Am I alone in not liking HDCD CDs? They sound ok in the car but on my home system with an HDCD encoding chip they are over-modulated and annoying. Any other comments? Thanks! Joe Lee
The HDCDs in my collection are among the best sounding CDs I have. I have a Theta Digital DSPro Gen III w/HDCD upgrade; what kind of player do you have?
CD Player: CD 92 Amplifier: Music Direct 8308, technology of Nu-Vista amp. HDCD cds sounds like garbage, they sound a little better going through my Sony DVP-S900ES DVD/SACD player without HDCD encoding.
The Pacific Microsonics converters are pretty damn great. That's the box that does the HDCD encoding. It's a very revealing converter. Most mastering houses will have this unit. Kind of standard gear.
I agree with David. My CDP is a very modest Denon DCM-370, but the HDCD-encoded discs sound fantastic. Of course, mastering varies from title to title, but many of them sound noticeably better to me in HDCD.
Ok, I must be missing something here.?.?.? Every HDCD that I've heard so far is the victim of "tweaked mastering" and in no way are even half as good as say a regular flat-transferred CD and no where even close to 100 miles within my DCC/MFSL/Mastersound CD's. So far everyone that I've heard is just plain bad. What are the "great sounding HDCD's"?
Ones that I'm really happy with include: the entire 60's Beach Boys 2-fer series and PET SOUNDS box Buffalo Springfield box set XTC: Apple Venus Vol. 2 Beck: Sea Change Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach: Painted from Memory Bee Gees: For the Record King Crimson: Islands (Japan remaster) Ron Carter: Uptown Conversation (Japan remaster) Dave Brubeck: Time Out
Ivory Classics has some great sounding HDCD stuff. Earl Wild piano CDs. Time Out sounds great. The point is that it's not the converters that sound bad... it's just a fiddling mastering engineer with way too many brightly colored knobs, several double cappuccinos in his system and fighting the effects of ringing tinnitus. The box itself sounds amazing. It would help if the engineer was as good as the converters. There's a picture of Steve with the HDCD encoder on his main page. If boss man uses it..... well, you know.
Dave, ever hear some of the Reference Recording classical issues? Copland Third Symphony Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade Reveries The Turtle Creek Choral CD Others inlclude the Doors Box, The Dead Box and the Dire Straits Best of HDCD is both player dependent and who is mastering the disc. My Linn player sounds great on most discs. However, a couple of the higher end cd makers have recently discontinued HDCD. Primarily because it compromises their non-HDCD encoded discs - the signal must go through the HDCD all the time. Sometimes HDCD disc do really suck - the Columbia "16 Greatest Hits" reisues (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, etc..). I blame the mastering engineers being asleep on these and not using the original tapes. Listening to the Reference Discs tells me that the technology works. They are far superior than almost all the other classical discs I own.
Thanks everyone! No, actually I'm just starting to enter my "classical phase" of listening/collecting. To explain further...I don't want to spend my hard earned cash on "badly mastered" HDCD's. So far my experience hasn't been good. The Cars, Yes, and The Platters all suck beyond belief. I can kill insects within a 50 yard radius with these suckers! The artist isn't as important as the mastering to me personally.
I have the same Denon player as Jeff e. and I find that the HDCD-encoded discs do sound better overall whether it's a new release or an over-amped remaster. There's a three-dimensional quality to the sound that improves and makes an otherwise harsh remaster more listenable. I think having an HDCD player helps a lot on something like the Van Halen remasters- which I really was impressed with. The few artists Dave mentioned sounds like he got unlucky with his first HDCD purchases. I don't like the Cars remasters either- way too cold and tinny sounding. Here's a question Jaime might know the answer to: Why do Country and Christian artists seem to be the only ones to use HDCD anymore- and rock, jazz, etc. seems to have abandoned lately. Usually, modern country CD's are pretty good sounding, but not the type of music to really show off the capability of what HDCD can do. Why does Country love HDCD so much? The last rock CD I know of that has used HDCD was Lucinda Williams new one- and that's a "stelth". James
My guess is that most of the mastering houses here use the Pacific Microsonics box as their main converters. Denny Purcell (RIP), Hank Williams and Ken Love use(d) them. They were doing most of the Country/Christian releases for a long time.
