Elton John SACD's...the first listen

To our friends in the Great North- enjoy them immensely- you have waited patiently, and maybe drooled a bit while us "southerners" jawed on the waves about em.

Thats what makes us so great as a population- we can all have our own opinions and NOT be chastized for it.

Chris

 

I'm glad the dynamics on the song Captain Fantastic are still there. It starts off relatively quiet and low key, and builds just like I remember on the vinyl. Love that mandolin in the rear right!

 

I heard the multichannel Captain for the first time and found it so bright I had to turn it off, couldn't even listen to the whole thing. And I was disappointed with the dynamics; the title track on my copy didn't have anywhere near the dynamics of the original nonremastered CD or vinyl. It started out way too loud and didn't have anything like the build of the original stereo version.

 

Wow.....must be the aluminum plated room you listen in!

different equipment, different ears......

 

Yeah, the Capitol box, but let's not go there!

I DID find GYBR bright, but so far, not CF

 

Seems the Elton CDs have always been like this. Look back at some comparisons of MOFI-DJM-MCA..

 

Dave, I'm glad you finally got to hear something. As to me, I'm still waiting for Amazon UK to ship the first disc I ordered (Honky Chateau). It should happen today. That means I will not receive it until Saturday or the middle of next week as there's a bank holiday in between.

 

It was hardly a critical listen, but the little I heard was good. Let us know what you think when they arrive.

 

Dave,
This isn't fair. I have the basement but I don't have the disc!!!!

 

I was warned but I went ahead anyway, Best Buy had 'em for $14.99. I just got Tumbleweed and Cap't Fantastic and the SACD stereo layer of Cap't is bright as hell. Like razor blades on the ears. Or staring into someones high beams. Why oh why do they insist of boosting the treble so much? It's like they've been cranking it higher and higher each year since 1996.

 

Wow, maybe that Billy Squire concert in 1980 when I stood in front of a stack of Marshall's killed my upper frequencies.....I didn't find Captain THAT bad!

 

I've just started listening to "Tumbleweed Connection" this morning. I'm on the second play, but the first play through was not that encouraging. My opinion is that this is the brightest one I've listened to so far (haven't yet played "Brown Dirt").

"Madman", on the other hand, was just excellent.

 

I do not notice any of this overly bright top end on the multi-channel layer on any of them.

I seem to remember 20 years ago when everyone was whingeing like mad about boosted top ends on CDs. And yet those same early Cds sound pretty good on a modern player.

Is it anything to do with the increased resolution taking a little getting used to?

Philadelphia Freedom is playing as I type and it sounds superb!!!

Ox the about-to-emulate-King-Alfred

 

It's certainly easier the second play through. I wonder if we adjust?

 

No, its just that D/A converters have gotten much better over the years!

 

Ox, I seriously doubt it my friend. Steve's CCR's sound great right out of the package. No getting used to it required as far as Steve goes.

Prior to the treble/bass spike/boost phenomina we had NR from 84' on, but fortunately there were a lot of masterings done prior to this garbage. Now it's digital tools/workstations that are damaging our music in the SACD world past the first year of production.

 

Hmmm, Steve seems to produce well-balanced CDs, SACDs and vinyl that do not require new D/A converters, ear adjustments and post-equalization. What a concept!

 

Great minds think alike!

 

I wonder how much of this brightness has todo with having used EQ that was originally intended for other formats and their characteristics, for a SACD release, a format, which I've been told, is quite EQ sensitive especially in the higher frequencies.

 

Is it me, or is there some kind of weird pitch shift in the first few piano notes of "Your Song" stereo (Both layers)?

 

I just received one of the two Elton John SA-CD titles I ordered today. Specifically "Honky Chateau".

I'm currently in the midst of my first round with the disc listening to the surround mix.

Some first impressions:

I do not find the 5.1 mix as bright as has been mentioned in this thread. To me it sounds less bright than the GBYBR one, even less so than the Flaming Lips DVD-A. What I do have some problems with is the sound of the cymbals. They do not sound natural, but rather more like white noise, to me. Stand out tracks to me (remember, first listen and surround mix): 'Honky Cat,' 'Rocket Man,' 'Slave' (original version), 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.'

I'll let my ears get a little bit more into this record before sharing more definite impressions.

I should be receiving the "Tumbleweed Connection" one on Thursday. Then I will also post my impressions of it.

As to the "Honky Chateau" cover art, I agree with what has been said here before, especially in the case of those black and white pages, which look like they were printed on a laser printer from the 80s: not very good quality. And, yes, Gus Dudgeon's name is misspelled on that last page.

BTW, although I got this SA-CD from Amazon UK it is clearly an American pressing: it had the tape over the top under the plastic wrapping and the 'adorning' FBI notice on the back.

 

I received the Tumbleweed on Friday. Listened to it twice on Sunday in 5.1. The mix is very enjoyable. Sometimes the highhat sounded poor. But overall I like the disk. The bonus tracks were a nice surprise. The Madman alternate is super!

Next on order Captain.

 

Here's a link to two short reviews at Music Tap ("Madman Across The Water" and "Honky Chateau"): http://www.musictap.net/Reviews/JohnEltonMATWHCSACD.html

 

I love the alternate version of Madman... I wonder if they went so much to town with it because it is a bonus track, and not part of the original album. I imagine hi rez listeners would not have been impressed if the guitars had been shooting all over the soundstage on Rocket Man, for instance. But I really enjoy the creative use of 5.1 on this track, and it certainly makes the most of Mick Ronson!

In terms of being "bright" (which seems to be the key heinous crime the Elton SACDs stand accused of), I think they probably are boosted a bit at the top end, but that's how I've always preferred my music (I never enjoyed listening to cassette tapes with Dolby NR, for instance), so these discs are perfect for me.

Stevie