On Mon, 9 Feb 2009 07:37:54 -0500, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

It is pretty much impossible to compare CD to SACD. You will hear
differences, but they are nothing to do with the medium, but rather
the mastering of the recording. SACD releases are, I'm afraid, rather
closely associated with the "smiley face" eq curve which places
greater emphasis on extreme bass and treble. The result is a sound
with a little more fizz and thump which can in the short term sound
better - it soon gets tiring though, I'm afraid.

A relevant comparison that is easy to do, which involves playing a SACD or
DVD-A. Intermittently and under listener control t a device is inserted
that transcodes the "Hi rez" data into CD format. This has been described in
at least two AES papers, and the result was that experienced listeners could
*not* detect the insertion of the transcoder in a blind test.

Yes, I know that one - one can also record the line out from the SACD
player onto a CD with similar results provided it is done well.
Neither is a trivial matter for a quick home test by the non-technical
though.

d