Search - Journey :: Escape (Dig) (Mlps)

First Impressions

Steve | 08/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Most of the other reviews that I have read about this version of the Escape CD focus on how great the music is and what it meant to the people listening to it which is of course great. One of the reason we listen to music is because it makes us feel something and brings back memories. I agree with all the reviews that I read but I will focus a bit on the actual technical, musical quality of this recording. Please keep in mind this review is based on my first listen of the SACD. Upon first playing the disc I was impressed but not as blown away as you might think listening to an SACD remaster of a classic album like this. According to the liner notes it is a 22 Bit remaster using Sony's SMB (Super Bit Mapping) transfer technology and then of course encoded to SACD. As someone who has never owned this album on anything but LP I have to say that this is a very detailed recording but a little on the bright side. Good imaging, okay soundstaging-not as broad as I would have liked, the guitars sounded very smooth and natural, vocals the same, but again a little on the bright side. Nothing a notch down on the treble wouldn't cure. All the guitar solos we know and love sound great and very clean. This SACD doesn't sound as "fat" with regards to the overall bass presentation. It is a bit lean as compared to the LP which has more "bloom" around the instruments, more air. Overall, this is a great remaster of a 1981 album but it is not perfect. If you have an SACD player it is worth it to get. Remember though, it is the songs and the memories that really matter."

SACD sounds great

Darryl Melander | Albuquerque, NM USA | 01/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just wanted to say that the SACD version of this album sounds great. Some SACDs don't sound all that different from the CD version, but this one is a noticeable improvement over its redbook counterpart. There's no multi-channel, just stereo that sounds exactly like it's supposed to. The album itself is one of my life-long favorites, but I assume if you're considering the SACD you already know the music so I won't go into detail."

SACD Stereo -- NOT 5.1

Paul C. Kermis | Rochester, NY, USA | 10/19/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If you have a SACD Player it's probably an analog 5.1 Multichannel. This is a SACD and will only play on a SACD player, but it's stereo only. What good is that!!! The standard CD sounds much better when you play it in a digital 5.1 or 7.1 stereo mode. With this stereo SACD, you are forced to listen to it in 2 channel stereo. YUCK, what a disappointment!! I didn't even know that they offered SACDs in stereo."