Sony to release 15 Bob Dylan hybrid SACDs!

Not all of those standard issues are inferior. The original versions of FREEWHEELIN', BLONDE AND BLONDE[2nd press w/full length versions, no early fades), GREATEST HITS, JWH and BLOOD ON THE TRACKS still sound pretty good to me, though there's certainly soom room for improvement. And of course you're right, SACD in and of itself hardly guarantees the sound will be brilliant. It's all in the mastering, as we know, so this is a situation where you sample a favorite(my current M.O.)and then go from there.

ED

 

Although DVD-Audio--with its oversized jewel cases--seems intended to be segregated from the redbook population, SACD releases have been in standard jewel cases. If hybrids become commonplace it will then make sense to stock them with the regular CD's, as happened with the Stones.
My concern is that they will remain segregated to a store's multi-channel section, thus not only confusing consumers but cutting sales by not having them stocked in the main areas of traffic. And those prices have got to come down--I'm paying at best $19.99 per Sony SACD--and that's not going to fly with the average consumer. Sony has got to wise up, and they're not the only ones.

ED

 

For this Artist, I will seriously consider purchasing an SACD player.

I'd love to hear an official, alternate version of "Blood on the Tracks"...we know, because of the bootlegs, this was done...so there is NO REASON to not release it !

I will bet, Broooose is next, and they are already making test pressings of the SACD mixes !

 

This news is big. I guess now we can finally stop hearing all the whining from SACD naysayers about how SACD is doomed because Sony doesn't issue hybrids. It confirms my belief that the only reasons Sony was not issuing hybrids were, first off that the capacity was not there and they were allowing the facilities to be used by partner labels aligned with the format and second that they wanted to show other labels and the public that they were committed to their own format. This and the confirmation of Dark Side of The Moon being on SACD are extremely huge steps toward SACD becoming the dominant Hi-Rez format, if you don't believe it is already.

I also like the fact that Universal is releasing the Police greatest hits package in multichannel SACD (could this be from the dts mixes?) especially since none of the actual albums on SACD will be multichannel. I was going to pick up all of The Police SACDs anyway, but now I'll add in the Every Breath You Take: The Singles SACD release as well, just for the multichannel mixes.

My friends, the floodgates are open.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about where they place the Dylan SACDs. If Sony is planning to replace the Dylan catalogue with these hybrids, they will be mixed in with the regular CDs. Just look at the Stones hybrids. I agree with you about the pricing though. The one brilliant thing about the Stones releases from Abkco was the fact that you could pick them up for US$12.99. With that said though, $19.99 is not that far out of line with the list price of regular CDs these days at $18.99 and even $19.99. All of the labels, not just Sony, have to rethink their pricing structure on not only SACDs, but on standard CDs as well.

 

It's also good to see the Sony hybrid SACD production line in Indianna starting production in May. Very nice indeed.

 

I have a feeling Steve's "Highway 61" will still be the best release of that album.

 

Might be. Maybe Sony took note of Steve's homework on finding the master tape.

 

I'm still holding onto my original Cee Dee's.

 

Mike, I see SACD players all the time in the $150 to $200 range. If you can afford "big fat speaker cables" you can surely afford a player!

 

I just hope somebody doesn't step in and cancel the project or push it back indefinitely, like almost every other freakin' Dylan reissue. But, I never thought I'd see Stones remasters, either. Crossin' my fingers...

 

Richard Feirstein, thanks for the information. Glad to see that Sony will be moving forward only with hybrid SACDs of Dylan.

 

Me too, but I will purchase at the very least Nashville Skyline, Blood on the Tracks and Brining It All Back Home. The first two in particular I have always thought sounded not so good on CD. I might also get Oh, Mercy and Time Out of Mind, but those two already sound okay to me in their original CD releases so I don't know. I just wish that they were at the very least going to release Oh, Mercy and Time Out of Mind in multichannel. That's really too bad they aren't.

 

Highway 61 is the only one I'm sure I won't have to replace. If they add some tasty bonus tracks, though, I'll get the SACD, too.

Well, maybe Love and Theft as well. That CD sounds *incredibly* good.

Ryan

 

Here's a thought as regards the early issues of the proposed hybrids. Why not issue Bob Dylan S/T through Another Side in mono with bonus tracks? Issue Bringing It All Back Home as stereo for the "side 1" band stuff and mono for the "side 2" acoustic stuff, thereby leaving plenty of room for bonus tracks. Issue one of the greatest rock records in history, Highway 61 Revisited, as a deluxe 2-CD package with both mono and stereo mixes as well as bonus tracks.

 

There is plenty of room on one layer of the SACD disk to include both the stereo and mono versions and even a few bonus tracks. The red book layer would just have room for the stereo version with perhaps a bonus song or two. Does not sound like this is being discussed but there is time to lobby.

Richard.

 

What advantage is there to having a stereo mix of the first several albums up to Bringing It All Back Home?

 

I feel the same way about Dylan as you and I am also glad they will be hybrid discs. I hope Sony markets these, I think they are really faltering in that aspect.

 

First all the Stones albums, then Steve's Creedence SACDs and now Dylan. Great, great news. Topping my wish list is for Steve to master the complete Doors and Kinks catalog on SACD!

 

We can dream can't we...I'd opt for Stereo/Mono. Why? because we can.

 

I think they should go mono for the first several albums (if they need to choose one or the other). I always found the stereo mixes sounding strange. It's just Bob playing/singing and the stereo image makes me thnk he has very long arms to the left and a long neck to blow into his harp a few miles right...

Todd

 

One of my college teachers used to make fun of the way I wide pan things. He said the drummer must be 35 feet tall to reach all the toms and the guitarists were in different states. I told him to move his speakers closer together if he didn't like it.

 

Oh yea, The wider the better.