"The Singles, 1969-1981" SACD Feedback
- Thread starter Chris May
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andywithaz
Well-Known Member
You're missing out dude! You really need to get one because its a totally different experience. It's like listening to QUAD Singles 69-73 for the first time.
WELL??? Did ya run out and get one yet???Harry said:
Heehee...Honestly Harry, I can't WAIT to hear your feedback when you *do* finally get to hear these! -Chris (...who thinks Harry may end up disappearing for an undisclosed amount of time, online...)
TallPaulInKy
Well-Known Member
Nobody lists CD numbers anymore (even on discographies) so I assume the way to tell the SACD disk from the older regular CD release is Merry Christmas Darling which was missing off the earlier release.
Right?
Right?
Visually, the jewel cases are different. You will know this is an SACD when you see it, mainly because of the sticker on the outer case, as well as the side panel which has a silver and black color design stating "SACD Surround Sound". -Chris
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Right Chris, you can tell it's a totally different cd, the look & feel are much better, rounder edges fit better in your hands, the hinges are better (don't feel like it will break) just seems like a nicer packed CD overall. Sometimes I do have a hard time opening the case though. Says press here but I always feel like I'm gonna break it.
Also the back has that FBI Ani-Piracy label, not on the original.
Also the back has that FBI Ani-Piracy label, not on the original.
Harry said:
The only caveat I have for anyone considering this: make sure your receiver has 5.1 analog connections for one of the inputs. The cheap Pioneer receiver I bought two years ago had them, so I'm thinking most recent receivers probably have them as well. SACD uses DSD format digital as an output, so you can't use a digital connection for it, since the receiver would have no idea what to do with it.
If you can find a Pioneer DV578AS on sale somewhere for $99, it's a steal, and it'll play everything. There are some other lower-priced universal players out there too--I think Toshiba may even have one now.
DVB
New Member
BTW if any of you don't have receivers yet, you can still buy a SACD player and play the tracks by channels (Front, Rear, Center & Sub) on your home stereo, you won't get the fidelity or 5.1 in unison, but its still a worthwhile experience just to keep you busy! Those shopping for recievers/players should check circuitcity's website which most of the time gives you a 3-D look at the product so you can see the exact connections it has. This is the player I currently have http://www.circuitcity.com/flashdet...AGE/nueweb/son/NW.SON.DVPNS775V.SWF&OID=99218
Chris May said:WELL??? Did ya run out and get one yet???
I did indeed at least LOOK for an SACD player at the local Tweeter store. It looked to me as if they carried a couple of models, the cheapest being the Pioneer universal player that's often mentioned here. It was $129.99, and I remembered the $99 sale price, so I didn't bite.
Maybe someday...all I can offer is someday...
Harry
Murray
Well-Known Member
Rudy said:
I finally found a Canadian online retailer that sells the DV-578A-S, so I ordered one today. It was $143.99 Canadian dollars (approx. $115 US), which was $30.00 less than the (defective) one I bought locally and had to return. Hopefully, this one will work properly!
Murray
...who'll soon be listening to the C's SACD again...
Vinylalbumcovers
Ah am so steel een luv weeth yoo
mstaft said:
You will hear only the CD layer. To hear the surround program, you need an SACD player.
Ed
Well, here we are a year and a half later, and I still haven't got an SACD player, so I've yet to hear the surround version of this album.
But I did grab it today to listen to in the car and got a bit of a surprise - the CD Text titles were displaying on my car CD player. It's something I never checked before in my old car's player which also displayed CD text. The difference is that with that player, you had to actively place the display in the text display mode. In my new car, the CD text occupies a second row on the display and you can leave it "on" to display the text if there is any.
So few of my CD's actually have this feature that I had to actively search through them once to verify that the feature even worked. Today I was surprised to see it displaying the song titles as they played. I'm betting that this feature is some kind of standard when it comes to SACD's. Rudy will probably know the answer to that.
With longer title names, this display will come on as the track begins, displaying the first few words, then in about eight or ten seconds, it'll then display the next few words of the title, finally coming to "rest" on the first bunch of words. That leads to some interesting displays, like on "This Masquerade" - it displayed "This" and then "Masquerade" since it's such a long word, finally just displaying "This" for the rest of the song.
