[sorry about the typo in the title of this topic I moved to here, it is *my* typo]
Ok Alain, let's see;
I am trying to find articles that explain in not so technical words what is the difference we should hear between a regular CD format song and its high resolution equivalent.
Already here it goes wrong, because it is a most tough project within itself to find properly HiRes. We can well say that any old stuff is not suitable, just because it wasn't made for it. This summarized, only if you can proove that there's no 5.1 recording of the same, the HiRes will be original, and no anomalies have to be expected.
Looking at what HDTracks offers, it says nothing, because they will be offering the 2ch version of what went along with the original 5.1 DVD-A, and you need to find the DVD-A first to find whether there's 5.1 on it. Since I tried this the other way around (like digging out Amazon and others) - proove that there's only 2ch on it - and since this failed, you will be having the same problem. You just can't see what was on the original DVD-A until you have it in your hands. Being able to look at the back cover helps though.
Only modern HiRes recordings from "rare" labels will do the job well. Forget about old recordings.
I am aware that in the seventies, 20khz was quite the maximum at which the microphones and magnetic media could go.
In my view this is not important. Digitizing that as 24/192 is, because it will eliminate the "stepping distortion" from the too low sample rate (44.1) otherwise.
So, I really don't see the problem at remastering from tape at 24/192. Small problem here : where are those remasters. I don't know them.
Don't confuse this with the old HiRes ones, like the Machine Head example.
It is my belief that some high resolution music has been remastered with better equipment, better electronics, better attention to the small details and with little to no compression nor artificial adding from generation tapes very close to the first generation tape.
I think we can agree about this. As long as we know that this is about 16/44.1 again ...
In between the lines :
I would love to eventually get your DAC here in my home...
Maybe you can recognize that I at exactly no single place anywhere advertise the NOS1 for HiRes material. With this I only want to say that I have no bias anywhere at claiming that HiRes is rubbish. Of course the NOS1 can do HiRes as no other DAC, but there is no material, while Redbook is all over. And thus is is made explicitly for *that*. No matter is will be as good for HiRes (because electrically it will play 100% the same in either case).
This is to explain how I feel about hi-res... I am not necessarily thinking that buying a hi-res file will automatically mean "better sound", but I hope each time that the music was treated with care from the master tapes...
Sadly I don't have the Bill Evans album, so I must assume that you will be right on it being properly done.
The point is (also) that it really doesn't take all that much to let sound an old recording good. The contrary; they most often just are good, but are treated wrongly by our filtering DACs when presented in 16/444.1;
When Hires is done well, there is no filtering, and all it takes now is the DAC leaving it completely alone. As said, this is not about high frequency content, but about no stepping distortion being in there, plus no filtering being applied.
I know of the malpractice with "upsampling" (for me it is the same as if someone was taking an MP3 song and converting it to WAV, in a effort to make fast money). HDtracks is supposed to have taken care of this now. Supposed...
First of all HDTracks will *never* have taken care of this, because they can't. They don't produce themselves and won't reject what has been officially made earlier (DVD-A etc.). Point is and remains : it always has been wrong, and it only is now that we (can) see it.
Btw, I see this for a few years already.
In your last post, you mention that the filtering applied to the music destroys any advantage that could apply to most of hi-res music. I guess that you are talking about the "shortcuts" many music companies are taking to profit from our naivety ?
No, not really. I go further : Those digital mastering (recording) engineers just don't know what they are doing. I don't feel like explaining or justify my words about this, but just think of loudness wars and see that there's really nothing much to debate about, as long as this is happening.
It would be my advise to not be obsessed about HiRes too much. I see nothing to gain as long as we can get the Redbook playback right. This is what I am trying, and this is what has quite succeeded (ok, it needs some DAC, too bad).
You play Bill evans, but I played Ella Fitzgerald last night. If you can point out what's wrong with that while being here ...
All summarized, I'm sure I sound a bit harsh. But maybe I'm fedup with all these "hoaxes". I too thought HiRes would bring a huge leap for better SQ. It never did no matter how I tried, and it's audible within one second really. Since half a year or so I started measuring it (which since 3 months or so everybody is doing), so now it has become a disappointing thing. But, it is since maybe four weeks that I know that already the DVD-A's are/were wrong, and *this* I didn't expect at all. So now I'm extra disappointed because there is no way out. Unless ... unless the large labels (if they still exist) are going to remaster in 24/192 *if* the tapes are not destroyed or can be found anyway.
If only guys like Neil Young would have produced properly sounding Hires. Technically all this 24/176.4 is ok (just remastered from tape as far as I can see), but the worst sounding ever. Unlistenable. This, while the "original" 16/44.1's sound gorgeous.
What to do ?
Peter
