Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

I'll read these reviews more thoroughly from now on. I did not catch it when listening to this specific release online either.
Sound is good here but the tunes are sped up!
ROG 8 Dark Hero, Schitt Bifrost, PrimaLuna400, KP-301As
YUK!
It's like YES coming to town then doing a f'n medley of their music
How do I know? I'm 61 and have heard these songs hundreds if not thousands of times in different states-of-mind :)

Only commenting here on the SACD stereo layer, but meh ! 2016 vinyl is way superior. The soundstage on SACD is noticeably narrower, less defined, and frankly pretty boring. Very disappointed given other comments here - though most praise the 5.1 mix, which is probably where the magic lies.

Love PF, but since they wrote to say I couldn't use quotes from their lyrics in my paintings & drawings have gone off them a bit. Good way to get some PF signed letters though.

I think the 'MasterSound' gold disk sounds better. I know it's a personal preference.

This is a great version of this album. The 5.1 takes the album to a different level. The 2.0 track, well its not going to sound as good as the 5.1 because its the same as all the other 2.0 tracks. Over all I would suggest to get the Immersion Box set version, you get all the same material on DVD/Blu-ray. If you are not interested in the 5.1, the SACD 2.0 track will not sound any better than other 2.0 pressings. Higher resolution and more bits will not make something sound better.

I would say if you have the 2016 reissue lp dont trow you money away on this edition!!
Flat boosted and lifeless!! And less dynamics than the 2016reissue

This is for sure the best digital version of this album available - it's lovely.

Seeing as most of the digital (and analog) releases of the past decade are sourced from the same mastering and same digital files, it really comes down to whether you prefer your music with added aurally-pleasing playback stage distortion (vinyl), or not (digital).

And yeah - even as someone who is nowhere near old enough to be a Pink Floyd fan and has no overt attachment to the band - this is worth going out of your way to listen to in multichannel.

Just a quick review of this Analogue Productions SACD version (2018 reissue) - The printed hardcover booklet case is nice, and adds to the sentimental value of the record - there are small format postcards in the booklet, reminding of the original LP release (which I had purchased at the time).

The sonic value of this edition lies essentially in the 5.1 mix - lush and relaxed, with a lot of energy in the loud parts, the presentation allows many details to appear that I had never really noticed before. The record becomes more relaxed in parts, and more oppressive in others (as it should be), and it becomes more of a coherent whole as you listen to both sides in a continuous play. The multichannel mix is really the main gem in this release - it will be revealing even to the most skeptical of multichannel technology. If you get a chance to demo some multichannel setup at a hifi dealer of at some audiophile friend's, this is certainly one record to bring along.

However, the stereo mix of the SACD (DSD advanced resolution) did not 'impress' me as much, maybe because my expectations were too high. It does not have the 'wow factor', as they say, of the multichannel mix. In fact, I checked with an earlier CD version I have from the late 1990s (LP replica), and I can see some improvements in parts, but it's definitely not a night and day difference. In fact, I found that some of the medium frequencies were a little harsh in the first parts of the record (Shine on You Crazy Diamond part 1-5 and Welcome to the Machine), which I didn't feel in the LP versions that I have. I find that the second part of the record is free from any harshness, and very pleasant (the last tracks really stand out, much more than before), so it may be a subjective impression, or a case of adjusting my expectations.

In any event, I think even the recent vinyl reissue (2016) feels more "organic", or "in the flesh", to use a floydian analogy, than the stereo mix on this SACD. Speaking of vinyl, apart from the original LP pressing that I have worn out over the past 40 years, I think the best vinyl versions of Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part 1-5) that I have had on vinyl to this date were the 2016 remaster and the version on the Echoes box set which was pressed over a single side. I never had any rare of audiophile limited editions to compare them with, so maybe there are better versions out there.

(Note on the multichannel mix : I never had a chance to listen to the original quad mix (which is included in the Immersion box set), so the 5.1 multichannel mix may not be such an improvement from that version. The original quad mix of Dark Side of the Moon which was released with the Immersion box set was much better than the 5.1 mix from the SACD release of the early 2000s, so it may be worth checking the quad mix before buying this version.)