Crazy as it may sound, My favorite HDCD encoded Cee Dee is a CDR of "With The Beatles"...Sounds wonderful!
I dunno know...We will ever truly know? Supposedly from the MFSL Lp's...All I know is I like 'em a lot! Also, Does anyone have the original Beatles FSL issued boots? If so, were they pressed silver or just CDR's?
Dave, Would you please explain your thought that "The artist isn't as important as the mastering..."? Are you studying to be a mastering engineer? I can't understand listing to music for the mastering, not the MUSIC, unless you are only listening as part of the process of studying mastering. I mean no disrespect with this question, I just seek understanding. To me it is the music that counts. There have been numerous occasions that my daughters and I have been out walking when we all start singing along with the overly loud radio of a nearby car, if the "right" song is playing (usually on an 'Oldies' station). The fidelity is that situation can kindly be described as HORRIBLE, but the music "grabs" us.
These are also the most noticeable examples of HDCD's capabilities over normal Redbook. Lots of Ludwig's and Gastwirt's stuff in here. My opinion of the most exemplary sounding HDCD titles in my collection. (All A+): Alvin Youngblood Hart | Big Mama's Door Arte Domnerus | Jazz at the Pawnshop (I can't imagine the SACD layer sounding any better.) Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin & Paco DeLucia | Friday Night in San Francisco Jerry Garcia and David Grisman | So What Jerry Garcia and David Grisman and Tony Rice | The Pizza Tapes Joni Mitchell | Blue Joni Mitchell | For the Roses Joni Mitchell | Both Sides Now Joni Mitchell | Court and Spark Joni Mitchell | Hejira Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach | Painted from Memory Lucinda Williams | Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Lucinda Williams | World Without Tears Mickey Hart | Mickey Hart's Mystery Box (would make an excellent HDCD system test disc.) Mickey Hart & Planet Drum | Supralingua (Gastwirt) Emmylou Harris | Wrecking Ball (Gastwirt) Mike Oldfield | Ommadawn Mike Oldfield | Hergest Ridge Mike Oldfield | Tubular Bells Pete Seeger | Headlines & Footnotes - Collection of Topical Songs Mahavishnu Orchestra | The Lost Trident Session (sounds so great, you don't even have to even be a fan to listen and completely enjoy it.) Lucy Kaplansky | Ten Year Night Mark Knopfler | Sailing to Philadelphia (great music, incredible dynamics). Mark Knopfler | Golden Heart Tool | Lateralus (one of the most well-produced and recorded of its genre). The Grateful Dead | The Golden Road (1965-1973) Box Set (the complete set has never sounded this good, get this, now! Some of Gastwirts best work.) The Doors | Complete Studio Recordings Box Set (I've never heard anything better, worth every penny.) Eric Clapton | Reptile (incredibly immaculate recording, if only the music was as amazing as the sound. Ludwig strikes again.) Ginger Baker Trio | Falling off the Roof) (unmemorable music, excellent recording. Gastwirt knows his stuff ) The Beach Boys | The Pet Sounds Sessions (it captures the uncanny feeling of being a fly on the wall of the recording studio.) Paul Simon | You're the One (not one of Paul's best, but you'd never know it from the sound. Thanks to Bob Ludwig. Both punchy and brisk.) Almost any HDCD Reference Recording title (the co-inventor of HDCD, "Prof." Keith O. Johnson, knows how to do it right.) Almost the complete Koch Jazz series (a fine example of jazz remastering done correctly.) Almost any HDCD Ivory Classics title Almost Any HDCD Smithsonian Folkways title (no one is preserving our rich American recording history any better. God bless 'em.) Above average titles (A to B+): The Bee Gees | One Night Only & Still Waters Beck | Mutations & Sea Change K.D Lang | Invincible Summer (no wonder Ludwig gets paid the