The Blues and the Abstract Truth: SACD vs Vinyl Shootout! (Episode 1)
Episode 1 of the SACD vs Vinyl series! Join me as I compare the Acoustic Sounds 33 RPM vinyl record (2021) with the Acoustic Sounds single-layer SACD (2023) of Oliver Nelson’s ‘The Blues and the Abstract Truth’! Ryan K. Smith mastered both of these. There is a huge difference in sound. Is one better than the other?
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Originally posted by UCjBp4-gYckboDrfxNFFAvig at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAdfJ3RzcsY
Even through YouTube, you can hear the separation on the record is better
Thanks for doing this video. I wish you also had the 2010 Kevin Gray SACD for your comparison.
9:51
When you say "the drums" are you referring to the Ride keeping the Jazz patterns or the Hi-Hats keeping time?
Or….? The Kick/Bass drum with the more mid brushes.
Only as a drummer myself I would guess the "warmer resonance" you're hearing is actually (for me) a happy accident of Vinyl playback as the SACD will actually be more true to life, in that in lows and mids, it won't suffer from micro distortion.
It's hard to explain, but in simple terms.
Have you ever watched/seen some text in a video that someone is showing, for example I just watched a TECH Moan video on a Bose system, (needless to say he was disappointed in the sound) where he shows text from the manual and I was watching in 480p and when the "Auto" video option kicked up to 1440p the text got much sharper, but somewhat smaller thus I had to lean a fraction to read what was once bigger and softer on the eye.
The same happens for me with 12" Tom's, Floors and Kicks where the bass is a little warmer or some may say "woolly" that's actually microscopic distortion and the SACD is far more likely to be 100% accurate to the original drums. But… the Vinyl will perhaps just be that little smooth and enjoyable with its "480p" bass vs SACD 1440P and with DSD 256 would be 2160p and beyond.
Great video. ????
I agree that bang for buck that presentation is lovely and the SACD is a little let down in the looks department
Looking forward to Part 2
Pretty easy comparison. One sounds like real music.. one sounds like a computer
I really enjoy your channel, although I don't usually comment. Your love for the music really comes across with great sincerity. Anyway, I just wanted to drop a comment thanking you for the amount of time and work that obviously goes into doing this type of video. I will add that I don't own an SACD player, although I have long thought about buying one. I guess that's why these types of comparisons are so interesting to me. Thanks again, please know that your work is appreciated!
Thanks for reviewing this recording, It is in my opinion one of the most iconic performances of all time. I bought the LP when it first was released and have heard it on CD and streaming services. I have large collection of Oliver Nelsons, Just a bit of an opinion – the music is superb no matter the media so this the major issue – it is great no matter the media. I have played the Oliver Nelson parts on numerous occasions and have manty of his small group and big band charts. When it gets down to playback issues I have issues. – it is the music that counts not the media or playback system. I listen on multiple systems but the music stays the same. Fussing over minor sound differences seems highly counterproductive. Yamaha monitors [that I have] are probably my worst case examples; Compared to Dynaudio or Adam Audio monitors they are miles behind, That is just personal opinion so I have no quarrel with someone who likes Yamahas. The bigger problem is so many reviewers provide sound files for comparison. A sound file will reflect whatever your speakers are not what ever speakers you are trying to compare. If you listen to a You Tube audio it will sound like whatever speaker you are using. You can't change the final "mile"
At any rate thanks for the review. Perhaps a further review of the music of Oliver Nelson would be welcome, An oft overlooked icon or modern jazz
Stolen Moments from Blues and Abstract Truth is one of those tracks that sounds WAY better than most from 1962, (or any other year…and it's a great composition). That aside, the differences between the source components used in a shootout can have big effect on how a recording sounds. It may be erroneously presumptive to claim that the differences you hear are intrinsic to the format. If you used an Esoteric K1X SE cd player you would almost certainly hear things you don't hear w/ the older Sony player. Similarly, a real state of the art turntable set up can sound different than a very good but still very expensive turntable, so you have at least two sliding variables happening outside the format comparison question. On top of that, quite a few popular analog recordings sound lousy or are just a crappy pressing of a good recording. It's also true that analog recordings often have been poorly transferred into a cd release. This can lead you to falsely conclude that the recording or the format as a whole sucks. You get another curveball when you start comparing SACD discs to 16 bit redbook discs… many redbook cds sound better than most SACD recordings. Sometimes CDs sound better than vinyl and vice versa. There's no generalization that you can really count on when you're trying to get the best sounding recording available.
Very interesting video, Matthew. I have that marvellous album on cd: Impulse label is an excellet guarantee of quality. I didn't spend my money on vinyl too. (Madrid, Spain)
Thank you for the SACD attention, they rarely get any real reviews or comparisons. I have both analog and digital components, and I listen to high quality releases in both formats. I have collected SACDs for many years. I assume it will be like any other comparison; the recording/mix/mastering will make or break the overall experience, and your system/room, etc. BUT it's so rare to get the SACD love, that I truly look forward to any future vids. I would really like to see you do versions of both formats where the release is the same. i.e. comparing the analog production Atlantic series. Or both versions of the new Miles Davis Blue release coming out soon. Or the same mofi release in both formats. I often think that the 30-dollar SACD is good enough hi-res, better than red book CD, and less hassle than vinyl. in the case of MOFI, where a one step is cut from DSD, and costs 125 dollars, why not just get the source that the vinyl was cut from…considering the price difference, maybe your reviews will revel why. Thanks again for the SACD attention.
Does your SACD player actually playback/process the DSD layer, or does it convert to PCM?