Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [Cardboard Sleeve (mini LP)] [SHM-CD] [Limited Release]

My previous GBYBR reference on CD has been the gold Mobile Fidelity release from the 1990's. On that release, both CD's (or original records, if you will) were mastered onto one CD. The sonic quality of that disc is exceptional. However, the SHM release bests it in several areas. Midrange clarity, lack of grain and overall presence, top end extension and bass that now has more "slam" and dynamics, deeper and more full. This is slight, but noticeable. The lack of midrange digital grain is a real ear opener on the SHM's, in general. I have noted this most clearly on the jazz discs I have purchased. Simply clean as if someone used the best glass cleaner to clean a sonic window pane between the musicians and the listener that was heretofore covered in a dirty film, now stripped away. This tells me that less digital error correction is necessary by the DAC and better optical reading of the disc. No question about it. In every instance where I own a standard CD copy of the recording, the SHM is as though the window pane has been scrubbed clean, clear, without anything in between the musical presentation and the listener. A revelation. How much of this you perceive depends on your system and it's ability to reproduce low level details properly. If you use AC conditioners or regenerators (as I do with two PS Audio Power Plant Premier's in my system), superb,shielded power cords, etc., you will strip away low level noise in your system reducing the noise floor immensely. Doing so provides a wealth of low level information retrieval that is lost in the AC noise from the mains, otherwise, and most systems are plagued by this problem, which is why many people, I believe, may not hear the real improvement SHM discs can provide. If you are an EJ fan, this is an essential copy to own. The Mini LP presentation is superb, with faithful reproduction of the original, the original inserts, information, etc., plus the SHM discs themselves are beautifully pressed. All in all, a full, 100% recommendation as I do for all of the EJ SHM releases I own (up through Captain Fantastic). Enjoy EJ in the best CD format around. If you have SACD, well, that most likely could better this and for reasons involving that format, but if you don't own an SACD player this is the silver disc version to own, no question.