big bucks) 311 | Transistor 311 | Soundsystem Timeless the Hank Williams Tribute (the recordings nice, the performances not as remarkable, Gastwirt.) The Dave Brubeck Quartet | Time Out Emmylou Harris | Red Dirt Girl (Gastwirt) Better Than Ezra | Friction, Baby (Gastwirt) Sara Evans | Born to Fly (some incredible country music, best of that year, beautifully tasteful production, and excellent dynamics) Paula Cole | Amen Paula Cole | This Fire (this exploits HDCD extra dynamic range, be prepared for some really low bass) Bela Fleck and the Flecktones | Left of Cool Carly Simon | Spy (check out LA session drummer Rick Marotta's drum solo, on the last track in glorious HDCD.) Corey Harris | Greens from the Garden Dixie Chicks | Wide Open Spaces (Their best sounding studio release, all the rest pale.) America | Human Nature (a nice open recording. Gastwirt does his thing.) Leah Andreone | Veiled Pearl Jam | Live on Two Legs Lisa Loeb | Firecracker (high quality recording, and interestingly varied performance) Sophie B. Hawkins | Timbre Tracy Chapman | Telling Stories Vince Gill | High Lonesome Sound Chris Issak | Speak of the Devil Chet Atkins | Almost Alone Crosby Stills and Nash | Looking Forward King Crimson | Beat King Crimson | Discipline King Crimson | Larks' Tongues in Aspic Steven Stills | Manassas Stephen Stills | Stephen Stills Steve Earle | Transendental Blues & Sidetracks & El Corazon & Jerusalem & The Mountain (distinctive recordings of an underrated performer) Silverchair | Diorama (a stealth HDCD, and a very intriguing performance) XTC | Wasp Star (Apple Venus, Pt. 2) Bruce Springsteen | Tracks Box Set Buffalo Springfield | Box Set Stevie Nicks | Enchanted Box Set These are all very servicable titles. (B to C+): Christopher Cross | Walking in Avalon The Cars | The Cars & Panorama & Candy-O (expected more) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | Long After Dark & You're Gonna Get It & Damn the Torpedos & Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (could have been much better) Van Halen Van Halen & Van Halen II & Women and Children First & Fair Warning & Diver Down & 1984 (sounds better than any other cd issue, if you're a fan of Van Halen, these are just plain fun, and consistent with the originals) John Mellencamp | Mr. Happy Go Lucky & John Mellencamp & Cuttin' Heads (pretty good) The Kinks | State of Confusion & Word of Mouth & Sleepwalker & Preservation Act 1 & Preservation Act 2 & One for the Road & Muswell Hillbillies & Misfits & Low Budget & Give the People What They Want & Soap Opera (I'm disappointed with these, maybe because my expectations were so high, but they're still ok overall) John Fogerty | Centerfield & Eye of the Zombie (I like these; I don't love them) Peter Frampton (Live in Detroit) (good sound for a live recording, fun stuff, this dude can sure play geetar. Check out "Off the Hook" for some especially Satriani-esque guitar.) Jimmie Vaughan | Do You Get the Blues? (Well do ya, punk?) Dishwalla | Opaline I can't recommend these (C- to F): Motley Crue | Too Fast for Love & Shout at the Devil & Girls, Girls, Girls (thin and loud.) Peter Frampton (Frampton Comes Alive! 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (ugh, someone at the record company got hold of Bob Ludwig. It must have been the same executives who thought the Foo Fighter's One by One sounds great.) Roxy Music (listenable, but could have been so much better, not audiophile quality, imo.) Dire Straits | Sultans of Swing: the Very Best of (maybe because it sounds unnecessarily loud and bright.) I'm probably forgetting plenty of cds. I'm just too tired to currently write any more. Tons of country titles that also aren't on this list. Josh
Nice list Josh! I own many on your list and agree with you. Although I feel The Dcc Doors are a tad bit better...Do an a/b on "Hello I love You" The Dcc's killer!