I hadn't listened to this disc in a while, and was reminded of how good it sounded in just plain stereo.
Harry
But I did grab it today to listen to in the car and got a bit of a surprise - the CD Text titles were displaying on my car CD player. It's something I never checked before in my old car's player which also displayed CD text. The difference is that with that player, you had to actively place the display in the text display mode. In my new car, the CD text occupies a second row on the display and you can leave it "on" to display the text if there is any.
So few of my CD's actually have this feature that I had to actively search through them once to verify that the feature even worked. Today I was surprised to see it displaying the song titles as they played. I'm betting that this feature is some kind of standard when it comes to SACD's. Rudy will probably know the answer to that.
With longer title names, this display will come on as the track begins, displaying the first few words, then in about eight or ten seconds, it'll then display the next few words of the title, finally coming to "rest" on the first bunch of words. That leads to some interesting displays, like on "This Masquerade" - it displayed "This" and then "Masquerade" since it's such a long word, finally just displaying "This" for the rest of the song.
I hadn't listened to this disc in a while, and was reminded of how good it sounded in just plain stereo.
Harry
CD Text is actually a built-in, underutilized feature of CDs. (You can burn CDs on your computer and add CD Text if you have the right software.) In the case of this disc, this would be on the CD layer, not the SACD layer, so it's more a case of it being a feature of redbook CD and not SACD.
You can watch eBay--Pioneer often blows out refurbished universal players for $60-$70. I got one for our den system and it's worked fine. Got the DV-578A. The newer DV-588A would also work. As long as your receiver has analog 5.1 inputs, it will work with your system. Richard did a really nice surround mix on this title--it's one of the better ones I own.
You can watch eBay--Pioneer often blows out refurbished universal players for $60-$70. I got one for our den system and it's worked fine. Got the DV-578A. The newer DV-588A would also work. As long as your receiver has analog 5.1 inputs, it will work with your system. Richard did a really nice surround mix on this title--it's one of the better ones I own.
Then this could be one of the few official "A&M" CD's with CD text. I've certainly never run across another. In fact, after some tops from some SH.tv folks, I searched through the CDs we had around here and found only one - the second volume of the Vonda Shepard/Ally McBeal songs that my wife had. It, since it's a Sony title from the correct "era", was the only one I could find.
Then last week, Andre at work made me a quickie copy of his Dr. Ebbetts mono SGT. PEPPER disc, and it had titles attached too. Plus, this car player does mp3 discs, so when I put all of that recent Herb Alpert special onto one disc, it displayed the folder names.
I was just surprised when I glanced down and saw "Yesterday Once" listed on the display as track 1 played.
Harry
Then last week, Andre at work made me a quickie copy of his Dr. Ebbetts mono SGT. PEPPER disc, and it had titles attached too. Plus, this car player does mp3 discs, so when I put all of that recent Herb Alpert special onto one disc, it displayed the folder names.
I was just surprised when I glanced down and saw "Yesterday Once" listed on the display as track 1 played.
Harry
Harry said:
MP3 discs are a good way to have a "changer" in your car, without needing more than one disc.
I had a CD changer with MP3 capabilities for awhile, and it was neat to be able to scroll through the album (folder) titles and song titles to find what I wanted. (And having 10 MP3 discs on board was like having 60-100 albums worth of music at my disposal.) While sound quality lacked on some of my discs (when I tried to cram too many files onto the disc by choosing a lower compression bitrate), it still was neat to read the titles. Not sure if it had CD Text abilities though. Like you, I probably have very few with that capability enabled. A handy feature--a shame it was never widely implemented.
Jeff
Well-Known Member
I dunno know about the rest of the nation but here in Portland SACD's have never really caught on. In fact it seems as tho selections are dwindling. I've had high hopes that CarpenterS entire catalog might see this tech but I'm not so sure that isn't a pipe dream. Is SACD hot anywhere else. Curious. The sound quality of such is so fun to hear. Anything that tweaks a C song is welcomed. Hence the many oh so many dupes in my collection. Anywho where's this new fangled thing goin or has it gone?
