Taking Sides : The Stones on SACD vs not.

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The album "Their satanic majesties" has been out on SACD for a while, £15 or thereabouts. Recently, some 'normal' remastered CDs have been issued for £7. Now, "Sat" is nothing if not psychedelical, so is it worth it for the extra sound?

You have to have a SACD player, right?

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 27 January 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

― .ada.m. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 27 January 2005 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I got Let it Bleed and it's not much cop. I got "Dark side of the moon" just to see how good SACD was, and it is great sounding, but Dark side of the moon has been remixed to take advantage of 5.1, whereas Let it Bleed hasn't, it just sounds a bit better... Maybe. I don't think it was worth it.

And yes, you do need an SACD player.

― KeithW (kmw), Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

these remasters sound amazing regardless of whether you have the SACD player or not. This was most noticable to me on Hot Rocks w/ "Time is On My Side" even in my old car with the world's shittiest stereo; everything is so crisp and bright. I can't imagine how good these sound on a SACD player. I say buy them. The only dumb thing was not just combining the UK and US editions.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I presume these are hybrid discs? So the cheap reissues (like with Dylan) are the CD layer taken off the SACD release? I'd probably go for the cheap CD in every case where there's no 5.1 mix available on the SACD.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

a 5.1 mix? This is no use to a DVD player, right?

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Mark, new Sony DVD players appear to play SACDs too; at least, mine does. It won't work in a standard DVD player though.

Mike, I think they're hybrid disks. I'd look if it weren't for my injury right now.

― KeithW (kmw), Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Recently, some 'normal' remastered CDs have been issued for £7.

Erm, can't seem to find these online. Links?

― Bumfluff, Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:45 (twenty-one years ago)

For what it's worth, much as they're great quality I think SACDs will wind up sitting next to the pile of Betamax tapes ultimately.

― KeithW (kmw), Thursday, 27 January 2005 17:50 (twenty-one years ago)

**I presume these are hybrid discs? So the cheap reissues (like with Dylan) are the CD layer taken off the SACD release**

Mike, no - these will be the releases from about 1995ish that are marked 'remastered' but are pretty rub. Many places are selling them cheap.

Mark - get the SACD ones - if you shop around you will be able to get them for £10, I'd say and it's worth it. I haven't got Satanic, but I have Between The Buttons, which was unlistenable in the old version, Metamorphosis and Aftermath and they sound fantastic.

However - a few of the old ones sound good e.g Beggars Banquet.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 27 January 2005 20:55 (twenty-one years ago)

bounce

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 28 January 2005 10:40 (twenty-one years ago)

thanks for the bounce, I'd have not seen it otherwise.

The 'non' SACD versions were in Fopp for seven pounds and the SACD ones £15 or thereabouts. (i.e. not the bargain section). They are both 'new'. I believe Neil Young has done a similar simultaneous release of his greatest hits like this, the difference being £2 in this case...

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 28 January 2005 10:59 (twenty-one years ago)

They are very worth it even without the SACD layer, I think. I have Hot Rocks in the old rubbish version, and the three-disc singles collection in the SACD remaster. They're dual-layer so they work in normal CD players, and the sound really is hugely improved when I've listened to the common tracks to both back-to-back.

― haitch-man (haitch), Friday, 28 January 2005 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

MArk, are you sure they're both NEW? I thought there was only ONE version of the 2002 SACD versions. They either work as SACD if you have an SACD player or as 'better sound quality' CDs in an ordinary player.

Are you 100% sure that the non SACD ones are not the mid 90's editions? They look like THIS : http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00006RT4T.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg (All have the 'digitally remastered from...' black and red blurb across the bottom of the booklet.

Amazon seems to be doing the SACD ones for between 10.99 and 12.99.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 28 January 2005 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, positive. I checked again this lunchtime. PCM or PCD remasters. Same artwork (though not digipak) as the SACD's. In Fopp. Under Stones, Rolling. The non PCx versions are £5.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 28 January 2005 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Blimey! At £7, I'd go for these.

As an aside Between The Buttons is clearly the Rolling Stones's absolute best. The Stones at their least Stones-like with the least *swagger*, which ought to be crap because the Stones DEFINE swagger, but....it's fabulously *worried*, which works.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 28 January 2005 15:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I think the improved quality is most noticable on the pre-67 tracks.

― earlnash, Friday, 28 January 2005 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

As I suggested above, they also did this with the Dylan reissues: first, digipak hybrid SACDs at full-price; then, jewel-case PCM-layer-off-the-SACD CDs at mid-price.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 28 January 2005 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah I know they did it with the Dylan series, but I didn't know they'd done it with the Stones.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 28 January 2005 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't know they'd done that with the Dylan remasters. I've bought a couple of the SACD hybrids even though I don't have an SACD player, just to get the remastered sound on the regular CD version, but now that they're releasing the remastered regular CDs by themselves, I would get those instead.

For instance, Amazon has three versions of Highway 61 Revisited on CD: $13.99 for the hybrid SACD, $10.99 for the remastered regular CD, $7.59 for the regular CD with the old mastering job.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 28 January 2005 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't know they'd done that with the Dylan remasters.

My pedantry was not in vain! (Sorry, Dr C).

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Friday, 28 January 2005 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

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