So with the long thread on Rolling Stones CDs, the DSD remasters were recommended. What exactly is DSD mastering? What other groups' CDs have used this method?
DSD mastering for a CD means that it was sourced from a DSD master. The actual CD audio has been downconverted from DSD to Lineair PCM (16 bit/44.1 kHz) to meet the Redbook standard for CDs. Recent MoFi gold discs are also DSD sourced.
Generally, for reissue CDs that are "DSD mastered", either the analogue tapes have been archived in DSD previously, or there was a previous or parallel SACD reissue, hence the existence of a DSD master which is also used for the CD. For other situations (new remastering for CD only), DSD mastering is rarely used, as the DSD signal will have to be converted to PCM (CD standard) anyway.
It's still nice to have a DSD master that's ready for the next use (LP, SACD). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL_v...BD930A91&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=37
This is not true at all. DSD mastering for a CD means that it was sourced from either an analouge master taper or quite possibly a PCM master file. Before the material was transferred to the CD master, there was a DSD mastering conversion involved. Typically the chain would go: analouge or PCM master/DSD/16bit 44.1 khz PCM.
I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say here. With "Sourced from a DSD master" I meant that there was a DSD source somewhere in the lineage, not that the DSD master is always the original source. Sorry for the confusion.
Your post was correct and clear. At some point, a DSD master has been created and is now a part of the chain. It’s source can be from all the same sources that vinyl, CD and every other format have ever used including needle drops.
Elvis and Brian Eno come to mind. Sony's classical catalog, with works from the likes of Leonard Bernstein/NY Philharmonic and Yo-Yo Ma, has also been remastered using DSD. These are examples of DSD-remastered CDs....there are no SACD versions released. Otherwise, one can say the subsequent re-released Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, the Animals, and Sam Cooke titles from Abkco are DSD-remastered CDs as well.
But I have a question regarding the 2004 Star Wars (original trilogy) soundtrack CDs which are labeled as DSD remastered. If one look at the notes and credits of the CDs, no new mastering is credited and instead the 1997 mastering from the 20th Anniversary CDs is stated. In addition to that, the three soundtracks are supposed to be remixed (between 1996 and 1997) and we can assume they were done digitally as DSD didn't exist at the time, so, what's the deal with these 2004 DSD mastered releases?
Maybe they didn't change the credits, but I thought you noticed a difference with the supposedly DSD-remastered CDs
