Super Audio Sempler

A sampler released by Sony Music in the Netherlands. One of the best samplers of early Sony releases out there, with a portion – but not all – of the tracks in multichannel.
EU Sony Music 2001 promo 20-track sampler 2CD in foldout digipak. Includes: Perfect Sense Part 1 + 2 by Roger Waters.

This album is the perfect opportunity for you, not only to sample the best music from a selection of Linn Records’ artists but to also sample the delightful sound quality of the new Super Audio CD format.
The album is packed full with some of the very best vocal and instrumental material, featuring classical, folk and instrumental jazz. Martin Taylor’s instrumental jazz version of Johnny and Mary deserves full marks – this is one classy piece of music.

The sound quality of this CD recording is fantastic, as it should be. The primary reason that I only gave it a four star rating over a five stars, is the fact that I am unfamilar with many selections, and I thought it would have a 50-50 mix of Real Jazz and Smooth Jazz. Otherwise, this SACD is really great, and I would recommend it to other lovers of Real Jazz music.

FELICIANO: A Name That is Synonymous with music. It is synonymous with an international presence that has influenced popular music for more than two generations. It is synonymous with a presence that has bridged musical styles in a way that has never been equaled. Jose Feliciano is recognized as the first Latin Artist to cross over into the English music market, opening the doors for other artists who now play an important role in the American music industry. As importantly, Feliciano has been acclaimed by critics around the world as "The greatest living guitarist"…

These CDs serve their purpose well offering complete movements or sections of recordings available on Pentatone. The only listing of contents is on the back jewel-box cover; the booklet(s) are actually catalogs of what is available in the format. Each CD is given a full page in the booklet with complete track listings and performer informtion. I'm surprised each of the CD booklets doesn't list all of the multi-channel recordings (both new and RQR) on the label. One features excerpts from new multi-channel recordings; the most impressive sonically are those by the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, New Dutch Academy, Russian National Orchestra and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Dvorak/Tchaikovsky coupling. All of these are 5 channel recordings (left/right, front and rear, and center front).

I have never been much of a classical music fan (on recorded music anyway) but hearing this Fone recording it actually makes sense for the 1st time! Listening to the SACD layer the music has striking 3-dimentional naturality but more importantly, PASSION! I have never felt that classical music had passion in a CD recording, & I always felt vinyl had too low SNR for classical music. The difference between the SACD & CD layer is quite obvious, & not subtle like on some discs. Listening to the CD layer (which is very good for a CD) results in a massive loss of coherence & passion – just the reason I never enjoyed classical on CD.