| Review by Rage August 20, 2004 (0 of 2 found this review helpful)
|
Performance:  Sonics: |
| This review is for the stereo SACD layer only and is using the redbook CD for comparison: Hopefully, this review is helpful to other JM fans out there as I consider myself one and have listened to the redbook CD plenty of times. This disc finally came out Tuesday and, for once, I'm glad Sony/Columbia delayed it and got it right. It's a DSD recorded disc and it sounds superb to my ears; it easily crushes the redbook CD. The lower level details in the recording are a lot easier to hear and the soundstage is deeper and wider. The improvements were most evident in "Split Screen Sadness". There are several parts of the song where JM is singing over some ambient sounds and electronic beats and you can really hear the three-dimensional quality that the format brings. A friend of mine (a JM and all-around music fan, but definitely not an audio guy) said that the vocals were so vivid and life-like, that not only did it sound like he was in the room, but that he could almost "see" him singing.
|
Was this review helpful to you?
yes |
no
|
|
| Review by Woody August 9, 2005 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
|
|
| Being a huge John Mayer fan, I was very keen for my first Multi-channel experience of his excellent music. Unfortunately, my initial opinion of this recording hasnm't changed after many listens. The mix is extremely disappointing and unadventurous, with no real creative use of the rear channels. After the delays that this release had, I expected better. There is no improvement on the compression featured on the original CD, and there seems to be a distortion on some tracks that is just unacceptable. I was hoping that multi-channel would open up the soundstage on tracks like "Daughters" but I was mistaken. Jack Joseph Puig's production isn't a patch on John Alagia's for "Room For Squares", the acoustic guitar sound alone (such an important element of Mayers sound) proves this. The songs are wonderful, especially "Clarity" and "Daughters", but everytime I listen, I'm reminded of what could have been. Now if only someone like Eliott Scheiner would get a hold of "Room for squares"....
|
Was this review helpful to you?
yes |
no
|
|
