Thread: IS SHM~SACD The Closest We've Come To The Master Tapes?

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Post by rammiepie November 18, 2011 (201 of 424)
audioholik said:

A person claiming to come from the future and lobbying for the DSD format would have probably been taken for just another "crazy audiophile". What's done is done. We can't change the past.

Or better, yet, time travel back to the early eighties when some numbskulls uttered those resounding words "Perfect Sound FOREVER....." And we've been regretting that for almost 30 years!

Post by volcati November 18, 2011 (202 of 424)
I just got The Cars "Candy-O" on MFSL Gold UDCD. It's right there with any of my SHM SACD's and better than a lot of my SACD's. Beck's "Sea Change" is another title on MFSL UDCD that would give any SACD a run for it's money


It's all in the mastering from the source material the master tech has been given.

I own one of the wort rated SACD's (Alice in Chains --Greatest Hits)....grunge, punk, and garage bands don't need the treatment...just look for the vinyl version.

Post by volcati November 18, 2011 (203 of 424)
rammiepie said:

Or better, yet, time travel back to the early eighties when some numbskulls uttered those resounding words "Perfect Sound FOREVER....." And we've been regretting that for almost 30 years!

Some of the original CD's made directly off the masters are the best sounding discs you can buy. Usually the West German made ones, with the Target symbol around the disc.

At least back then they put, "All efforts have been made to transfer the master tapes to this disc" or something like that.

That's why some CD's from the 80's sell for good money.

Post by rammiepie November 18, 2011 (204 of 424)
volcati said:

I just got The Cars "Candy-O" on MFSL Gold UDCD. It's right there with any of my SHM SACD's and better than a lot of my SACD's. Beck's "Sea Change" is another title on MFSL UDCD that would give any SACD a run for it's money


It's all in the mastering from the source material the master tech has been given.

I own one of the wort rated SACD's (Alice in Chains --Greatest Hits)....grunge, punk, and garage bands don't need the treatment...just look for the vinyl version.

I have Beck Sea Change on DVD~A 5.1 and it sounds stunning..........The problem I have with RBCD (and I have some pretty great players) is that a good DVD~A or SACD just sounds more effortless.

But you're absolutely 100% on the money regarding the mastering......when care IS taken, the RBCD can sound quite rewarding......but the same can be said for all optical disc formats.

Blu~Ray has opened the floodgates of what an older picture can look like when it is painstakingly restored along with the audio, as well.

It's all about going back to the original master tapes (provided they are intact or semi~intact) and do the same for audio as what the major studios are doing for BD restorations.

If you go into the Music Direct website they are heralding that their new, upcoming MoFi SACD of Kind Of Blue, from the absolute original master tapes, is a sonic stairway to Nirvana.......so how about the previous four (or five) which have been released by Sony and the various Japanese maestros..........I have the original 5.1 and it sounds wonderful but will this new re~mastering be the one to own (at least for now) until they decide to download it in DSD 128?

Paying as much for a stereo SACD as we used to pay for boxed sets of RBCDs is getting a bit ridiculous and redundant when they keep releasing the same albums over and over. And how long does it logically take to transfer an older analogue tape in mirror image fashion to SACD.....seems like it's taking forever!

Maybe the Hollywood Studios should get involved...............

Post by Mighty_Zoltan November 18, 2011 (205 of 424)
I'd definitely be interested in knowing how many members here are professional musicians as I listen to music in hi def (and above obviously) every day and can actually tell the difference.

Post by audioholik November 19, 2011 (206 of 424)
rammiepie said:

Or better, yet, time travel back to the early eighties when some numbskulls uttered those resounding words "Perfect Sound FOREVER....." And we've been regretting that for almost 30 years!

Today, audiophile companies can't even reissue titles from the '80s and 90s on SACD because they were all recorded in 44.1kHz PCM :/

Thank you SONY!

Post by AmonRa November 19, 2011 (207 of 424)
audioholik said:

Today, audiophile companies can't even reissue titles from the '80s and 90s on SACD because they were all recorded in 44.1kHz PCM :/

Thank you SONY!

Of course they can, and they do. At least they are better than old hissy, frequency limited, compressed analog tapes!

Scam all, of course.

Post by Ogrady November 24, 2011 (208 of 424)
AmonRa said:

Of course they can, and they do. At least they are better than old hissy, frequency limited, compressed analog tapes!

Scam all, of course.

Oh really? Sounds like you've never actually heard a quality analog tape or are you just making a general comment on the poor quality mass reproduced high-speed dup'd close to junk offered to consumers, 1/4 track 3 3/4ips 'music' tapes?

Curious

Post by DSD November 24, 2011 (209 of 424)
Ogrady you are so correct, I avoid 3¾IPS prerecorded reel to reel tapes like the plague. The best reel to reels I've heard are the 2 Track 15IPS tapes from the Tape Project. However, real time duplicated audiophile 7½IPS tapes from the 1970s-1980s from Direct to Tape Recording Company, Sonar, Ambisonic and Sound Ideas sound fantastic. HDTT offers copies of consumer (non-audiophile) 7½ IPS reel to reel tapes out of copyright transfered to 24/96K and 24/192K PCM.

The best SACDs can get close to the sonic realism of the best analog reel to reels, and some SACDs even surpass them but 16/44.1K PCM is not even close. Also SACDs are a lot easier to play.

Post by AmonRa November 25, 2011 (210 of 424)
Ogrady said:

Oh really? Sounds like you've never actually heard a quality analog tape or are you just making a general comment on the poor quality mass reproduced high-speed dup'd close to junk offered to consumers, 1/4 track 3 3/4ips 'music' tapes?

Curious

Again: 16/44.1 PCM digital audio exceeds the technical quality of even the best analog tape by a factor of 10 to 1000 times on all technical specs. In addition tape has about 1.5 octave less frequency range, there is built in compression at the top 12 dB of dynamic range, there is speed deviation, wow & flutter, print through etc. etc.

There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding that the word "analog" in "analog tape" somehow means it is truer to the original signal. It is not, it is just an ancient (and surprisingly good) attempt at preserving the audio waveform, which now can be done vastly better with digital means. Even the lowly CD.

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