Esoteric SACD re-masterings

jfrech

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I have read enthusiastic critics on Esoteric SACD re-masters of Decca and other great classic performances. How do you rank these re-mastering in terms of sound quality? Unfortunately these SACDs go for very high prices nowadays.

I am particularly interested in the Kuijken's Mozart Flute Quartets (Accent) that I have owned since long.

I have this Esoteric remaster. It's VERY good. One of my best...
 

microstrip

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Ooh :p I have quite a few Esoteric SACDs and their LPs and I don't even have a SACD player. May be its time they moved on.....

Aren't they hybrid dual layer with redbook/dsd content? I would happily buy the DSD layer from you!

BTW, did any of the happy owners compare both versions?
 

SCAudiophile

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Sep 11, 2010
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Aren't they hybrid dual layer with redbook/dsd content? I would happily buy the DSD layer from you!

BTW, did any of the happy owners compare both versions?

I have several versions of each in different formats and releases over the last few years. The Esoteric SACD are my favorite of each recording of all that I own.
 

johndoe21ro

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And I think that Esoteric's remaster of Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Solti, Wiener Philharmoniker) is simply stunning! :)
 

microstrip

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Keith_W

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microstrip

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They could be Chinese fake.

Although no one can say so with complete assurance, I never heard about SACD forgeries - only a few facilities are able to produce them. As far as I know they are only manufactured in Japan and Austria, countries known for their law enforcement in copyright matters.

I have got one audiophile fake CD from Diskogs - probably the seller did not even notice. I ripped it with dbPowerAmp and verified the checksum in their database and confirmed it was bit exact.
 

NorthStar

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Although no one can say so with complete assurance, I never heard about SACD forgeries - only a few facilities are able to produce them. As far as I know they are only manufactured in Japan and Austria, countries known for their law enforcement in copyright matters.

I have got one audiophile fake CD from Diskogs - probably the seller did not even notice. I ripped it with dbPowerAmp and verified the checksum in their database and confirmed it was bit exact.

You can purchase counterfeit DVD-Audio discs, you can also purchase fake SACDs that are in fact CDs and not SACDs, you can purchase all type of fake audio software and hardware, including speakers and audio cables. I did some research on the internet and there are so many fakes from Asia, Hong, Kong, Singapore, China, etc., that it's an industry of con artists who are expert manipulators and reproducers of anything from jewelry to fancy cables to audio disc formats.

The stories are for anyone to read.
I have zero clue on that 15-disc set from Esoteric selling on eBay for eight grands, zero.

? http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/119130/119130

When I googled around I found several links, but there is not enough space here to post all the links, so I'm just posting a single short one.

But yes, fake SACDs do exist, in one form or another, a reality.
We can explore in extreme depth this phenomena and the time we spend doing it is the time we can spin our vinyl albums on our turntables. That's only one way to look @ it, another is you get what you pay for, fake or not. Buyer beware, you spend your money and the seller is running with it, the chase, John Coltrane, ...all that jazz.
 
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NorthStar

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How do we know, how can we be sure?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ESOTERI...441078&hash=item1ed0aba490:g:TZ8AAOSwU81Z03FW

I have zero clue myself. In another thread I looked @ pictures of genuine hi-end audio cables versus bogus/fake ones and I would have never known. They are almost identical and when I purchased audio components or audio software or movie software on 3D Blu-ray discs from overseas, I'm careful because there are fake ones from some obscure places near the China wall, and other places.
I trust America, 3D is dead in North America and very well alive in China.

One young rich woman, the daughter of the most important man in America, she copycat Italian designer shoes for women, and a son-in-law falsified real estate papers in a New York rental building deal...bought cheap and sold for 80% profit. ...The art of dealing by stealing, lying, faking.
It happens in Russia, in China, in Canada, in America.
 

microstrip

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You can purchase counterfeit DVD-Audio discs, you can also purchase fake SACDs that are in fact CDs and not SACDs, you can purchase all type of fake audio software and hardware, including speakers and audio cables. I did some research on the internet and there are so many fakes from Asia, Hong, Kong, Singapore, China, etc., that it's an industry of con artists who are expert manipulators and reproducers of anything from jewelry to fancy cables to audio disc formats.

