VA - Welcome To The Top Of The World: SACD-SHM Version Compilation (2010) [SACD]

This is the only SHM-SACD sampler I've run into, and it also includes a regular SACD for comparison. Assuming there's been no fiddling with the results, it clearly indicates how much better-sounding the SHM process can be. Which is quite a bit on some tracks, and not a lot on others. But for example on an excerpt from the much-maligned Salonen/LAPO Rite, the SHM disc retrieves much more ambient information and fine musical detail - it's a significant improvement. By the way there are two other classical excerpts, one from the Karajan 1964 Deutsches Requiem, the other from the Colin Davis 1974 Symphonie Fantastique.

I don't find the selection particularly exciting - almost everything is quite old (going back to 1956 mono for Miles, Ella & Louis and Sonny Rollins), but I guess it reflects the SHM-SACD market back in 2010 when it came out. Frankly in most cases I don't think the improvements here are worth spending the bucks on. Nevertheless they are there, if your system is up to it. A couple of years ago, before upgrades to my amp and much better interconnects, I couldn't really hear them clearly on most tracks. So this could be a useful investment if you're curious and haven't taken the plunge. This is the only SHM-SACD I own.