Not sure if it was mentioned before, but the new MFSL SACD of Michael Jackson’s Thriller is great sounding. Imho, ymmv, etc.
My Esoteric collection is still missing 31 items out of all the classical transfers they have done. They have never made a reissue yet, have they? Those Japanese classical discs are something special. The SHM releases by Universal Japan included. Will they ramp up their non-classical releases one day, too?
The Esoteric SACDs are produced in limited runs (of a 1000) and once they sell out, Esoteric does not re-issue them. Universal Japan SHM-SACDs are also produced in limited runs, but Universal Japan do on occasion re-issue them (once the first run sells out), but this is by no means guaranteed. Universal Japan just re-issued (in November 2022) about 30 Classical SHM-SACD titles. Get them while you can!
Yep, my wallet is already trembling. Not to mention the Tower records classical releases from Decca, Warner, etc. Lots of good titles to choose from.
A good question. The only time I've done this I used CD Japan. Expensive but reliable. There must be a cheaper but reliable option.
The cheapest (and probably most reliable) way to shop for Tower Records Japan SACDs (if you are outside Japan) is to go to Japan and get them there. I am planning a trip to the Shibuya Tower Records Store in the New Year.
I envy you going SACD hunting in Japan in the New Year. It's many years since I last visited. However CD Japan's additional charges are a lot less than a return flight from the UK to Japan.
I wasn't saying that classical music is niche, I'm saying that the available native DSD classical recordings are very hard to find (for one) and usually involve not-so-well-known pieces and performers
It may be a question of perspective. What recordings are hard to find? I'm actually trying to sell many of mine. I acknowledge that there are many first-class classical performers that are not available on native DSD recording which is just a function of which label they are signed to. OTOH, there are many other first-class classical performers that are. As for repertoire, I disagree. The basic library of music is pretty much covered on native DSD recordings although the depth of the repertoire cannot compete with that of the historical record. What, in particular, do you think is missing?
Ok fair point, perhaps what I was aiming for is more along the lines of "I wish Deutsche Grammophon got into native DSD" EDIT: to be clear, the entire time I'm talking about DSD digital downloads, not SACDs (of which there are plenty even for big-label classical), maybe that's part of the confusion, don't really care for the discs themselves
This is the first multi-channel Sony SACD I've seen with the green label side. Have seen this mostly on Universal SHM-SACDs and MQA CDs, and Japan Stereo Sound SACDs. And the first SQ Quad in a jewel case. I assumed it would be in a 7" package. After all, it was the same price (harumph).
This is a Sony Japan release. The Japanese market prefer these green label releases (in addition to the Universal Japan and Stereo Sound Japan releases you mentioned, I have seen green label SACD releases from Warner Japan, Tower Records Japan and Sony Japan). I am glad to see these Quad recordings being released in SACD. England's Dutton-Vocalion have also been releasing a lot of these hybrid-multichannel (Quad) SACDs (often of legacy Sony recordings). I hope the Quad releases keep coming in 2023.
It’s not just 1970s vintage Columbia/Sony quad stuff (I do hope they keep it coming; I have their Bernstein-NYPhil Haydn 93-95 release and I love it!), they released some RCA as well. For those wanting more pop and disco from that era, Dutton’s released some for those tastes - there’s Helen Reddy and Earth, Wind, and Fire discs that come to mind.
I loved CD Japan but the store seems less stocked. Just less to choose from. Just changed from what it was. I could be wrong and searching for the wrong items. Before they were my go to. Now I try around. EBay a couple of times lately.
Used to live in Japan and would go back yearly when we moved back to the US. Since COVID, I haven't. That said, my son still lives there, so if there's absolutely something I want, I send it to his address there. In about 2 years, we'll be retiring there.
I have a modest collection of Broadway cast albums. In the early days of CDs there weren’t many releases, and there were never many releases on SACD. But during the past year or so, I have picked up Dutton’s quad releases of Company, A Little Night Music, and, just this week, the 1976 production of Threepenny Opera, all originally on Columbia. I suspect there’s one for A Chorus Line, but that score doesn’t really excite me. In the mid 70s, RCA took the lead in original cast albums, and produced some of the best sounding recordings in my library. I don’t know if any of those exist in quad, but I would love a release of Sweeney Todd* and several other scores even as stereo SACDs. * For one thing, I made the mistake of replacing my abridged, single-disc Sweeney Todd CD with the remastered complete score. Nice having all the music, but, alas, the loudness wars took their toll.
