Can't play SACD layer of Yellow Brick Road...

[Kevin P]

Last week I picked up Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" on hybrid SACD. I finally got around to playing it at home, on my SACD player, a Sony DVP-S9000ES, and discovered that it will only play the CD layer. I tried both discs, and both are doing the same thing... the player recognizes it as a CD and only plays the CD layer.

Right before putting in Elton, I had a Diana Krall SACD in and it played the SACD layer of that one fine, so it's not the player. Maybe a player/disc incompatibility? Just wondering if anyone else has a 9000ES and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and would be willing to try it out and post your results.

At least the CD layer sounds good, but I bought the SACD to play in my SACD player... :rant:

[Glen]

Do you have access to another SACD player? I'd try the disc in another unit first before I'd worry about the equipment ( try going to your local a/v store :W ). Being it's a dual layer disc - it may just be a manufaturing problem with the disc ( hopefully just the disc and not the whole batch ). I always try the easiest solution first - since you know your other disc is working. Good luck.

[Bing Fung]

Bummer Kevin, I would try it in another SACD player like Glen suggests.

Plus it gives good reason to go audition new equipment :B

[Kevin P]

Good idea guys. I'll swing by Tweeter sometime this week and try the discs in some other SACD players.

At first I wondered if I had a defective disc, but Yellow Brick Road is a 2-disc set, and both discs showed the same symptoms. The player only recognizes the CD layer. I put Diana Krall's new release in and the player recognized and played the SACD layer fine. So if it's a defect, it's evident on both discs.

I was also wondering if anyone here has this SACD and has any issues playing it in the 9000ES or other SACD players.

[Glen]

Sony doesn't have any issues with SACD playback on the 9000ES that seen on the web. From what I san see - there have been very few service issues with this model.

[Kevin P]

Actually there was an issue with one of the pressings of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" which would refuse to play on the 9000ES, but that was a disc problem rather than a player problem.

My 9000ES has been a wonderful and stable player for 3+ years now. Although it's somewhat outdated (chroma bug, no DVD-A, only 2-channel SACD), I refuse to let go of this 20-pound work of art. Sony did release a successor, called the DVP-S999ES or something like that, but it wasn't the tank of a player that the 9000ES was/is.

I'll report back once I have a chance to try Elton out on a different player. I'm guessing it's a bad pressing or something, but I wonder if exchanging the discs will solve the problem, considering that both discs in the set exhibit the same problem.

[Kevin P]

Well, I went to my local Tweeter at lunch and tried the Elton discs in a Denon 2900 and a Sony changer, I forget the model #. Both units played the SACD layer fine.

So this means my 9000ES doesn't like Elton for some reason. Maybe a compatibility glitch, or maybe someone forgot to put the stereo SACD track on the disc. It's too bad I can't easily find another 2-channel SACD player to try it in, but all the current mainstream players are multi-channel now.

Oh well, I'll just keep the discs. Exchanging them won't likely help, if it's a mastering issue (unless the studio fixes and reissues them). I can enjoy the CD layer, which sounds wonderful, in the meantime, and someday down the road I'll upgrade to a multichannel SACD player anyway and then they'll likely play fine.

[David Meek]

That's a bummer about the 9000. :duh: At least it works with other SACDs. How does the CD layer on GBYBR sound?

[Kevin P]

That's a bummer about the 9000. :duh: At least it works with other SACDs. How does the CD layer on GBYBR sound?

It sounds wonderful. I had the original CD release from years back and it was unlistenable on my home system. The remaster is a huge improvement. It gets a lot of playtime on my tubicle system at work. :T Makes me wish I could play the SACD layer, since it can only be better.

Me thinks they omitted the stereo SACD track, and that's the only one the 9000ES can play. It doesn't find what it's looking for, so it reverts to the redbook layer.