Search - Duran Duran :: Astronaut (Hybr)

Finally,a new SACD from Sony!!!

Philip A.Cohen | Bay Harbor Islands, Florida United States | 03/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As fans of SACD & DVD-Audio know,American labels have drastically curtailed their support for SACD & DVD-Audio,due to an unreasonable stance by BMI,ASCAP & the song publishers,which means that record companies have to pay out three full mechanical royalties per song on a surround sound hybrid SACD,and six full mechanical royalties per song on a surround sound DVD-Audio.Sony is contuining their SACD series,but barely."Duran Duran-Astronaut" & "Roger Waters-Ca Ira" are American Sony's only SACD releases for 2005.Now onto this disc.Duran Duran seemed to have defied the usual rock n'roll jinx,and produced a reunion album where the group seems to have come back musically stronger than they were originally.The album is free of filler,something that you couldn't say for some of the group's vintage EMI albums.The surround sound mix makes extensive use of the rear channels,with interesting panning effects on Nick Rhodes' keyboards,but in some ways the surround mix suffers from being done by an engineer not involved in the original stereo mix.This surround mix is much darker than the stereo,with less high frequency content.The sound should sparkle,but doesn't,due to dull equalization.Still,let's show Sony that we DO want more SACD's.If you're equiped for SACD,buy this disc.Duran Duran's music is obviously more palatable than Sony's only other recent SACD:a classical opera by ex-Pink Floyd bassist/vocalist Roger Waters!"

Is Sony nailing the coffin on SACDs?

M. Svetinsky | Los Angeles | 04/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I've bought "Astronaut" 3 times now... I love the album (thanks Duran) but I hate the surround mix (thanks Sony). I purchased the DualDisc earlier, not realizing that the 5.1 mix was in Dolby Digital, and of course, blamed the "bad sound" on that. But now after purchasing the SACD, i realize that this really is just a bad sounding mix. The Stereo CD mix is far superior than either of the stereo or 5.1 SACD mixes. I mean really! What is Sony doing? Does anyone over there actually listen to the product? Are they intentionally sabotaging the format?



I don't know, but they must be very happy that i bought Astronaut 3 times! But I'm NOT very happy, and as a lover of hi-resolution audio and 5.1 mixes, I'm very frustrated. Some good stuff is out there, but very little here in the U.S. The new Talking Heads discs are amazing! I bought the whole box. And I'd love to hear the new Moody Blues discs.... but not for $35 each.



SO.... if you don't own "Astronaut", i highly recommend getting this hybrid SACD. It's a great Duran Duran album... but don't buy it a 2nd time."