HiRez Poll Joel, Billy - 52ND STREET [SACD]

[Quad Linda]

10. I agree with the center channel comments. Still, the music is so great, and the mix is one of the most tasteful EVER, it HAD to be 10. I love that his band is often across the fronts. The rears are often left for horns and background singers. A brilliant mix!

 

[kap'n krunch]

a 9er for me.
Great mix, music is the -1..some filler stuff in here....but the good ones make up for the bad ones...
SACD...liking this medium less and less every day....

 

[edisonbaggins]

Huh. My center channel is loud and clear on this one. I wouldn't change a thing. This mix smokes. And such a great album too. Well worth diggin in past the hits.

 

[key_wiz]

One of my favorite BJ albums. Maybe my favorite of all. Didn't get quite as overplayed as "The Stranger". Unlike others here, I'm not wild about the surround mix. I have to bring down the center a couple of db and I don't like the mix as much as "The Stranger". And a tough one to get ahold of these days. But it's certainly very good. A "9".

 

[Eggplant]

Unlike others here, I'm not wild about the surround mix.

What are your complaints?

 

[GOS]

What are your complaints?

I'd say he IS pretty wild about this mix...he voted a 9. :banana:

 

[key_wiz]

What are your complaints?

Vocals too hot at least on my system. I dont think the rears are as active as they could be. And overall I find the stereo more punchy and lively.

 

[key_wiz]

I'd say he IS pretty wild about this mix...he voted a 9. :banana:

I'm just so damned glad to have finally found a copy of it!

 

[djstephan]

Excellent deal for anyone who doesn't have it...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/52nd-Stree...hash=item1c9d12ac1e:m:mLv_E9CPseL_r2JHMC9RIDg

 

[sjcorne]

Excellent deal for anyone who doesn't have it...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/52nd-Stree...hash=item1c9d12ac1e:m:mLv_E9CPseL_r2JHMC9RIDg

That really was a deal! I hope one of us got it. Easily one of the best Sony 5.1 discs.

I paid around $50 for a sealed copy a few years back. It's one of the european versions with different packaging. My copy of JB- Blow By Blow is like that too.

https://www.discogs.com/Billy-Joel-52nd-Street/release/8497519

 

[privateuniverse]

Snowed in today..... Decided to pull this one out as I haven't played it for ages.

Content-wise, the album is a 10. OK, maybe a couple of tracks not as strong as the others, but Billy was on a real winning streak in the 70's. All six of the albums he released in that decade are incredibly strong.

Mix-wise, it is nice, but I can't rate it a 10. Discrete use of the rears but too subtle in too many places. It does have a very nice soundstage though. Things pick up in the second half of the album. "Stiletto" and "Rosalinda's Eyes" have some real nice things going on in the mix. My favorite track on the album, "Until the Night", is thankfully also the nicest mix here. The strings building up in the rears are very powerful.

On the whole though, while listening to it I couldn't help but thinking how much more glorious it could have been in Elliot Scheiner's hands. The mix is certainly nice enough, but also could be improved on. I will certainly be coming back to it again.

Going with a 9.

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

So, is it OK to talk about/ vote for the 40th Anniversary SACD here? Technically it's a different disc, but it's the same 5.1 mix, right?

 

[edisonbaggins]

So, is it OK to talk about/ vote for the 40th Anniversary SACD here? Technically it's a different disc, but it's the same 5.1 mix, right?

What you got to say, brothuh?! I suppose it's possible that the mastering is different, no?!

 

[4-earredwonder]

What you got to say, brothuh?! I suppose it's possible that the mastering is different, no?!

Mike, according to Brian Moura [bmoura], SONY Japan did install a QUAD DSD [DSD256] mastering chain* recently so I would assume the mastering was different and indeed, it sounds incredible on my system [but haven't yet compared it to my older SONY mch SACD].

That 7" packaging, BTW, is FANTASTIC!

*https://dsd-guide.com/what-quad-dsd-check-out-few-releases#.W_zIPi-ZMUE

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Mike, according to Brian Moura [bmoura], SONY Japan did install a QUAD DSD [DSD256] mastering chain* recently so I would assume the mastering was different and indeed, it sounds incredible on my system [but haven't yet compared it to my older SONY mch SACD].

That 7" packaging, BTW, is FANTASTIC!

*https://dsd-guide.com/what-quad-dsd-check-out-few-releases#.W_zIPi-ZMUE

Desperately seeking assessment on these two before I drop coin!

 

[sjcorne]

Desperately seeking assessment on these two before I drop coin!

I like 'em. The surround mixes are a bit conservative, but there's definitely stuff happening in the rears (saxophone and backing vocals in "Movin' Out", orchestra in "Until The Night", electric guitars in "Stiletto" and "Zanzibar", etc). Plus it's really cool to hear Billy's vocals isolated in the center.

They're definitely worth picking up, but - unless you've gotta have the 7" inch packing - there are cheaper options out there. The Stranger on 5.1 SACD has been reissued at least three times (2001 Columbia Single-Layer MCH, 2017 Sony Hong Kong Single-Layer MCH, 2018 Sony Japan 7" Hybrid MCH).

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I like 'em. The surround mixes are a bit conservative, but there's definitely stuff happening in the rears (saxophone and backing vocals in "Movin' Out", orchestra in "Until The Night", electric guitars in "Stiletto" and "Zanzibar", etc). Plus it's really cool to hear Billy's vocals isolated in the center.

They're definitely worth picking up, but - unless you've gotta have the 7" inch packing - there are cheaper options out there. The Stranger on 5.1 SACD has been reissued at least three times (2001 Columbia Single-Layer MCH, 2017 Sony Hong Kong Single-Layer MCH, 2018 Sony Japan 7" Hybrid MCH).

My point exactly, does one sound any better than the others due to mastering?

 

[sjcorne]

My point exactly, does one sound any better than the others due to mastering?

I doubt it. Jon put up waveforms from both here and they look identical to me.

 

[marpow]

J-Pup, I would buy the 7" Japanese, sounds fantastic, good price, easy to order, you really can't go wrong. If you take what Jonathan says above your going to be put in a position of super critical listening comparing the two and that's no fun, maybe it is, part of our hobby is critical listening but I think with these two and the info above it points to the 7" SACD.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I doubt it. Jon put up waveforms from both here and they look identical to me.

J-Pup, I would buy the 7" Japanese, sounds fantastic, good price, easy to order, you really can't go wrong. If you take what Jonathan says above your going to be put in a position of super critical listening comparing the two and that's no fun, maybe it is, part of our hobby is critical listening but I think with these two and the info above it points to the 7" SACD.

Ha Ha - I respect both of you guys' opinion - right back were I started - Oh Bother