Early SACD test pressings and format history

[Moderator note: merged conversation about early/promo SACDs from another thread]

I didn't manage to snag a copy of Innocent Man in the original slip, but the rest are original, as SamS described:

 

I worked for Sony at the time, so they drilled most everything used as promos. Some simply had their barcodes scratched out of the cardboard covers, or through the see-through covers. Anything to mark them as not sellable.

 

I'd say you did pretty well scooping those up for free

Now, can you tell us more about the Aerosmith "Rocks" single-layer SACD?

 

They are just a small sampling of the many, many freebies I received over the years. Being in the right place at the right time has its perks!

I wish I could but, despite having worked on SACD from long before it was ever called SACD through launch, that is one project that Sony Music seems to have done under wraps.

In the earliest days of SACD all projects ran through the SACD Project Offices of Sony and Philips. SACD and DSD were brand new and unknown, so lots of assistance/advice had to be provided. All the early recorders/editors were very primitive in nature, so there was a lot of hand-holding done at the actual sessions -- so we knew about every project that was being worked on. Moreover, authoring and cutting master creation was handled by Sony or Philips, and the SACD Project Offices coordinated disc production for the labels. In addition, the Project Offices created catalogs for the US, European and Japanese markets detailing current and soon-to-be-released titles. This meant we had a good overview of everything in the pipeline -- though there was nothing we could do about projects announced by labels that never saw the light of day (can you say In The Court Of The Crimson King?).

As recording engineers became more familiar with the equipment, they required less help (usually only when something bad happened! ), and some labels even undertook their own authoring and cutting master creation. Also as more production capacity came on stream the labels could deal directly with the pressing plants rather than work through the Project Offices. However, the Project Offices still maintained a good overview of completed and upcoming titles for the sake of the SACD catalogs. In addition, we always wanted the newest material for public demonstrations (AES, hi-fi shows, etc.) to avoid playing the same old same old. So, as a rule, the Project Offices received copies of the test pressings made for client approval. Sonopress test pressings typically came in a blue Sonopress digipack DVD cover with basic text, Sony test pressings were initially completely blank, but later had some printing on the inner hub, and Crest test discs were blank but came with a printed sticker on the jewel case (I'll put up scans later).

The mastering group at Sony Music Studios in NYC was one of the first to largely become independent, but since the US SACD Project Office was situated within Sony Music's corporate HQ, there were still strong links, and we would receive copies of all Sony Music titles (as test pressings and finished product). Sony Music produced Just Push Play and O, Yeah on their own, but Toys In The Attic required the Project Office's support as it was decided to re-mix it for M-ch. I can remember demonstrating it for the first time at the 113th AES Convention in Los Angeles with Jack Douglas helping out on a few demos. That was in October 2002. Heard on five ATC SCM-300 monitors, it really rocked!

I remember Rocks being mentioned as a candidate for SACD, but I don't remember whether that was before or after the M-ch version of Toys.... I just checked the US and European SACD catalogs that I have to hand (from 2002-2004), and none of them list Rocks (though other missing titles that did make it to the test pressing stage like Super Session are listed). All my earlier copies are in boxes in the garage, so don't expect me to get to those any time soon!

My guess is that Sony Music started production on a stereo SACD and then decided that they really needed a M-ch title, so decided to pull the plug on the stereo version. However, how it made it all the way to a finished, packaged disc before getting killed is beyond me. I could understand if it was simply one of the test pressings that Eddie has. What is even more unusual is that this title never made it to the NY SACD Project Office, neither as a test disc nor as a finished one.

I have no idea how many copies were issued to label execs., etc., so have no idea how many could potentially be out there (most likely sitting on the shelves of people who don't have SACD players ). It is one of the few rare SACDs that I do not have. The fact that it made it all the way to packaging makes it very unusual. All the other ultra-rare titles only made it to the test pressing stage, some in extremely small numbers (10 or less), and, in some cases, the stampers were handed to the artist afterwards as part of the agreement. Most of these titles are ones that are not known about, but a few like Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and Tom Petty were demonstrated at various times. As disappointed as SACD fans are that some projects were never released, you can't begin to appreciate how disappointed the people who worked on SACD are that so many great projects were either killed because of the cost to remix or were killed by the artist/management after test pressings had been made. I'll spare you all the pain and keep quiet about them (else you'll all end up pulling your hair out like me! ).

 

Okay, as promised, some scans of test discs:

TOP - Elton John: Madman Across The Water hybrid test disc made by Sony Disc Manufacturing

MIDDLE - Peter Gabriel: UP hybrid test disc made by Crest National

BOTTOM - Carly Simon: No Secrets a VERY rare Sonopress hybrid test disc containing ONLY the 5.1 mix in DSD!

 

I've never seen the Carpenters or the Derek & the Dominos in super jewel boxes, interesting. The Carpenters (in CD jewel case) must be BMG/Yourmusic's biggest selling title, based on the number for sale on Ebay!

Carly Simon - No Secrets on SACD?

PM on the way...

 

+1 on that. Wowzer!

 

That Carly Simon is pretty extraordinary.

Show us more!

 

Wait a sec here....wasn't "No Secrets" released on Elektra Records, a Warner Bros. Music label?

 

I was just going to ask basically the same question, because it came out on 5.1 dvd-audio form.

