I'm one who is skeptical of all the claims made about the "improved" sound from the streaming sources such as Roon. Aside from music recorded in the last few years, that actually takes advantage of all that pure digital recording can offer, most of what we are listening to has been recorded on a 24 track (?) system, onto 2 inch tape. Then it's been mixed onto another 2 inch tape and finally the "master" copy has been recorded onto a 3rd tape. From this master, vinyl and CD's have been produced. There is no system in the world that can get any sound in the future that is not present on the master tape. I doubt very much that Roon is steaming from the original masters, so that means they are using whatever source is at hand. You just have to listen to a CD that was "re mastered" from a dubious source to know that there is a lot of crap out there. I think in the world of audio, there's a lot of Kool-Aid being offered and we all drink a bit of it? Me included.
Deja Vu all over again
The Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young remastered album is available on Qobuz for streaming at 192kHz 24bit. It sounds great. I have the original vinyl that I bought in the late 70s. This remastered version has a very crisp clean sound with good soundstage depth and width. I especially like the song, "Almost Cut my Hair". The song seems almost comical to me at the beginning but the mood changes for me as the song continues into a serious and good discussion.
I believe this digital version has little to no compression since I have my preamp volume set at 50 for my normal listening level. Compare that to some pop albums on Qobuz at 44kHz 16bit that I play at a volume level of 27-33.
I believe the compression level is proportional to the volume level I use for my normal listening level. For example, ROON shows the dynamic range of each of my CDs that I have ripped as FLAC files into my Library. I see dynamic range as low as 8 and as high as 18. The 18 is for a Telarc CD and is exceptional. I notice my volume level for normal listening level is correlating to this Dynamic Range value. Of course the higher dynamic range recordings have some nice loud peaks.
I believe this digital version has little to no compression since I have my preamp volume set at 50 for my normal listening level. Compare that to some pop albums on Qobuz at 44kHz 16bit that I play at a volume level of 27-33.
I believe the compression level is proportional to the volume level I use for my normal listening level. For example, ROON shows the dynamic range of each of my CDs that I have ripped as FLAC files into my Library. I see dynamic range as low as 8 and as high as 18. The 18 is for a Telarc CD and is exceptional. I notice my volume level for normal listening level is correlating to this Dynamic Range value. Of course the higher dynamic range recordings have some nice loud peaks.
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Thanks for the review, tonywinga. I 'm away from home right now but look forward to hearing this one when I get back. bigtwin, They can't get something off the master tape that isn't there, but they can do a better job of getting what is on the master tape off it and onto a better sounding digital or analog format, or not. Remasters have to be considered on an individual basis. Some are major improvements, some major disappointments. Qobuz gets their digital files from the record companies, not from whatever is lying around. In this case, the record company probably sent them a copy of the digital file that was downsampled to make the CD. My guess is that individual systems and taste will determine which version sounds better, the original CD, the remastered CD, or the 192/24 stream. |
The Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young remastered album is available on Qobuz for streaming at 192kHz 24bit. It sounds great. Pity it’s said it’s compressed, compared to the original masters. The first 16/44 issues are the best of the digital releases, if you prefer your music naturally dynamic and uncompressed. Stereophiles music reviewer Tom Fine on CSNY "Deja Vu" The first CD is the original album, sourced from the original tapes. Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering used a light hand at the mastering console and kept the original dynamics and tonal qualities. It’s superior to the two prior issues on 5" shiny plastic: It’s not so much that they were stereotypically bad CDs (although the 1994 reissue, made at the dawn of the awful Loudness Wars, is somewhat dynamics-crunched); it’s that this version is a really good demonstration of how good a CD can sound. Spin it on a top-grade player or through a good DAC and behold the state of the studio-recording art in late 1969. We were listening last night to Jeff Beck's "Flash" and the 90’s CD was so much better than the streamed 2000’s release from my friends streamer, and this was why. Jeff Beck Flash 1992 DR 14, 12, 15 Jeff Beck Flash 2006 DR 10, 07, 12 Cheers George |
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