Jeff
Jeff
Vinylalbumcovers
Ah am so steel een luv weeth yoo
Sadly, it's not. I'm not even sure the new DualDisc has caught on too much. People seem to be quite content with stereo CD's.
Ed
Ed
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
Re-visiting an old topic. I've had the Singles SACD for awhile now but recently purchased a car with a navigation system built into the car...it came with a 7.1-channel architecture surround sound 300 watt sound system. I know that I'm still not benefiting from the SACD features but was pretty cool to find that the only official Carpenters CD that I have come across has the CD text built into the navigation display, pretty cool to see the Carpenters name, title of the CD and each track name listed while playing.
I'd also like to add that I am very impressed with this CD and although I still don't have a SACD player...in my car the surround sound in nothing short of amazing. I have been playing this all week long. It's really brought a smile to my face and a new appreciation for these tracks on this SACD.
So far this is the only official Carpenters CD that I have found with the CD text displaying. I'm still confused about what consitutes an official CD having this while most others don't. It's obvious it has nothing to do with specific years, cause this SACD was released in 2004. I tried the Carpenters Ultimate Collection 3 CD set released in 2006 and there is No CD Text. In addition Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition 2 CD set released in 2004 also has No CD Text.
So far the only Olivia official CD I have found that displays the CD text is her recent Canadian CD Grace and Gratitude released in 2006 through Walgreens stores.
I wonder if it costs alot to have studio's add this feature to current CD's. Seems it wouldn't cause I can make a CD-R from iTunes and add CD text. CDR's and MP3's are ok but I'm still from the old school and like original official CD's for the best sound possible.
I'd also like to add that I am very impressed with this CD and although I still don't have a SACD player...in my car the surround sound in nothing short of amazing. I have been playing this all week long. It's really brought a smile to my face and a new appreciation for these tracks on this SACD.
So far this is the only official Carpenters CD that I have found with the CD text displaying. I'm still confused about what consitutes an official CD having this while most others don't. It's obvious it has nothing to do with specific years, cause this SACD was released in 2004. I tried the Carpenters Ultimate Collection 3 CD set released in 2006 and there is No CD Text. In addition Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition 2 CD set released in 2004 also has No CD Text.
So far the only Olivia official CD I have found that displays the CD text is her recent Canadian CD Grace and Gratitude released in 2006 through Walgreens stores.
I wonder if it costs alot to have studio's add this feature to current CD's. Seems it wouldn't cause I can make a CD-R from iTunes and add CD text. CDR's and MP3's are ok but I'm still from the old school and like original official CD's for the best sound possible.
Apparently, from what I've learned elsewhere, CD-Text was an add-on to the standard "Red Book" design of compact discs, and was developed by Sony. Also, from what I understand, regular CD-making companies would have to pay Sony a small fee, something like 2 cents for every time they use the technology on their CDs. As a result, most companies have just avoided incurring any further costs in the manufacture of their CDs.
SACD's, by their very nature, are a product of Sony Technology, and apparently, in order to be an SACD, it has to have CD-Text on the regular CD layer.
I have very few regular CDs that use the CD Text feature - just the Carpenters SACD, the new Paul Simon compilation called THE ESSENTIAL PAUL SIMON, and a Vonda Shepard/Ally McBeal Soundtrack disc that I'm aware of.
Harry
SACD's, by their very nature, are a product of Sony Technology, and apparently, in order to be an SACD, it has to have CD-Text on the regular CD layer.
I have very few regular CDs that use the CD Text feature - just the Carpenters SACD, the new Paul Simon compilation called THE ESSENTIAL PAUL SIMON, and a Vonda Shepard/Ally McBeal Soundtrack disc that I'm aware of.
Harry
Chris-An Ordinary Fool said:
Keep in mind that if your car deck does not play the SACD layer, you won't be hearing true surround sound. Some car stereo units can do a "fake" surround when playing a CD. I know that Acura's sound systems can play multichannel DVD-Audio properly, along with Dolby Digital and DTS. Sony just came out with a multichannel SACD head unit that will play the surround layer properly. The fake surround will give you a nice fill throughout the system, but it's not true, discreet surround. (The rear channels are being "matrixed" to provide a fill effect.) Wait until you DO hear it as intended: Richard's mixes on this are very well done.
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