Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy SHM-SACD on 7/30/2014

Well, I don't know about the source but mastering details are missing from where they usually are. With that said, I sat in my sweet spot for the whole album cranked a tiny bit beyond the level I typically listen at and I could not be more impressed. My sacd player barely edges into the hi - end so those with mega buck players are really gonna love it.

 

The ending of "Show Biz Kids" is a revelation. The layering of the voices, which I barely heard previously.

 

What about those of us with run of the mill SACD players. Will it be money well spent?

 

If you listen to the SACD a couple of times and then switch to the CD or Lp you will hear those details you for the first time heard in the SACD, but not so well
That's because the brain store information and to some degree recreate the sound from your memory.
Try it.

And that's why so many audiophiles ending up very confused when doing A/B testing.
But this is another story that I will not continue in this thread.

 

But, why...when I have this wonderful sounding SACD to play?

 

Barry,

Don't bother stick with your old state of the art 8 track player . I had the Countdown SHM-SACD ordered but my Oppo 103 isn't worthy so I cancelled the order .

Bill

 

I see your point

 

Good grief, don't cancel orders for this one.

 

I only posted that in jest . I very much look forward to getting both new Steely Dan SHM-SACDs.

Bill

 

Missed the joke....

This one is really nice!

 

Trust me..to these ears, any other CD version will have a difficult time competing with this disc sonically.

 

This is what I was wondering as well.

Cheers,
Paul

 

If they say from "the US original analogue tapes" (for Pretzel Logic, there is actually no description for Countdown) then it can't be the early 80's digital copy tapes right?
But then again they actually employed the same formulation for Brothers In Arms when they transfered the EQ'd-for-LP copy tape.

 

Well, I trust that the Platinium cd will be about just as good. I belive in the mastering and an excellent cd-playback.Not trying to start an argument though.

 

I'm sure it will be, but very SACD version with the same counterpart on CD always wins in my house.

 

I would expect the redbook mastering to be the best redbook. I'd put money on the redbook played back on a Naim CD-555 or maybe an Audio Research CD9 (or the like) over my SACD, for example. That isn't a fair fight though, so all being equal, then I'm gonna take the DSD or hi-res PCM over redbook.

I did just receive and listen to Dire Straits- S/T platinum along with Synchronicity. Whew!! Really outstanding. Without something to compare it with, I'd be hard pressed to guess that these were redbook. I feel strongly that this effort would be far, far more challenging when using a CD9, for example. The rationale here, though off-topic, is that the power supply and analog stage designs are so critical to what we hear. Those designs aren't easy or cheap.

 

Countdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic are two of my favorite albums from the 70's.

My CtE cd is the Remaster : MCAD-11887. and its sounds good on my Naim nait 5i HIFI System.
My "Pretzel Logic" Cd is : MVCM-18517 "MCA Victor Japan" - and it sound a little "Dull".

are dose consider decent sounding cds?

I dont have SACD player (my cd player is Naim cd5i).

I usually dont like remaster that are loud and compress - so my question is, should i get the new Flat Transfer from Japan?

 

Order the CtE platinum from CD-Japan. Worst case is that you keep it in NM condition and then sell it on the forum to recover half of your money.

I can assure you that the recent masterings we are getting from USM Japan are no joke. They are hiring really good engineers and letting them do their thing the right way. You will be able to crank this CtE up and up and up and up. I was once a skeptic of all mastering after the early era but we are now in a golden era.

 

Sorry, but why by PM?

 

The Platinum SHM-CDs are excellent, but there is greater depth on the corresponding SHM-SACDs.

 

CTE is one of my favorite SD releases - but have been waiting on the reviews before pulling the trigger....

Keep posting up your reviews!

 

Have your measured it?..

 

Have you done a shoot-out with your 18p2 yet? I wonder how the SACD stacks up against it.

 

With my ears...

 

I think that most of these are just flat transfers, they are not really mastered by anyone. The engineers listed just handle the analogue to digital transfer.