Dylan SACD Hybrids

[jpmosu]

I'm curious if anybody has an interest in the new Dylan re-issues.

I picked up 4 this week (Highway 61, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, and Nashville Skyline). The packaging's similar to the Stones re-masters (which I'm not wild about), but the music sounds pretty good to me. (I do wish, however, that they'd released Blonde on Blonde on a single disk.)

Of course, 2 of the 4 I never owned on CD--not to mention that I'm far from an audiophile--so here are my real questions:

Does the whole project seem worthwhile to you? Is $17 (or so) a fair price for reissues with no extra tracks? Has Bob Dylan, inc. gouged its consumers? Or even re-released the wrong titles? (No *Times They are a-Changin,'* for example.)

john

[Adam]

I will probably pick up a few that I don't own, but won't do any replacing for now. Amazon is carrying them for 13.99 or 14.99, and I can't see paying more than that, although I noticed that most retailers seem to have them at 16.99.

But they really should have included a bonus something in each disc. Any new liner notes?

[Claude]

Hi John, there had already been a discussion on the Dylan SACDs earlier. Check this thread:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...?showtopic=1934

[RDK]

Tower has them all for $13.99 each. BOB is a buck more (it's on 2 CDs rather than 1 because Sony felt they could include stereo redbook, stereo SACD, and 5.1 SACD without compromising the sound).

I haven't heard them yet, though early reports are that these sound very nice. Are they worth the upgrade? Well, do you feel that the RVGs are worth the upgrade? Personally I'm looking forward to the new surround mixes (yes, I have an SACD player). I'll be getting some but not all of these - at least the ones I don't already have on CD.

[kulu se mama]

has anyone found a good price for the complete sacd box.

if so, please post it.

[DrJ]

I'll be taking the plunge on some of these. Personally, I don't enjoy spending all my time trying to track down really pristine vinyl, and I'm also a cheap bastard when it comes to shelling out large amounts of cash for a truly high-end turntable. So SACD makes good sense to me as a format I can have fun with for titles that I feel are truly indispensible classics (I'm not planning to upgrade my whole collection or even a substantial portion of it, that much I can tell you) - it sounds better, to my ears, than standard CD in just about all cases I've done comparisons on, even with a player and set up that is distinctly middlebrow. So I'll pick up HIGHWAY 61 and BLONDE ON BLONDE for sure, and probably a couple others.

[jazzbo]

I wish Planet Waves had been on the list. . .that is the one Dylan cd I really want to have. I'll wait a little longer and see if it is in a near future batch.

[J.A.W.]

CDUniverse is selling them for $13.29, BOB for $13.99 and the box set for $174.99 at the moment.

Amazon UK is selling most Dylan SACDs for £9.99, which might be interesting for European board members.

[Quincy]

I wish Planet Waves had been on the list. . .that is the one Dylan cd I really want to have. - Jazzbo

You get your wish! According to http://www.bobdylan.com/index.html it's on the list.

Looks like Deep Discount CD is getting beaten on price for a change, at least on the box. $209.98, and even though CD Universe charges for shipping I'm pretty sure CD Universe wins.

Individual releases are hovering between $13.83 & $13.97 at Deep Discount with free shipping. They do deliver but patience always when buying from them.

[jazzbo]

Yeah, I just looked up the box set, saw it was in there, and then looked up the individual hybrid. Cool. I hadn't seen it listed earlier before. Thanks.

[TomNYC]

I picked up "Nashville Skyline" and "Another Side.." on Tuesday. To my ears (and I'm only listening to the standard CD format), there isn't a *massive* sound upgrade. The sound is nice but there are no surprises. Not only that, I feel like the packaging is really weak. For such a major reissue program, couldn't Sony splurge for some decent liner notes (e.g. the Byrds reissues)?

[GregK]

I wish Planet Waves had been on the list. . .that is the one Dylan cd I really want to have. I'll wait a little longer and see if it is in a near future batch.

I had the Planet Waves SACD in my hand today at Best Buy but put it back for Blood on the Tracks instead, Unbelievably there are no new liner notes. Why not I'll never understand. The CD sound is good (haven't checked the SACD yet) but it is kind of a rip-off, $14.99 with nothing new, just remastered sound and flimsy packaging

[jazzbo]

Thanks for the info Greg. I don't have Planet Waves on cd at all; I have a very best vinyl that wouldn't be any good for transferring.. .. .. .. I really like that one. I have pretty decent viyl of the others that I might want.

[Jazzdog]

Well, I almost immediately picked up BoB and BIABH as upgrades and Tracks because I have never owned it before. After that, I think I will wait on these until I can get them at a better price, or ask for a bunch of them for Christmas. I think I can wait that long as there are only about 4 or 5 others I really want to get. The SACD thing for me is a big bonus because, well I've had the same CD changer for almost 10 years now, and my next deck will be SACD/DVD-A/etc compatible. So why not start thinking about the future now!

