Was there really an SACD release of Diamonds & Pearls? Anyone able to confirm this?

it wasn't released on sacd, no prince titles ever have. it looks like a mistake with a cassette tape if you read the description

I've seen this SACD advertised before, but have never heard from anyone that it actually exists.

Bummer.

spiffnme said:

Yeah. Prince's battles with Warners may have had an influence on not pursuing the SACD format. But, for some reason, this D&P red herring shows up now and again.

It was released as some type of HD Cassette in 91 or 92. It was manufactured by Sony for a player that they were introducing. It was similar to a MiniDisc, but only in cassette format. I cannot find the info on it to save my life, but I have seen it in stores before.

daPrettyman said:

DCC (Digital Compact Cassette)

http://catalog.ebay.com/D...abZ1%22%7D

squirrelgrease said:

Thanx

these DCC were released :

Prince DCC PS Germany 925110-5 Purple Rain
Prince DCC PS Holland 7599-25379-5 Diamonds And Pearls
Prince DCC PS Holland 9362-45037-5 Symbol

xenophobia2002 said:

i've had both of those in my hands at the time they were released.
but i only recently got a cd player in those days so i had nothing
to play those formats on and thus never bought these.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...rJpWOz-jNQ

here's a little clip on the DCC format

This may sound naive, but what does SACD mean? D&P is my all time fav so I would love to know

nurseV said:

Super Audio CD

xenophobia2002 said:

Thanks very much

nurseV said:

It usually offered Surround Sound, similar to what a DVD-Audio disc did.

xenophobia2002 said:

That's very interesting.

IstenSzek said:

My memory on these is pretty vague. I do have one MiniDisc, a Rolling Stones album that came free with an audiophile magazine. There was a while during the early digital days when companies were constantly throwing shit at the wall to see what would stick.

Now we're seeing albums released on different types of proprietary flash chips and USB drives.

squirrelgrease said:

Yeah, I think Sony was the leader. They sold screen savers on floppies, mini discs and other shit, hoping it would work.

Sadly the industry shot itself in the foot with high rez multi-channel SACD and DVD-A. They made it such a pain in the arse to set up at home (SIX individual cables - just for the audio!) that no one bothered with it. They've finally started allowing the full multi-channel audio to be passed through a single HDMI cable, but it seems as though it may be too late to save the format. Sad really.

When done right, multi-channel audio is really spectacular. I'd have LOVED to hear P on SACD.

squirrelgrease said:

Thanks for the info

The SACD format (and DVD-A too) are really for audiophiles who want to feel superior. The human ear cannot usually tell the difference between SACD and Redbook CD (the current standard).

Most times, when you hear a great-sounding SACD (and, they DO sound great), what you're really hearing is better mastering.

Current Redbook CDs are horribly mastered, with more emphasis on the loudness wars than proper sound.

Se7en said:

That's absolutely true when speaking of 2-channel audio. A very well mastered CD sounds incredible, and very likely without insanely good hearing and a near perfect sound system and listening room it'd be damn hard to tell the difference.

Multi-channel audio is a whole different ball game. Often it's done poorly and gimmicky, but when done well, it can be breathtaking. (Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road springs to mind)

spiffnme said:

i don't think the setup of the cables was a big problem, in real terms most people would use a set of 3 stereo RCA cables, so you are plugging in two more sets than normal, which takes just a few seconds. some will use a pair of component cables, and some the proper 6 end RCA's

the main issue is that regardless of if you connect by RCA or hdmi, you need a decent set of speakers to get the benefit, and if the speakers aren't from the same range with the same tweeters and cones all the way round, the sound isn't going to be right. how many people must listen to sacd with cheap speaker packages, where you are just going to be dissapointed. you are talking in the region of about £1000 to get a half decent set of 5.1 speakers, plus the amp, plus sacd player or universal dvd player, so it's an expensive setup, and easy to get wrong

on top of that, you need to have an appropriate room to set your speakers up properly, it's completely different from just sticking a couple of speakers somewhere in the room

so with the cost, inconvenience, and the lack of proper 5.1 mixes that aren't remixes of old material, it's no wonder sacd and dvda were doomed to failure

if people have a cheap 5.1 setup for watching movies, usually in DD or DTS, and then play an sacd, or worse, a dvda's DD or DTS soundtrack, they aren't really going to notice a marked improvement over listening to the normal cd, in fact it could sound worse

right now we are moving towards bluray, and there is only one universal player on the market at the moment, that's if you have a couple of grand to spare, although another company is due to release a cheaper one soon. you would have thought they could add that functionality as standard, but as sacd and dvda are competing formats, few manufacturers care about it, particularly when there is a lack of consumer demand

another thing that's annoying is pink floyds decision to release the dark side of the moon on sacd instead of dvda, even though proper dvda is technically better audiowise, plus you can get added video footage etc. the reason was that they knew that most people wouldn't have a proper setup to hear the lossless MPL track, and would listen to the DD or DTS track instead, and not getting the full benefit of the remaster, thus putting it on sacd meant you had to have a sacd player and setup to hear the 5.1 mix, thus meaning that probably only 10% of floyd fans with a 5.1 setup could hear the mix. god knows when the sacd of wish you were here is being released, it was apparently completed years ago for the 30th anniversary. the big shame about using sacd instead of dvda for floyd is they could have included the original quad mix as well as the new 5.1 and original stereo mix, and they could have included the original films along with the DD/DTS track, a bit like the flaming lips visuals on the pink robots dvda

prince mentioned a 5.1 mix of lovesexy a few years ago on npgmc, i think just after the 5.1 video suit was installed at paisley, but i imagine if he did complete the mix that there would be issues with warners in releasing it

unique said:

I don't remember hearing about a 5.1 mix of Lovesexy.

squirrelgrease said:

this was either around 2002 or 2004, it said something like "how would you like a new 5.1 mix of lovesexy released". you may recall a similar message about how would you like to get a 12 cd set of celly performances, but you're not going to get them because (you already have them on bootleg) someone has already bootlegged them. or how would you like a guitar rock/piano album, etc. suggested releases that just never happened. like hot wit u remix 12" and video, cd releases of slaughterhouse and chocolate factory and xenophobia etc

of course this was followed up by a non anamorphic letterboxed stereo dvd filmed on camcorders. the rave dvd was in 5.1 but you don't really need 5.1 for a live concert, although SOTT sounds good

unique said:

I do remember that stuff about the Celebration 12 CD Set/bootleg bull now that you mention it. And I was definitely pumped for the 7-CD Chocolate Invasion set that ran into "manufacturing problems".

Wasn't that the same excuse for Crystal BAll not being in the stand up case? Instead we got a pitri dish.

A nice 5.1 mix of Lovesexy would be awesome!

daPrettyman said:

I'm not aware that the Crystal Ball set was ever supposed to stand upright. It would have made sense, of course.

The manufacturer explains the process from idea to creation on their website here:

http://www.noiseland.com/gallery/

.
[Edited 4/8/09 15:35pm]

daPrettyman said:

My Crystal Ball came in a jewell case, if that's what mean by stand up case, but i got no Karmasutra(not that bothered)