This is good info. Thank you, but no need to call my statement ridiculous. It was merely speculation.
We are past the age where there is much risk of people trying to stitch you up with upsamples. That was 10 years ago... Why mention or suspect it? ****ty masters yes, upsamples no. These are not ****ty masters. Why cast aspersions at one of the most solid cases of known, reputable provenance there is, in essence?
So if I were to take the plunge on one of these, is there a particular must-have? I imagine Joe's Garage is the one with the most sonic potential.
I care mostly about the mastering frankly. I don't really have a high end setup and I hi-res pricing is steep for me.
The tape to DSD transfers were done by Joe Travers (@Vaultmeister). Gus Skinas just supplied the DSD converters and Sonoma audio workstation.
Zoot Allures likely is likely the best recorded. I am looking forward to checking out The Torture Never Stops later today. Weasels and Chunga's Revenge hardly seem worth it, but they are on deck as well.
What resolution? It doesn't have the dynamics to take advantage of the lowered noise floor. It's just meaningless.
I pulled the trigger on Apostrophe, and it sounds very good. I don't usually buy hires albums where I already own a CD with the same mastering, but this on one of my favorite albums. I'm switching between this and a lossless rip of the CD and I think the difference is pretty noticeable.
Just pulled the trigger on Joe's Garage and Apostrophe. Guess I'll see if my ears can tell the difference.
Another thread going nowhere about people that won't buy again complaining hires are not... All those 2012 CD you have guys have, came from those tapes... original analogue Zappa tapes transfered in DSD to do whatever they want with them after (SACD, DVDA, CD) then, they are DOWNsampled to make a CD version that you all love... Maybe you can't hear the difference between 24-192 or 16-44 but that is not the question here... With good system hires bring a LITTLE more in definition, but little is plenty when you love those CDs... Are you still looking here in the forum on an old computer 1024 x 768 pixels screen resolution or a new 5k displays... same thing as music... they have all ( those out yet) the same DR numbers as the 2012 CD for those who listen by numbers... Joes' Garage back booklet for info...
I feel like Paccino in Godfather 3. Every time I think I'm out... Great news about the provenance of the transfers. I must resist but for how long? Sheik Yerbouti in Hi-res?
I am fully in the "hi-rez makes an audible improvement" camp. I hear wider and deeper soundstages, more dynamics i.e sounds really pop, creamier vocals and tighter more tuneful bass. I listened to Zoot Allures first. The 2012 CD sounds very good, this release a bit more vivid, especially The Torture Never Stops. Not my favorite selection of songs but a fun listen. Both Weasels Ripped My Flesh and Chungas Revenge were a bit of a surprise. Neither are anything close to sonic masterpieces but added depth, width, dynamics and detail were revealed. Differences between recording spaces and instrument position were readily apparent. I really enjoyed them, almost anew. Looking forward to Burnt Weenie Sandwich and the rest. (One Size Fits All). They clearly started with some of his lesser works to start things off.
I can hear no difference whatsoever between the hi-res masters of Joe's Garage and Sheik Yerbouti compared to the digital rips I made from the 2012 CD's.
Apostrophe (') was his only album to hit the top 10. Sheik Yerbouti is his best-selling album of all time. Not sure I'd consider those 'lesser works'.
I just bought Joe's Garage in 24/192 on ProStudioMasters.com. Now that I got that over with I'll just play my imaginary guitar again
I knew you'd be surprised... The usual disclaimer: I'm not much of an audiophile; feel free to disregard. Got Apostrophe(') 24/192. Played once in its entirety through speakers, and then did short-burst side by side comparisons (with 2012 UMe redbook) through a cheap pair of Sennheisers. The server enabled quick evaluation. Immediately noticed a difference on the first play-thru. Then afterwards, it wasn't hard to determine the nature of those differences during SxS on the headphones. I've never heard it quite like this (got rid of my vinyl 20 years ago). In the simplest terms, it's the enhanced clarity and detail: echo decay, plucked bass strings, clearer bass melody, harmony voices, instrument separation etc. And I don't think you need Golden Ears to hear it. Because, me. At least Apostrophe is considerably better, imo, than the 1% improvement I was dreading. Maybe some of this surprise stems from the fact that after all this time, it's still relatively rare to do confirmed comparisons with exactly the same source, same mastering at different resolutions. Can't afford em all, but I will (carefully) pick up a dozen or so key titles as they appear. And now I'm off to get Sheik, before they run out.
There are explanations for the differences in sound quality even if you believe that bits higher than 16 and sample rates over 44.1 khz does nothing for the human ear. 1. These are transferred in hi-res and mastered in 24 bit/192 khz. Putting them on CD has involved dithering from 24 bits to 16 bits and downsampling from 192 khz to 44.1 khz. Think of it as original files in 24/192 vs. digitally processed versions in 16/44.1. 2. Your DAC may sound different depending on especially which sample rate a file has. A hi-res files doesn't need the same complex digital filtering compared with redbook. For whatever reason, these hi-res Zappas (I only have JG & WRMF yet) do sound better than the (already great sounding) 2012 CD:s. I always choose to buy albums in the formats in which they were mastered if possible. A pity they didn't put these out in hi-res from the beginning though. They are pretty expensive.
You could find out yourself if that is true: Convert one of those 24/192 files down to 16/44 (don't forget dithering!). Can be done with Logic, WaveLab Pro, etc.. According to your theory the result must then sound as "bad" as the CD.