 

Just a few more where you can actually see something -- as opposed to a blank disc!

To start with, a very early hybrid stereo SACD of solo piano (Mitsuko Uchida) made by Philips Optical Disc Technology Centre in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. This is where all the earliest hybrid discs were made. The recording was made live to 2-track DSD by legendary Philips Classics balance engineer Onno Scholze at the Musikverein in Vienna. Philips Electronics made a number of demonstration discs in this blue on yellow design. For reasons known only to themselves, Universal chose NOT to release this project despite the fact that it was complete, and a CD version was issued.

 

Those familiar with the SACD Technical White Paper and early SACD promotional materials will know that SACD failed to deliver on one of its announced features, namely the visual watermark. The visual watermark was intended to be a security feature for the consumer, they could see that they were buying official product, and an easy method to uncover pirating (since the pirates would lack the technology). Sadly, it proved more difficult to implement than anyone imagined. You could either get a very clear image which affected tracking and playback, or you could have a near invisible image that had no impact.

The disc below is an example of the best compromise that was found. The watermark image can be seen on the playing side, however, it is washed out when I try to scan it, but you may still be able to see parts of it through the label side below (unfortunately the Forum software has shrunk the image more than I did). The watermark in this case is the curved SACD logo, and is just visible above the word VISUAL and MARK in watermark. The program in this case is Movie Medleys by Jerry Goldsmith which Philips Electronics made as a demo disc and for inclusion with SACD players. As the watermark proved difficult to implement, it never made it on to commercial pressings.

 

Not, as one may think, a test pressing of the eponymous Elton John album, the disc below was the first EJ project done in DSD. The title is:

Elton John - One Night Only "Greatest Hits Live" Sampler Test SACD

It is an M-ch hybrid, but contains only the following four tracks:

1. Bennie & The Jets
2. Your Song
3. Candle In The Wind
4. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)

The entire album was mixed for 5.1 and transferred to DSD (stereo + M-ch), but it would take a few more years before Universal decided to release EJ SACDs. I have this filed next to a CD-R of Live In Australia, so I believe that that was another title under consideration at the time (you can see that the test disc was made in July 2001). Only a very small number were made for evaluation by Universal Music.

 

Fascinating. I was unaware of the watermark feature.

Please continue to share scans and your stories.

 

Finally, another extremely rare disc. This one was made for Universal Mastering in Los Angeles to evaluate the quality of DSD transfers/SACD discs. It is a stereo hybrid with the title:

UMG Hybrid SACD Test Disc 0001

and it has the following track-list:

1. Mediterranean Sundance - Paco De Lucia, John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola, live version from Pavarotti & Friends: For War Child
2. Peel Me A Grape - Diana Krall
3. My Home Is In The Delta - Muddy Waters
4. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Muddy Waters
5. Mysteries - Steve Reid
6. Spirit Path - Steve Reid
7. How Many Times - K-Ci & Jojo
8. Walking On The Moon (analog-derived safety copy) - The Police
9. More Human Than Human (analog) - White Zombie
10. Rollin' (analog) - Limp Bizkit
11. More Human Than Human (digital limiting) - White Zombie
12. Rollin' (digital limiting) - Limp Bizkit

There would be SACD releases for the Diana Krall, Muddy Waters and Police tracks, but the mastering on this disc is unique (done by Universal Mastering, LA).

 

This is getting just too cool....

Black Elk, check the garage.

 

Wow!

What is the difference between Rollin' (analog) and Rollin' (digital limiting)? Where they experimenting with digital compression to see what they could get away with?

 

Which is why it, and several other high-profile projects, never saw the light of day.

Most of the people working for the SACD Project Offices were music-heads, many of them with excellent links to most of the big names in the music industry. In the same way that reading a recipe doesn't tell you much about a finished meal, there was no substitute for having people try DSD/SACD in their own projects. So, in the hope that engineers would be convinced/seduced by the sound quality, we did whatever projects they had scheduled. Despite overwhelming support from recording/mastering engineers and, in many cases, artists/producers, Warner refused to budge on SACD (just like Sony refused to budge on DVD-A). Larry Klein actually stated in interviews that he preferred the SACD of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now.

 

That's exactly what they were doing. The digital version does what you might expect: flatten things, making some details stand out more, but at the cost of dynamics. The digital version is also louder.

I'll have to listen to them again, and see if anything else pops out.

 

See http://www.superaudiocenter.com/images/dsd.pdf page 11.

 

amazing...

 

Black Elk,

Was there any primary reason that Sony slammed the SACD door shut so soon after the big push the format got after the DSOTM SACD and the Rolling Stone issue with the free SACD sampler. That year, Sony pulled back leaving the market to UMG. The year after, it (at least pop/rock high profile titles) went pfftt!

It seemed that once the Rolling Stone issue hit, the time was right for a massive push, not a fold.

 

There's been a lot of anti-Sony venum spewed about their bailing on SACD, but your post brings to light something not thought of by many "fans". The folks in the SACD division (or whatever they were) must have had their guts ripped out by the turn of events. I know if I was in that position, I'd be devastated.

 

Black Elk, was a Leonard Cohen SACD ever mentioned or done as a test pressing that you know of? Some promotional literature/ads featuring a mockup of Cohen's The Future circulated. I wonder how far it got through the process or if you ever came across any SACD's of his albums.