By default if it is going to have extended dynamics, the initial loudness must be lower to avoid clipping.
That may not be issue here, but my first guess.
That may not be issue here, but my first guess.
Why do my HDCDs play lower on my HDCD machine?
I own two Arcam FMJ CD/DVD players.
My CD catalog includes many CDs that are HDCD coded which include artists such as The Grateful Dead, Mark Knopfler and Neil Young. I also own several HDCDs from the Audio Fidelity label.
My Arcam C36 is a CD player only with no HDCD capability.
My Arcam DV139 is a universal machine with HDCD capability.
My HDCDs play lower on my DV139 than they do on my C36.
Is there something wrong with either of my machines or are HDCDs expected to play lower on HDCD capable machines?
Or, is this the design of the Arcam machines?
My CD catalog includes many CDs that are HDCD coded which include artists such as The Grateful Dead, Mark Knopfler and Neil Young. I also own several HDCDs from the Audio Fidelity label.
My Arcam C36 is a CD player only with no HDCD capability.
My Arcam DV139 is a universal machine with HDCD capability.
My HDCDs play lower on my DV139 than they do on my C36.
Is there something wrong with either of my machines or are HDCDs expected to play lower on HDCD capable machines?
Or, is this the design of the Arcam machines?
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- 7 posts total
It depends on whether the HDCD recording uses Peak Extend. [[When any HDCD Process Decoder recognizes an HDCD Peak Extended recording, it reduces the decoded average signal level of this recording only, to allow for the increased head room of the extra 6dB of dynamic range. For the other cases - HDCD recordings without Peak Extend, or non-HDCD recordings - the average decoded levels need to be matched to the decoded HDCD Peak Extended recording. This 6dB gain matching could have been built into the HDCD decoder, and done digitally, automatically, however we have given the user the option of doing the gain matching in the analog domain, which may offer some sonic benefits.]] http://www.goodwinshighend.com/music/hdcd/gain_scaling.htm |
- 7 posts total