[Tjazz]

Maybe BEAR FAMILY will put out a complete Bob Dylan box set. A complete COLUMBIA set would probably only be about 10 (80 minute) CDs.

Anyway, isn't the future going to be with MP3's of his entire catalog? Maybe all of his songs can be put on 2 CDRs in MP3 format?

[wolff]

if you want digital, you want digital but analog dylan is NOT expensive and i'll bet even a properly set up music hall mm2 + sundazed mono cuts ANY sacd if you put it in/out of the same system... consider too that you'd be hard pressed to pay more than $10 for a clean used copy of almost all those records and vinyl is the working man's choice. remember, even the worst selling dylan side has more copies in circulation than anything but "kind of blue," "a love supreme," "take five" etc.

I've bought all the vinyl re-issues from Sundazed and have enjoyed them very much.

I have not sprung for the pricey Classic Records titles.

[Parkertown]

Hey you guys,

The best price for the complete box is at redtrumpet. Rick there is active at the Steve Hoffman board and has offered an additional discount throught that board. They are offering the set for $191, but if you add the words "Great White Wonder" to the "Comments" box during your checkout, they will subtract an additional $1 per title, so an extra $15 off to make it $176. That's what I did, just Wednesday night. The discount doesn't show up on the checkout, but you WILL receive the discount by the time they charge you. They've shipped initial orders but have sold out of their initial stock; more is arriving next week. So I'm patiently waiting...

Go get 'em...

Oh P.S. Plus, you get free shipping!

Edited September 19, 2003 by Parkertown

[kulu se mama]

now that does sound like quite a deal.

cd universe is very similar (175 + 7 shipping), and they take paypal.

[GregK]

I am very tempted by this. I haven't listened to much Dylan in about 5 years or so (my old college roommate was a Dylan fanatic and I would hear him CONSTANTLY- and not the good stuff either, but lots of Knocked Out Loaded, etc.) but this box contains some gems. I'm going to have to see what my credit card can handle after I buy the Jack Johnson box!

[Tjazz]

The old Bob Dylan catalog should be priced at about $10/disc. This is old music.

[DrJ]

I picked up the BLONDE ON BLONDE hybrid 2 CD set this past weekend. To my ears it is LOADS improved compared to the old CD and also compared with my vinyl copy. It's got a bit of that Sony/Legacy shrillness on the high end, but the clarity, definition, and degree of separation between instruments is way improved on both the regular CD and SACD layers, and the expanded dynamic range of the SACD is quite lovely. A winner, on sale now at Tower.

[jazzbo]

I picked up the Planet Waves cd. It was great to sit and listen to this music again, I really love his collaborations with the Band, and I have bought no Dylan cds before, so this was a nostalgic joy. . . .

Still, I expected the sound to be better. I still remember the lp warmth and how it sounds on a cassette tape I have. It's not there on the cd which sounds very good but not completely satisfying to me (I have nothing to playback the SACD layer now or for the forseeable near future). . . Ah well. I'll get over that slight disappointment in the sound and enjoy the music again and again I believe.

[jpmosu]

I picked up the Planet Waves cd. It was great to sit and listen to this music again, I really love his collaborations with the Band, and I have bought no Dylan cds before, so this was a nostalgic joy. . . .

Still, I expected the sound to be better. I still remember the lp warmth and how it sounds on a cassette tape I have. It's not there on the cd which sounds very good but not completely satisfying to me (I have nothing to playback the SACD layer now or for the forseeable near future). . . Ah well. I'll get over that slight disappointment in the sound and enjoy the music again and again I believe.

I've always loved this session, too. The first side of this album is as loose and infectious as any Dylan, ever. Despite some lyrical clunkers (e.g., the sun being "hotter than a crotch" on "Tough Mama"), this is a very under-rated record.

As far as the sound goes, I've resigned myself to the fact that Sony can only do so much with many of these recordings, which is a funtion of Dylan's reportedly indifferent attitude toward the studio in general. An interesting exception might be *Oh Mercy,* a typically atmospheric Daniel Lanois production. But I don't like the songs enough to pick up the re-issue.

john

[RDK]

Yeah, the sound of these remasters is highly dependant on the quality of the master tapes... and Dylan's been known to be eccentric in the studio. So far I've heard BOB and Slow Train - and both sound superb. The only one that's been getting some bad press is Desire, though it's still reportedly an improvement over the older version.

[AfricaBrass]

I've only been able to pick up Blonde On Blonde and I'm really happy with it. Truthfully, I'd never really understood why this album was so popular. I had the old Mastersound gold cd and it was pretty bright sounding. This new remaster has really made me a fan of this album. I'm listening to it right now.