Steely Dan – Gaucho

This pressing is dead quiet vinyl and just fantastic overall!

In terms of DSD Stereo layer.....Compared to the very clean and maybe abit boring AP version, this is alot punchier and has a wider soundstage. Its got a little compression as the downside but that helps it punch. This is a truly excellent SACD and i could easily see why folks would choose this over the AP who play things too safely too often with their digital media releases.

Just wondering if anyone has A/B'd this against the new UHQR Analog Productions release?

I've only been into vinyl for about 8 months and I'm wondering if I will really notice a difference on this and any UHQR vs the clean originals I have on the introductory setup I have or if I should wait until future upgrades.
ATLP120X w/ VM95ML
NAD c160 pre/c270 power
Elac debut 3 w/ svs sb1000 pro sw

Superlative mastering -& the musicianship is next level. This pressing is whisper quiet. Thin vinyl as was the norm at the time, but 180 gram really means jack.

Beware the tiny bits of paper from the inner, side 1 of mine, bought sealed, had quite a few fine scratches on even though carefully removed from sleeve and then carefully washed to remove them, great audio, very flat but some background noise due to the inner, so its not much better than my original UK 1st pressing, which I now realise is one to seek out

Platinum SHM Version.. The El Supreme-o of all versions of this Ace title.. period.

My german copy sounds fantastic, warm sound and dead quiet

The quality of this remastering is exceptional. I've wanted this album for years and have heard it (obviously) through streaming and cd's BUT -- this is a whole new level for me. Yes, it would have been nice to have a poly sleeve as the paper sleeve left a fair amount of surface dust (I've since remedied that!) but a quick cleaning took care of that. The sound? Just awesome. Could be the best sounding album among my 400+ album collection. At this price, it is more than a bargain -- it's a steal.

BUYER BEWARE: My fantastic (audiophile) sounding, lovingly looked
after, 40 year old, Near Mint, 1984 Japanese 1st release for the US
market copy of this CD has started to 'pinhole'😯😢
This 'pinholing' issue can affect many CDs manufactured in the early
to late 1980's, the worst offenders are usually those made in W. Germany.
There are a few articles written about this phenomenon on-line.
My advice is to rip your copy of this release asap before the pinholes increase
to the point where they become problematic during playback of the CD.