New Releases

[relm1]

How do you like the BIS SACD? I remember playing that one for my parents and in the slow birdsong movement of "Pines," they said to turn the volume up because they couldn't hear...then the final march started and the windows rattled 

Don't you need surround sound to hear SACD?  I might have this confused with something else but I thought if you only have stereo speakers, you won't ever hear SACD because the standard stereo layer would play instead (but again, I might not be right).  I love the modern BIS and Chandos sound though.  Very clean and tight sound and probably have a slight preference for BIS.

[Brian]

Don't you need surround sound to hear SACD?  I might have this confused with something else but I thought if you only have stereo speakers, you won't ever hear SACD because the standard stereo layer would play instead (but again, I might not be right).  I love the modern BIS and Chandos sound though.  Very clean and tight sound and probably have a slight preference for BIS.

No, that is right, if you don't have surround sound and an SACD capable player, it is just a regular CD with high quality sound. Except in a few very rare circumstances where the SACD does NOT have a CD layer.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

No, that is right, if you don't have surround sound and an SACD capable player, it is just a regular CD with high quality sound. Except in a few very rare circumstances where the SACD does NOT have a CD layer.

We've probably forgotten the differences between Hybrid-SACD and SACD.  You can play a hybrid on anything.  A SACD only on an SACD player. 

PD

[71 dB]

Don't you need surround sound to hear SACD?

No, althou multi-channel sound is the real benefit of SACD as a format compared to CD. Typically SACD discs contain three "layers":

1) CD layer => plays as a regular stereo CD in any CD player
2) Stereo SACD layer => playable only on a SACD player
3) Multichannel SACD layer => playable only on a SACD player, typically 5.0 or 5.1 sound

This kind of discs are called "hybrid" discs and practically almost all SACD releases are like this. The early SACDs tended to have only SACD layer and are not playable on CD player. BIS has some (one?) special release(s) with only stereo SACD layer all bits allocated to store 5 CDs worth of music on just one disc, but this is extremely rare.

I might have this confused with something else but I thought if you only have stereo speakers, you won't ever hear SACD because the standard stereo layer would play instead (but again, I might not be right).  I love the modern BIS and Chandos sound though.  Very clean and tight sound and probably have a slight preference for BIS.

It depends on how you configure your system. I can tell my Blu-ray player which supports SACD to play any of the layers I want (SACD priority: Multi-Channel / Stereo / CD). That said Stereo SACD layer doesn't give you relevant sound quality advantage over CD layer so it doesn't matter much which one you play.

Modern BIS is truly extremely good in this regard and the care they take recording the multichannel sound for these releases show also on the stereo side: Quality downmixed is still quality. 

[Mandryka]

[Madiel]

Modern BIS is truly extremely good in this regard and the care they take recording the multichannel sound for these releases show also on the stereo side: Quality downmixed is still quality. 

Indeed, in my experience, hybrid SACDs (not necessarily BIS, actually I think I have a couple of Da Capo ones) are amongst some of the best-sounding discs on my CD player.

[The new erato]

I tend to think that the extra care I suppose is given to recording what is planned to be released as a SACD is the main reason for SACDs generally sounding better than many CDs.

[71 dB]

Indeed, in my experience, hybrid SACDs (not necessarily BIS, actually I think I have a couple of Da Capo ones) are amongst some of the best-sounding discs on my CD player.

I mentioned BIS, because it's the label perhaps most dedicated to SACD releases, but yes, other labels release awesome sounding  SACDs too.

[amw]

No Hewitt 106/111 this year? Sad.

edit: according to her website, she will have to take "many more months" to finish learning the Hammerklavier. I feel you sister.

[Todd]

No Hewitt 106/111 this year? Sad.

edit: according to her website, she will have to take "many more months" to finish learning the Hammerklavier. I feel you sister.

Many could be 3-4 months, or perhaps she will go for a complete piano works set and take until 2027 to release everything.

