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Reviews: Supertramp: Breakfast in America

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Reviews: 7

Review by Marcusmartin December 2, 2013 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Listened 3 times this freshly received long awaiting shm sacd. And a pleasant surprise which once again confirms for me the unparallel superiority of DSD ! This materpiece (at least for supertramp fans) has now the pressing it deserves. Compared to my re redbook CDs this one is sonically THE one to have (I do not have the MFSL pressing) : everything is there, with this analog feeling that only DSD can digitally reproduce (what about a comparison to the vinyl pressing ?). Dynamics, low and high ends are clearly there, soundstage is huge, instruments well seperated, and voices are natural. What about the same kind of transfer for Crime of the century ? ( the MFSL is good but sure DSD transfer will be better). I have around 500 SACDs , and this one is one of my best stereo one.
If you are a fan of this album, take this pressing and you will not be disapointed.

Listening system : Denon A1UD decoding, in pure direct mode, with analog cabling with Nordost Red dawn, to a CREEK EVO 2 amp driving ELIPSON prestige 4 speakers.

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Review by analogue December 3, 2013 (13 of 15 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
It took awhile but finally one of the great 70's rock albums gets the sacd treatment and its even better on Shm Sacd. This disc was on many peoples wish lists.

I can imagine that this disc might not sound perfect on everyone's systems. Given the wide opinions online about the shm sacd's I would suspect that some listeners might squabble about sound quality. If your system allows it......I can promise you that this new sacd is awesome in virtually every way.

First a note about the packaging. We buyers of physical formats need space and while I love the new box packaging its also slightly taller and certainly much wider that the previous container. So be forewarned........you will need lots of space if you buy a few more newer Shm Sacds. That said I do indeed love the packaging. Both inside and outside this box its gorgeous.

This is a great classic album to release. There is not a weak track to be had and at least four songs are still played over the radio after all these years.

Sound: I needed to play this disc several times before I could really hear whats on this disc. Once broken in I notice that there is some serious dynamic range to be had. This sacd is very powerful during cresendos in the best sort of way. We are not talking compression here.....just gorgeous sound. Low end feel..........sound stage, vocals.its all great. The treble is present but certainly not overbearing. Not much tape hiss to be heard which points to the source used. A very good recording too. I do not believe any noise reduction was used.
Just listening to those very deep piano chords at the beginning of Take the long way home....you;ll know what I mean. I was shocked and couldn't believe what I was hearing. Talk about drama.
If I wanted to get really picky I might mention that its a flat transfer and there might be times...I said MIGHT.... where you may notice a slightly different mixing. actually no mixing at all. Since the late 70's we have heard this album sounding how it was mixed by the studio techs so there might be a few instances where you will sort of stop your listening and sort of ponder that something didn't exactly sound the way you were accustomed to it sounding.Most flat transfers are perfect but occasionally there are problems on some discs. I mention this only as a secondary opinion to my own listening. It was not much of a distraction to me. To make a long story short....this is a superb sounding shm sacd of a great album. To hear it sound this good was sort of a surprise to me. The tape source and sound was very pristine. And as I mentioned earlier...the dynamic power this recording has is very impressive. If you play it really loud......and you must....you will be in audio nirvana.

Highly recommended and an essential classic rock sacd to own made all the more impressive as an Shm Sacd. DOnt know if this disc can ever be bettered unless we get to higher Dsd sampling rates.

Excellent job Mr. Sokol.

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Review by tdunster December 6, 2013 (1 of 4 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I hope the other Supertramps albums are given this sort of treatment because it is absolutely amazing. Breakfast in America, Logical Song, Goodbye Stranger, and Long Way Home are songs I have heard many times before - though never have they sounded this good before.

Along with the new Sex Pistols SACD release this is among the best sounding POP/ROCK SACD's I have heard. There is a lot of filler on this album but the sound quality more than makes up for it.

An Essential purchase.

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Review by Philip Parris December 9, 2013 (5 of 5 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Listening to this SACD now, and I can certainly confirm everyone else’s glowing plaudits. I’ll likely listen again tomorrow to verify my initial findings, but at first blush, this is, without reservation, the finest-sounding version of “Breakfast in America” I’ve ever heard. The word that pops immediately to mind is COMPLETE. Everything is there—tons of information, deep low end, smooth top, gorgeous mids, terrific dynamics—but all in their proper proportion and perfectly linear in a way I’ve never quite experienced before. There is ZERO sense of anything being forced; I know this might come across as hyperbole, and perhaps it is, but the music here flows like a sugary avalanche right into one’s ears! It’s truly a masterful job by the engineers.

That said, and I may be imagining things, the mix sounds different, especially on the title track. There are little details that I don’t remember hearing in the past, as well as some things that simply seem to be GONE from the song on this SACD. I’ll have to listen a few more times, but that’s my initial impression. I’m not grousing, mind you, but it is a little jarring to hear a song you’ve been listening to for 30+ years sound so DIFFERENT.

Overall, IMHO, this is easily the best I’ve heard this landmark record sound in my system, and I’ve owned quite a few different pressings on both CD and LP over the years, including the MFSL. Yes, it needs some volume to truly come alive, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing—unless, of course, your neighbors are the crotchety sort who hate “that confounded rock n’ roll!” This is, simply, one of the finest pop/rock SACDs I’ve heard in many a moon. If you have ANY interest in “Breakfast in America,” and have SACD capability, this SHM-SACD deserves your fullest attention.

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Review by Alumni December 16, 2013 (2 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I'm a big Supertramp fan so I was cautiously optimistic about this release, already satisfied with MoFi's gold disc. I can tell you that this SHM-SACD did not disappoint, on the contrary it exceeded my expectations. Supertramp recorded their music very well, and in combination with good mastering on a high-resolution format, you're onto a real winner. Not to mention the music, this happens to be one of the finest pop records ever made. I could go on about the sonics but honestly I can't think of anything to say beyond that it's as close to perfect as you can get.

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Review by hooperthom December 16, 2013 (1 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Like with all other review I agree that this is the best version. I have own many different version including the Blu Ray version and the SHM-SACD is just a treat to your ears.

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Review by Lost in the Music April 4, 2014 (0 of 1 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
My first impression of this was "Where has all the treble gone?".
All the previous releases of this I've ever heard have had a really 'fizzy' top end.
Don't panic. As the music moves along and gets more involved there is actually plenty of treble, it's just not over done. This really help the crecendos, of which there are plenty.
The more I listen to it, the more I love it.
This is now one of my favourite discs !
I can't wait for 'Crime of the Century' which is my favaourite Supertramp album.

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