I think HDCD adds a little ambiance to the music to achieve the somewhat analog sound you are referring to. Still, the delicate reproduction of transient detail that analog does so well has yet to hit my ears with digital formats...and I like digital just fine, ty.

I can't say about SACD because my player (Marantz 67SE) doesn't support the format. At one time, I had a Theta Chroma DAC, with the HDCD decoder running through my system but, I actually preferred the Marantz alone and ditched the Theta rather quickly.