The return of the Piano Man and a New Player

The last time in the evergreen music series of posts I looked at the hugely respected singer-songwriter Billy Joel was in August Second, Twenty-fifteen with the specialist re-issue of his Streetlight Serenade album in part five of a series of posts around his music.

In September second Nineteen eighty-five, the first compilation of his many hits was issued on record, tape plus slightly later as it was CBS/Columbia on compact disc as they were late getting into cd and it was well conceived.

First off this it was planned as double lp and double play tape because it would of been hard to have fitted every single hit into a single album even though on the first issue they used mainly singles edits which was changed with the Nineteen ninety-eight remaster to album versions.

By this point the album was only available on tape possibly MiniDisc and cd and with these formats disc or tape side lengths are less of an issue than lp record sides.

They also had the sense to program it chronologically, so you saw how he developed  from Cold Spring Harbour to An Innocent Man lyrically and stylistically rounded it off with a series of special recordings just for the album.

 Over the last few years the specialist cd and record company Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory of Illinois, U.S.A., have been re-issuing his recordings from the original master tapes rather than copies using high quality equipment to get the very best sound of his best loved albums on record and also on Super Audio CD and after quite a delay from advertising their intentions to tackle this compilation finally it emerged late July Twenty-seventeen. 

Inside the slipcase the disc itself is sandwiched in a Mini lp gatefold sleeve that my plushies are reading!

Also in the slipcase comes a song book with all the words to featured songs in order of appearance on high quality paper which is a lovely touch and one that was unexpected by many of us who buy these discs.

The disc features the singles mix of Tell Her About It, You're Only Human (Second Wind),The Night Is Still Young issued as singles in nineteen eighty-five and a version with re-recorded sax of New York State Of Mind.

The remastering which is unique was done by Shawn R Britton and is exceptional for the depth and atmosphere he's managed to get from those recordings  making this version of the classic double album most worthwhile.

 
Technically this is a hybrid Super Audio cd (sacd) with a thin top layer for playing in super audio cd players like my new one for improved fidelity and a second layer for regular cd reproduction or copying to a portable music player and so is 99.9% compatible with all players.

That ties in with a recent purchase which I'll add a bit about below:

It's been a while since I posted anything major  around how I enjoy one of my big interests, music, since the last addition was replacing the Turntable a couple of years back to improve the sound of my records and getting a quite remarkable amplifier to take that sound loud enough to fill the room when driving my loud speakers.

It may seen an odd topic to post on a middles blog but as music and what I have heard it from has been an interest from around the age of nine getting involved across actual childhood in building up stereo systems it's a valid part of age regressed life for me.

I have three main sources of recorded music, records which was what I grew up with, compact discs that after a brief period with pre-recorded cassettes I moved to in the mid 1980's and downloads increasingly lossless and so-called high definition better than cd ones at that.

The last cd player was a 1994 model by Rotel which was a high quality model bought as a stop gap when it's predecessor had a sudden death in April of 2013 but I had been hankering for something better for a while and I spotted this reconditioned and warranted that appealed.

Enter the Marantz SA 7003  

It's a compact disc player with a difference: it plays the physical form of high definition recordings known as Super Audio Compact Discs (sacd) of which I had a good number as mine had a layer for regular cd players and the super audio cd layer that I have bought over the years for the excellence of their regular cd layer sound.

The main benefit of such recordings isn't that the highest notes are more extended although they can be, it's that because the use more smaller samples of analogue sound when it reassembles it it is that much more accurate and smoother. 

It has a few sockets on the back you need to wire up and being a very quality piece of equipment these are gold plated having the line outputs to couple to your amplifier, digital outputs for either digital recorders or external conversion of its digits to sound and a twin pin IEC ("kettle") socket for the mains lead.

That was fun as one wasn't included and  didn't have a spare at hand, so being only familiar with 'figure of eight' and three pin IEC ones I wasn't sure I needed to order a special lead up but as it happens you can use a three pin lead on a device with the IEC socket in two pin form.

One big improvement on many players is the draw that holds the disc is not floppy plastic like some cheap computer dvd drive but is solid and is designed to reduce vibration when it spins the disc. The case is also well made with plenty of metal.

The internal electrics use good quality components Cirrus digital to analogue convertors and high quality modules for taking the sound and sending that through the outputs. 

Originally this player had a suggested retail price of just over £600 being seen as a middle market model within Marantz's range offering something from the more expensive range for those who could afford something better than a basic regular player.

Having had this  for a few days on both super audio cd and regular discs the improvements in disc transport and conversion of those digits to sound is certainly amongst the best I've ever heard, sounding more life-like.