[Brian]

If Angela Hewitt is anything like me, she's waking up every morning now, thinking "I should learn the Hammerklavier today," and then farting around on the internet being in her pajamas until 3pm instead.

[amw]

Many could be 3-4 months, or perhaps she will go for a complete piano works set and take until 2027 to release everything.

The variations disc is scheduled for October so I would not be surprised if the last volume of the piano sonatas came out in 2021-22. 2027 will probably be when Hyperion issues them as a limited edition box set.

If Angela Hewitt is anything like me, she's waking up every morning now, thinking "I should learn the Hammerklavier today," and then farting around on the internet being in her pajamas until 3pm instead.

To be fair, that is a concert pianist's normal schedule if you substitute 12:30pm for "morning".

[Todd]

The variations disc is scheduled for October so I would not be surprised if the last volume of the piano sonatas came out in 2021-22. 2027 will probably be when Hyperion issues them as a limited edition box set.

Yeah, but if she's gonna miss the anniversary year, she should throw in the Diabellis and Bagatelles at least, and really all the other solo works.  Perhaps the Violin Sonatas, too, so Hyperion can include those and the Cello Sonatas in the 2027 box.  Maybe the concertos, as well.

[amw]

Yeah, but if she's gonna miss the anniversary year, she should throw in the Diabellis and Bagatelles at least, and really all the other solo works.  Perhaps the Violin Sonatas, too, so Hyperion can include those and the Cello Sonatas in the 2027 box.  Maybe the concertos, as well.

I would have no problem with this idea.

[Brian]

Yeah, but if she's gonna miss the anniversary year, she should throw in the Diabellis and Bagatelles at least, and really all the other solo works.  Perhaps the Violin Sonatas, too, so Hyperion can include those and the Cello Sonatas in the 2027 box.  Maybe the concertos, as well.

Looking at the Hyperion artist roster ... Ibragimova and Gerhardt for the hypothetical chamber music?

[Todd]

Looking at the Hyperion artist roster ... Ibragimova and Gerhardt for the hypothetical chamber music?

She recorded the Cello Sonatas with Daniel Müller-Schott.  She's also paired with him on Orfeo.

[Maestro267]

It might be covid-related, but I've noticed release dates for discs these days are very often near the end of the release month. In which case they might as well be considered releases for the following month.

[71 dB]

Most Hybrid SACDs have three programs. Surround Sound DSD, Stereo DSD and Stereo 44.1/16 PCM (the "CD" layer). You can listen to the high res, 2 channel DSD program with a 2 channel amplifier. I think SACD is worth it if you have a surround sound system. I have never heard a difference between the 2 channel DSD and CD layers.

That's how it is. 44.1 kHz / 16 bit digital audio is practically transparent to human ears and all discussions of the "lack of transparency" are theoretical in nature and the differencies between 44.1/16 and "higher resolution" formats tend to dissappear in blind listening tests. People do hear differences in hi-res audio and 44.1/16, but that's because of different masters where used. However, in a SACD discs all of the layers are from the same master, stereo versions are just downmixed and that's it. That's why 2 channel DSD and CD layers are audibly "identical."

That said, as has been stated here, SACD releases tend to be recorded and produced with extra care so even the stereo layers offer often excellent sound and SACDs are often great purchases even if you only use a CD-player to listen to them.

[aukhawk]

edit: according to her website, she will have to take "many more months" to finish learning the Hammerklavier. I feel you sister.

Always keep 'em wanting more, that's this woman's motto.

[Kontrapunctus]

Depending on the sampling rate of the master recording, SACDs can potentially offer a higher sampling rate for playback than CDs. 24/96 is common now, as opposed to the old 16/44.1 sampling rate, but it has to be downsampled for CD release. Some companies use 24/192, and a few record natively in DSD, usually at 64x the resolution of PCM--none of those sampling rates require downsampling for SACD releases. I believe 64x is the limit for an SACD, but hi-res files have resolution up to 512x that of a CD! (Assuming it was recorded at that resolution and not simply upsampled.)