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Discussion: Steve Winwood: Arc of a Diver

Posts: 10

Post by hooperthom May 13, 2014 (1 of 10)
Explain to me how 2 people can have such different review star ratings for this disc. I bought it anyways but something sure isn't right and really not fair to others with such different opinion.

Post by rammiepie May 13, 2014 (2 of 10)
hooperthom said:

Explain to me how 2 people can have such different review star ratings for this disc. I bought it anyways but something sure isn't right and really not fair to others with such different opinion.

My copy is still en route from CDJapan and I, too, was perplexed by the polar opposite reviews which just goes to show that ALL reviews are subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt.

At least the second reviewer did point out that Arc is a FLAT transfer, sounded a bit bright (to his ears, at least) but was an altogether satisfying experience.........one which I hope to have once I receive the disc.

Post by sgb June 8, 2014 (3 of 10)
Since my aging ears can't hear high frequencies, the fact that one reviewer describes its brightness is of no importance to me. The price is, however, and I just can't imagine this one might be worth $60.

Post by hooperthom June 8, 2014 (4 of 10)
Just received this disc and its not bad at all, too me, I think it should have added a little more bass. Needs to be played more times.

42 dollars plus shipping.

Post by jackan June 8, 2014 (5 of 10)
The two reviews kind of cancel each other out, neither of them a good entry to judge by. We need more information.

The worst is only defined by one word, "horrible". Which gives us not that much information. The other is suspect simply by the fact that he thought he needed to "break in" the CD. This is ludicrous, and almost voids his opinion completely. If he had simply said he listened a few times casually, to aquaint himself with the new format, that would have flown with me. But to think that a digital format needs breaking in, too over the top to fly with me.

Maybe more people will pipe in, and give us more to go by.

Post by Philip Parris June 9, 2014 (6 of 10)
I have the disc, and at first, it sounded just a bit bright but otherwise pretty good. Maybe not worth the $45 I paid for it, but still decidedly above average. The more I listen to it, however, the more I like it. It's debatable whether a flat transfer was the way to go for this particular album, but to my ears, the results overall seem to justify the approach. It's "even" sounding, yet bigger and bolder than the MFSL (which is still quite good all these years later, IMO). It's certainly not in the top tier of SACD transfers I've heard, but it's nonetheless a good effort and worth it if you like the album.

Post by Rickko June 9, 2014 (7 of 10)
jackan said:

The two reviews kind of cancel each other out, neither of them a good entry to judge by. We need more information.

The worst is only defined by one word, "horrible". Which gives us not that much information. The other is suspect simply by the fact that he thought he needed to "break in" the CD. This is ludicrous, and almost voids his opinion completely. If he had simply said he listened a few times casually, to aquaint himself with the new format, that would have flown with me. But to think that a digital format needs breaking in, too over the top to fly with me.

Maybe more people will pipe in, and give us more to go by.

I submitted a review solely for the reason a previous reviewer stated "sounds horrible" that provided no additional information.

I certainly do not mind being criticized for my review. However, some people have noted on other forums (and probably this forum) that repeated playing (or breaking-in) of SHM SACD's seems to make the disc sound better to them as a listener. To suggest it is "ludicrous", and further suggest it almost voids my opinion completely and the process I used for the review, is wrong. My review was based on the "sound" not how many times I played this SHM SACD.

Post by rammiepie June 10, 2014 (8 of 10)
I just received ARC of a Diver and the Moody Blues Long Distance Voyager {SHM~SACD} from CDJapan and frankly, was NOT overly impressed by either....as HOOP indicated in post #4 (above): where's the bass?

In fact, my very favorite new stereo SACD acquisition has been Audio Fidelity's Paradise Theater mastered by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio which IMHO, betters BOTH SHM~SACDs by a considerable margin.

There have been negatives hurled at AF recently but they certainly give the SHM~SACDs a definite run for the money and I, for one, am looking forward to their upcoming Multichannel SACD releases.

Post by thomasfdo June 18, 2014 (9 of 10)
I need to change my sound judgement of this SHM SACD (which was "horrible").

After listening a few more times to it, the sound is much better as before and I would give it 4 stars now.

As I did not have this before (much better sound after listening a few times), I do not have any explanation.

I don't think, that a cd/sacd can/needs to "break in", but there must be an explanation.

I owned the MFSL cd version of this title in the past, and as far as I can still remember, this new SHM SACD to me just sounds better!

Post by jackan June 22, 2014 (10 of 10)
thomasfdo said:
I need to change my sound judgement of this SHM SACD (which was "horrible").

After listening a few more times to it, the sound is much better as before and I would give it 4 stars now.

I don't think, that a cd/sacd can/needs to "break in", but there must be an explanation.

The digital portion will not change from playing to playing. Nor will your system to any extent. Maybe, just maybe, the humidity or tempurature will change, but in most cases this does not happen enough to throw something like this off.

The difference is your brain. You have heard some of this perhaps thousands of times. And your brain has preconceived notions of what is going to happen, and the new format is at odds with this. I don't have a problem with people changing their minds. It happens to me. I do have a problem with people thinking that their ears/brain is a constant, and that anything else, including the zeros and ones are the things that are changing.

My taste also changes over time. Some things that I loved 25 years ago, no longer appeal to me. And I find things that I had no taste for in my youth, now appeals to me. The same goes for food, etc.

Closed