As I have posted recently I have (had) many versions of this title the most recent being the MoFi sa-cd. I felt that I was missing something in all of these so I ordered this, the WEA version. I was willing to take a chance but didn't really feel there would be a great difference. Boy was I wrong!
To my ears there is a definite and substantial difference between the two. All is based on TWO CHANNEL listening.
I listened to the four first tracks on the MoFi first then the same tracks on the WEA. Compared to the WEA the MoFi has a disinct hard digital and congested sound. The bass while there, doesn't sound quite right and most importantly it feels that you are "looking at presentation of the music from the outside". In stead of congealing, it felt like the bass, mid, and highs were sort being pulled apart.
When I put on the WEA everything changed. The sound presentation was much fuller and warmer. The bass was far fuller and the "leading edge" was far more pronounced and "real". The whole experience was capped by the involvement I had by being drawn into the music. As soon as Long Train Running came on I couldn't stop moving in my chair. This mastering brings out the pace, musicality and emotiontional involvement of the music that I haven't experienced on any digital copy of this performance before. To me it was worth the money as I now can enjoy this recording as I feel it should sound.
As far as i know Long train running is the only song from tdb that i know. But it is a good song so I bought the album. I'm totally blown away by the sound of this disc. The instruments are very clear. To me it's a perfect MCH mix. I would almost say that it is the best sounding SACD i've EVER heard..
This album is full, rich, and obviously multi-channel surround. I could not be happier with this disc. Sonically, it's almost perfect. It's right up there with the Elton John and Pink Floyd mixes. I love it. The mixing engineer who did this SACD needs to teach other engineers how to mix a surround sound SACD because this is how it should be done. The highest recommendation possible for sound.