@immatthewj , I have a few HDCDs and all of them are class B. I don't have the standard CD versions to compare the to.
With regards to Pink Floyd's DSOTM, there are some good YouTube vids comparing and rating SACD releases.
@immatthewj , I have a few HDCDs and all of them are class B. I don't have the standard CD versions to compare the to. With regards to Pink Floyd's DSOTM, there are some good YouTube vids comparing and rating SACD releases. |
@immatthewj , my experience has been there is more difference between redbook CDs than between the other formats, and it's all dependent on the recording/mixing/mastering chain that produced the album. To my ears, the other formats can make an album sound better, but it's definitely not a guarantee. That's just my opinion, with my ears, my system, my setup, my room. YMMV...enjoy the music :) |
@tomcarr , just some commentary which is off of OP's original topic, but I do remember reading about HDCD in Stereophile when it (HDCD) was a new thing, and I was intrigued. I was always thinking I should have ordered my Muse DAC with the HDCD chip which was an option back then. But I'd say HDCD must have fizzled? By most standards, I have A LOT of CDs, & HDCD was never a factor that caused me NOT to buy one. But with all these CDs, I can only off hand think of four that are HDCD and I probably own a few HDCDs that I am not thinking about, but not many. But SACD, in my opinion, is a different animal. A good SACD (and admittedly, not all of them are, for example I am most disappointed with the Japanese SACDs I have bought) truly does, to my ears, sound a cut above everything else I have heard in my system. (But s I previously noted, I don't have vinyl.) I'd almost go as far as saying that, although some are better than others, I have not (yet) bought any of the MFSL crop of SACDs that have disappointed me. |
@immatthewj Yes, my few HDCDs don't sound better, and some sound worse, than my standard CDs. My SACDs, like yours, do sound better, and some sound phenomenal. |
@tomcarr , I guess since I've already strayed from the OP, I may as well stray a bit further. As far as classic rock, these days I limit it to buying & listening to certain remasters that I hope will provide a good sonic presentation. I keep checking MD to see if MFSL's "Hotel California" has progressed from TBA to being a thing. So far it still hasn't, but when it does I will order it. I have the DCC red-book reissue, and to my ears it doesn't sound good enough any more that I play it other than on a blue moon; I did buy the Japanese SACD, but to me, it sounds even thinner and less of everything than the DCC red-book does. To justify that ramble above, back on topic: do you have Patricia Barber "Companion" original red-book or any of the red-book remasters or the SACD remaster? If so I am curious as to how you would grade them. |