I attended a demo for 5.1 surround SACD at Sony music studios this past Thursday evening.

We listened in a mix room which had a 48 channel Sony Oxford console & custom speakers set up. However we listened on a dedicated setup of equipment which included large ATC self powered monitors (same speakers in 4 corners of the room, ATC powered center spkr. & powered ATC subwoofers.
Playback was from a top of the line Sony SACD player.

The following tracks were played:
Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion: marvelous, with fun use of surround to accentuate percussion. Strong front, center image for vocals & guitar.

Roxy Music: The Space Between: from "Avalon", again a lovely lush, mix: warm & undigital

Elton John: Candle In The Wind: from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", not yet releaseed. Nice piano sound, good vocal, maybe too much kick.

The Who: Pinball Wizzard: from "Tommy". Sort of disappointing. I had huge expectations for this new release. Lacked dynamics, sounded over compressed. Our Sony demonstrator said "Pete wanted this to be really loud". He got that, all right.

Pink Floyd: Money & Great Gig In The Sky: from "DSOM". Slightly gimmiky mix, but suited to the music. Sounded not as good as I had expected. Some EQ wierdness in the mids, also sounded compressed.

Sam Cooke: Twistin' The Night Away: from "Live At The Copa". An amaizing job recreating the ambience of the venue from a 3 track analog master. Limitations in the mix put drums hard left, horns hard right. Good vocal sound. Very lifelike.

Beck: track from "Sea Change": Fine mix of contemporary recording. Adds a really nice different dimension to an already good recording.

Steely Dan: Babylon Sister: from "Gaucho". WOW, a real winner. Sounds much better than the latest Dan release on DVD-A although I do not believe that is the fault / or credit of the media. This is a demo track par excellance!

Marvin Gaye: Let's Get It On: another spectacular track. Had everyone dancing. Much better than 2 channel audio. Way better than CD.

Bob Dylan: Absolutely Sweet Marie: from Blonde On Blonde. Not as good a recording as "Blood On The Tracks". Also dates from 1966. Sounded smaller & edgier than previous 2 tracks. But still better than original. Heard instruments not previously audible in original CD or vinyl. Subtle things became much more clear. "Blood On The Tracks" very nice.

Peter Gabriel: Growing Up: from "UP". Gabriel says he will conceive all his future music in surround rather than 2 channel. He makes great use of the media. Sounds "right", another good demo disc.

Bob Dylan: Mr Tambourine Man: from "Bringin' It All Back Home". Real depth & startlingly good vocal sound. Like he was in the roon singing. We did a comparison to standard 16/44.1 CD. Not even close. Another good demo track.

Aerosmith: Walk This Way: not as transparent as "Sweet Emotion", still interesting, just not quite as good a recording. Not bad, considering age.

Sony is making a big PR push in "Rolling Stone" magazine shortly. They are really going to try to make SACD a mainstream product. I wish them the best of luck. Quality audio may yet win out, especially now that some prices are coming down.

Have any of you had a chance to check out any of these tracks yet?