Okay here we go...
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this box set, and how suspicious of SACD I now am. First let me say I got into SACD early and big, and still believe in it. I recommend it to everyone.
I am lucky enough to compare some of these recordings on 16/44, SACD, and LP. Well 16/44 sucks and we all know it. I mean poor Bob is nasally enough but this just emphasizes it all the more. In addition, the instrumentation is completely 2-D, with an over-emphasis on vocals.
The SACD was definitely better than the LP. As good as the LPs were, and lets face it, they weren't that good, the SACD just exudes musicality. Now Bob Dylan has never been musical in my book even though he's one from my handful of favorite artists.
On LP Bob's various groups and studio musicians always take a backseat, but they remain plausible, authentic. Their presence is justified and supportive. On 16/44 they're smeared across whatever soundstage is there, but on SACD the various instruments have placement, inexact, vague at times, but there's a general vicinity and a greater sense of musical truth. There is an "eventness" to the songs in LP and SACD, but moreso in SACD.
Vocally, SACD is the clear winner, and not by a little. But it is also what's wrong about these SACD discs as well. Dylan loses half of the gristle from his voice. The vocals are rounded, in a tubey way, but with far more detail. This natural contradiction of taking away, but adding seems to be an engineering choice and not a simple unmasking of reality. Don't get me wrong, his voice is still Bob Dylan's voice--ugly and compelling, but changed.
If these discs didn't sound so good I'd trust them more. But the level enjoyment is way, way up. I can live with my suspicions now, though I'll have to get use to enjoying Dylan. I never really listened to him before for pleasure. Somehow I think he'd be a little pissed if he found out everyone was just tickled pink about the recreation of his work.
Peace Love Dope
Dan