Thread: Universal Japan 5 new popular music SACD-SHM in late November 2013

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Post by sylvian September 17, 2013 (31 of 44)
Kveld-Úlfr said:

Totally agreed, Ralph.

But I don't think the DR mention would be really usefull as many people wouldn't care... except audiophiles of course, which is why, fortunately, the DR site exists. I think it really is a good tool. I knew of the poor DR before buying the disc, but I bought it anyway because, as you said, it is a very good tracklisting and duration in hi-rez for the price.

I would not exaggerate the importance of DR-values: many of hi-res releases were downsampled and THEN examined by the appropriate tools (this simple fact tells the whole story). I am using this database as a guide as well, but I do not buy low-res anymore (with few exeptions). So no objections, but no exaggeration as well.

Post by Kveld-Úlfr September 17, 2013 (32 of 44)
sylvian said:

I would not exaggerate the importance of DR-values: many of hi-res releases were downsampled and THEN examined by the appropriate tools (this simple fact tells the whole story). I am using this database as a guide as well, but I do not buy low-res anymore (with few exeptions). So no objections, but no exaggeration as well.

Indeed ! Some poor DR albums do sound great sometimes. Among the many music styles I listen to, I listen to lots of metal : very poor DR values... but this goes with the style (except old-school metal, which sounds horrible when remastered with compression, for instance Black Sabbath, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple, etc.) and it sounds great that way most of the time.

So yes, DR is no sine qua non criterium for a great sounding disc.

Post by Nicolas September 17, 2013 (33 of 44)
Just a little story about compression.
I'm guitarist and I've always noticed that people prefer when a guitar sounds naturally compressed.
For example the Fender Jazzmaster, because of his pickups and electronic, has a very dynamic sound but a majority of people prefer the more compressed sound of Stratocaster.
Does it mean Jazzmaster are more "audiophile" guitar than Stratocaster? I don't think so...

Post by Kveld-Úlfr September 18, 2013 (34 of 44)
Nicolas said:

Just a little story about compression.
I'm guitarist and I've always noticed that people prefer when a guitar sounds naturally compressed.
For example the Fender Jazzmaster, because of his pickups and electronic, has a very dynamic sound but a majority of people prefer the more compressed sound of Stratocaster.
Does it mean Jazzmaster are more "audiophile" guitar than Stratocaster? I don't think so...

This clearly is a matter of subjective appreciation. And as I said above, poor DR is not always the result of a bad remastering : it may sometimes be part of a sound's inherent personality, which cannot be criticized as "bad sound". This is the case here.

Post by Nicolas September 18, 2013 (35 of 44)
I agree with that, I was simply trying to say that compression is a part of the chain sound, not an "HiFi enemy". Sometimes it's even essential to balance a mix.
Another example with the "guitar' world", the tube amp is used by 99% of rock guitarist because he has a natural hi end compression. A guitar plugged in a transistor amp would have a better dynamic range but the sound may be too agressive and harsh for most people.

Post by Kveld-Úlfr September 18, 2013 (36 of 44)
Nicolas said:

I agree with that, I was simply trying to say that compression is a part of the chain sound, not an "HiFi enemy". Sometimes it's even essential to balance a mix.
Another example with the "guitar' world", the tube amp is used by 99% of rock guitarist because he has a natural hi end compression. A guitar plugged in a transistor amp would have a better dynamic range but the sound may be too agressive and harsh for most people.

Agreed ! But it also depends on the musical style. For instance, Stevie Ray Vaughan : his guitar sound was incredibly sharp and dynamic. No compression in the final product. Had it been otherwise, the SRV blues sound would have been horrible. (if you don't already have his MoFi SA-CDs, check them out on this site, most of them are really good sounding with few exceptions... **EDIT : just checked out your library, you do have them already :-) )
Same thing for the Mark Knopfler steel guitar sound.
On the other side, when you hear some hard-rock guitarists like Joe Satriani, Patrick Rondat, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony McAlpine, Michael Angelo Batio, Eddie Van Halen or Paul Gilbert or any other "guitar hero", you clearly feel compression. And I don't think they would sound as good as they do without this compression.

Post by Nicolas September 18, 2013 (37 of 44)
Exactly! About SRV, it would be a sin to make a compressed mix because he already had a "natural" compression in his chain sound:
The stratocaster has a very focused sound in the High-Mid.
He used very heavy gauge string to add bottom end and power. (he probably have the most powerfull stratocaster sound of the history)
He often played with 2 Tubescreamer overdrive and their famous mid-range bump.
He used Fender Vibro-Verb and Deluxe Reverd tube amp, they sound naturally dynamic but at very high level, as you probably know, the tubes have a slight Hi End compression.
As we can see here, everything was perfectly balanced in his chain sound.

Post by Espen R September 18, 2013 (38 of 44)
I see Supertramp "Crime of the Century" will be released on blu-ray in late September.
Maybe it will be in the next batch of SHM-SACDs...? :-)

These Platinum SHM-CDs coming from Universal are all "flat from the masters, using DSD transfers", exactly as the SHM-SACDs.
In some cases they have done new DSD transfers from original UK and US master tapes for the Platinum SHM-CDs, where the SHM-SACDs was transferd from Japan copy tapes. Like:
-Dire Straits S/T
-Dire Straits Love over Gold
-10cc Original Soundtrack
-Wishbone Ash
-Asia
...and more.

It would not surprise me that they re-print those SHM-SACDs using these new 2013 DSD transfers, used for the Platinum SHM-CDs.

Post by Kveld-Úlfr September 18, 2013 (39 of 44)
Espen R said:

I see Supertramp "Crime of the Century" will be released on blu-ray in late September.
Maybe it will be in the next batch of SHM-SACDs...? :-)

These Platinum SHM-CDs coming from Universal are all "flat from the masters, using DSD transfers", exactly as the SHM-SACDs.
In some cases they have done new DSD transfers from original UK and US master tapes for the Platinum SHM-CDs, where the SHM-SACDs was transferd from Japan copy tapes. Like:
-Dire Straits S/T
-Dire Straits Love over Gold
-10cc Original Soundtrack
-Wishbone Ash
-Asia
...and more.

It would not surprise me that they re-print those SHM-SACDs using these new 2013 DSD transfers, used for the Platinum SHM-CDs.

I could not afford to buy them a second time, given the unit price.

But I wouldn't say no to such a re-release of 10cc: The Original Soundtrack, which I unfortunately couldn't buy in time... and now it's too expensive.

Post by Goodwood September 18, 2013 (40 of 44)
I have generally been delighted with my SHM-SACDs and I really want Every Picture Tells a Story but these things cost £40 here by the time various charges have been applied.
I have a lot of music to replace over the years and at £40 each I could buy a Ferrari.

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