Thread: Yet another RBCD flavour: Blu-spec CD

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Post by Masolino July 13, 2009 (31 of 38)
No mention so far of Nippon Columbia's HQCD (Hi Quality CD) which was launched at around the same time as the Sony blu-spec and which strikes me as being in the same category as the Sony patent. Like blu-spec, HQCD also has its own dedicated website, but unlike the Sony creation, HQCD was never hyped outside of Japan, and therefore little information is available translated. Both are clearly targeted @ domestic market.

http://www.hqcd.jp/index.html

Post by soundboy July 14, 2009 (32 of 38)
Whether it's SHM-CD, Blu-spec CD, or HQCD, these are all "formats" that are aimed at the Japanese market. Blu-spec CDs get hyped because Sony owns a deep catalog in its music division. That can't be said for Nippon Columbia (Denon).

Post by drdanfee July 30, 2009 (33 of 38)
I bumped into this new Japanese Blue Spec CD thang when investigating CDNowJapan. What caught my eye was a new remastering of the classic Bruno Walter Mahler second symphony with NYPhil. I have it on RBCD, and have been waiting, waiting, waiting to see if Sony would ever get around to re-releasing it in SACD. Then comes this blue spec deal. So whatever, I ordered it. The set arrived fairly quickly, and popping the disc into the player, I was rewarded with a really fresh, vivid remastering of the classic Walter reading. Here's the catch. I do not think the vivid improvement in sound was all that much due, to blue spec CD production. Or the fact that the regular CD players now supposedly reads more fastidiously pitted data from the RBCD layer. I think that the great improvement I was hearing was mostly a result of the careful SACD remastering process, since SONY owns the original tapes. So I'm quite happy to have the new mastering; but I think it was SACD DSD coding that did it, with more of the original master tape coming across. Why SONY is fiddling around with this blue spec CD is beyond me; when releasing directly in SACD would be the real deal. Just my two cents so far. So I am guessing that other blue spec discs are also vividly improved; but due to the DSD remastering of original tapes, not the blue spec fastidious pitting pressing as such.

Post by wolf359 August 1, 2009 (34 of 38)
soundboy said:

Whether it's SHM-CD, Blu-spec CD, or HQCD, these are all "formats" that are aimed at the Japanese market. Blu-spec CDs get hyped because Sony owns a deep catalog in its music division. That can't be said for Nippon Columbia (Denon).

What I don't get and it irks me everytime , is that the Japanese consumer who is supposed to be technically more aware than their western counterparts (IMO) fall for this constant reinvention of RBCD every time. If they did not fall for this and demanded SACD all the money spent on this pointless upgrading of CD could be spent on SACD releases to the benefit of all.

Someone in Sony must be a genius in taking lots of money from the company for his idea to improve CD by making it sound like SACD persuading them that it is better and getting them to ignore the better format which they co-invented, Must be an accountant with books to balance.

Post by The Seventh Taylor August 1, 2009 (35 of 38)
It sounds like a definite triumph of marketing over engineering (while I thought the latter was always more powerful in Sony).

Post by stvnharr August 1, 2009 (36 of 38)
The Seventh Taylor said:

It sounds like a definite triumph of marketing over engineering (while I thought the latter was always more powerful in Sony).

Imagine that, marketing over engineering. Are you truly surprised by this? Is this a rude awakening?
The multinationals always go for marketing over engineering. The primary aim of the companies is to sell a lot of products period. They area all the same, Sony is no different.
And it does not matter if it is discs or players, all the same.

Post by Nicolas December 28, 2009 (37 of 38)
I've compared "In abstentia" by Porcupine tree in HQCD and CD.
The difference is very subtil, a little clearer but it can't legitimize the price.

I've thunk the SHM-Cd was a real improvement because the Japanese SHM-Cd "Crime of the century" by Supertramp is far better than my old version.
But after many others tests I'm sure the improvement was due to an excellent mastering job just like the MFSL of "My aim is true" or "Angel dust".

Post by jullepoika December 29, 2009 (38 of 38)
These newfangled japanese über-CDs are nothing more than a feeble attempt to perfect the already good enough mechanics of CD disks. Data and the sampling remains the same. Well done CDs have absolutelly no tecnical/reading problems that would affect the sound even now. Lengthy explanations are published only to confuse the public into thinking that transfering a string of zeros and ones from one place to another with a fancy name mastering device actually does something to the sound. It does nothing. Some methods even include an extra da/ad loop in the mastering, which can only do bad to the sound. Sounds impressive, though. It is a problem with mass market; to differentiate and get higher price something imaginary must be offered. It is not better audio quality, but the feeling of possessing something "better" (as in "more expencive")

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