Digipak. It’s the first Pentatone release I’ve seen that wasn’t in a Super Jewel Box case.
I got several months ago the Hong Kong release from 2015 for the soundtrack of The Piano. When I ripped it at a friend's and then convert the DSD tracks at home using Weiss Saracon at 192/24 and had a look at its frequency spectrum I discovered a sharp cut at 22 Khz so either the soundtrack for The Piano was at least mixed down to digital equipment of the time, 44.1/16 or the Hong Kong release used the CD master made it sound a bit louder and upsampled it to DSD. I don't really know if this recording was done on analog or digital equipment, but I DO KNOW that I paid double the money of a regular CD for what it could be an upsample.
Are we allowed to talk about those, now? A couple of years ago, the posts with regard to those were removed by the moderators. I got the two volumes available at the time. Even in the US, the sets can be ordered from the Stereo Sound site.