The stories are for amyone to read.
I have zero clue on that 15-disc set from Esoteric selling on eBay for eight grands, zero.

? http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/119130/119130

When I googled around I found several links, but there is not enough space here to post all the links, so I'm just posting a single short one.

But yes, fake SACDs do exist, in one form or another, a reality.
We can explore in extreme depth this phenomena and the time we spend doing it is the time we can spin our vinyl albums on our turntables. That's only one way to look @ it, another is you get what you pay for, fake or not. Buyer beware, you spend your money and the seller is running with it, the chase, John Coltrane, ...all that jazz.

Bob,

Your single example just confirms what I said - these people did not buy counterfeit SACD's, they bought common CD's. SACDs were created with plenty of protections - it is why they are hard to rip - and perhaps the demand for SACD is not enough to attract the attention of counterfeiters. If you get a bottle of water expecting to buy a bottle of wine do you call it a fake? :)

Anyway these Esoteric SACD prices are highly speculative - I could buy recently some tittles locally from audio shops at less the eBay sellers are asking.
 

NorthStar

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Bob,

Your single example just confirms what I said - these people did not buy counterfeit SACD's, they bought common CD's. SACDs were created with plenty of protections - it is why they are hard to rip - and perhaps the demand for SACD is not enough to attract the attention of counterfeiters. If you get a bottle of water expecting to buy a bottle of wine do you call it a fake? :)

Anyway these Esoteric SACD prices are highly speculative - I could buy recently some tittles locally from audio shops at less the eBay sellers are asking.

Yes Francisco, I can tell you did your research too; you were right...normal CDs passing for fake SACDs.
And you were also right that there are two SACD plants, one in Japan the other in America.
And we also both agree that the price asked on eBay for this particular set ($8,000) is a little out of orbit, from a different cosmos.

I like the brand Esoteric, they make some nice audio cables and SACD players.
I got some Esoteric audio cables, but I have zero clue if they are genuine or fake.
They sound good anyway; transparent, neutral, smooth, revelator. ...Not too crispy not too restricted, not too timide, not too distant, just right, in my kit, present without diverting attention.
 

GaryProtein

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I have several.

I think they are over-rated.
 

GaryProtein

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astrotoy

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https://www.ebay.com.au/p/Esoteric-...itm=132403086999&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

On the same page as the $8000 set, there is another link to the same seller asking $3500 for the same set. Interesting. - Still $250 per disc.

Does anyone remember the story of the source of the Esoteric Ring cycle. My memory is that it came from a medium res (maybe 48/24 or 96/24) copy that Decca/Polygram/Universal did in the '90's? I also remember that Rheingold's original master tape was worn out from overcopying. My memory is a bit foggy on the details.

I remember in the lunch I had with some Decca execs and old timers in London near their headquarters back in 2014 or 15 after the release of my Decca book/CDs on FIM, that they were asking my opinion about releasing files on bluray, with copy protection and ubiquity of players and higher density of signal all advantages. One said that he was surprised that no one had taken pristine commercial vinyl or R2R tape copies of Rheingold or Siegfried and digitized them for sale, since they were in the public domain (issued prior to Nov 1963). Gotterdammerung and Walkure was issued after so are still under copyright.

Larry
 
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NorthStar

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Yes I have several. They were nothing to write home about.

So the high value is in what, limited editions and unsealed?

Music collectors, not listeners. Music is to be enjoyed, listened to...no?
To me yes, that's the highest value...emotions through my senses...ears.
And sharing that joy with my intimate lover, my family and friends.
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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Yes I have several. They were nothing to write home about.


Did you listen to the DSD or the PCM layer? They have many re-issues, not all of them are great. Some, such as the Mozart flute quartets or the Schubert Quintet sound really great in DSD, but surely are not worth thousands USD!
 

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