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Post by liffy99 on Nov 11, 2016 16:58:06 GMT
I've not got that many 'hi res' recordings but thought I'd give the Pure Audio (and similar 24/96 + recordings) a try.
So bought an Oppo 103 and an HDMI de-embedder to strip the high res LPCM output and feed into my DAC.
Anyway, not got round to trying it yet but started looking for some discs . . .
Oh dear, what a meagre selection there is. Seem to be either quite obscure musicians (I'm sure some will be fine) or re-releases of old material in the new format.
Now I understood that Pure Audio was meant to be 'uncompressed' and offer the 'studio master' sound but I'm not so sure.
First those old re-releases would never have been recorded in high res digital formats in the first place. Other comments on the web suggest there may be unscrupulous practice by record companies in simply upsampling lower res versions and compression (ie the 'loudness wars' issue) is still going on.
How can I have any faith in what I'm buying ?
I'm getting the feeling that hi res on disc is already dead in the water.
Perhaps I'd better see if there are some SACDs out there . . ..
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 11, 2016 17:03:55 GMT
The same happened with SACD, certainly in its early days. Many were just Red Book CD recordings 'upsampled'. Not that there is anything wrong with Red Book recordings, imo.  |
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Post by John on Nov 11, 2016 17:26:47 GMT
Just the extra you pay for it to be on a different disc
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Post by ChrisB on Nov 11, 2016 17:53:44 GMT
The record companies must surely, by now, be running out of new ways to sell people yet another copy of Brother in Arms?
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 11, 2016 18:16:18 GMT
The White Album on Blu Ray ---- Yes !!!  |
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 11, 2016 18:22:54 GMT
I think that quite a few albums in the Naxos (mainly classical?) catalogue are being issued on Blu Ray.
They tend to support new formats.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 11, 2016 20:16:33 GMT
As with all the formats there are great releases that show up the poor ones for the resampled crap that they are.
I think that a good red book CD does take some beating in a decent player, so I only buy on SACD that which I already know and like in the hope that I might get a little more. It sometimes pays off, sometimes not.
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Post by liffy99 on Nov 12, 2016 9:02:01 GMT
Yep, it's all about the original recording and mastering I agree.
I've just had a quick canter through Ebay at SACDs - phew, I could get a very, very nice meal out for the price of many of them.
Ah well, at least the Oppo does a superb job of playing video (and acts as a small HDMI hub).
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Post by liffy99 on Nov 13, 2016 8:30:10 GMT
I've probably been a little nieve (misinformed ?) about Pure Audio Blu Ray. Is there any difference between their recordings, say at 24/96 and any other high res recordings such as those to download from Technics Tracks (to pick one one site at random) ?
The Pure Audio blurb talks about "uncompressed" studio master quality content but is it really ?
Not sure now why I thought trying Pure Audio would be worthwhile, little choice available, I am uncertain about the provenance of recordings and it's a big price hike.
Ah for the good old days when the medium (let's say Lp) was what you got and you tried to make the best you could with it via your equipment. Now we seem to be enslaved by producers and manufacturers constantly tinkering with, not just the source, but a myriad number of ways to connect equipment together and growing incompatibility everywhere. Why couldn't they just put the equivalent of a "loudness" button (remember those ?) on an iPod rather than compressing the hell out of the recording ?
I can understand people's frustration with the whole shebang. High quality audio is technically perfectly feasible but the barriers to achieve it with reasonable ease grow ever more numerous. Perhaps it's time to throw in the towel, buy an AV receiver (my wife would love to lose some of the 5 remotes, 12 power leads and rats nest of interconnects in my system) and just go with the mainstream. I'm sure I was happiest with my first foray into hifi 40 years ago with my Goldring GL75, Leak Delta 30 and Sandwich speakers . . . . . .
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Post by pre65 on Nov 13, 2016 10:13:47 GMT
Upgradeitis is a terrible affliction, and the cure is (fortunately) relatively easy.
However much you spend, there will ALWAYS be something a tad better somewhere or other.
So, just sit back and enjoy the music. 
It's surprising how often I hear of "audiophiles" who dig old kit out from under the bed, or in the loft, fire it up and comment about how good it sounds and then utter "why did I upgrade".
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Post by MartinT on Nov 13, 2016 11:15:29 GMT
It's surprising how often I hear of "audiophiles" who dig old kit out from under the bed, or in the loft, fire it up and comment about how good it sounds and then utter "why did I upgrade".
I've never heard anyone say that, but I can believe some would (based on what I've heard). |
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 13, 2016 11:17:38 GMT
I've kind of 'thrown in the towel', but in a very positive way as far as I am concerned .... I don't play vinyl, I (almost) never play CDs, I've never succumbed to the hi-resolution-audio affliction other than quick dips that are soon rejected as irrelevant. Spotify Premium -> Laptop -> DAC (cheap Chinese) -> amp (vintage) -> speakers (££supadupa, hi-tech, modern). Sorted. I listen to 2 or 3x as much music as I used to, and am exploring new music like never before thanks to the vast Spotify database. Pure heaven. |
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 13, 2016 11:50:19 GMT
It's surprising how often I hear of "audiophiles" who dig old kit out from under the bed, or in the loft, fire it up and comment about how good it sounds and then utter "why did I upgrade".
I've never heard anyone say that, but I can believe some would (based on what I've heard). Quite a few 'Wammers*' have taken that route over the last year or so, I think. * HifiWigwam forum members. |
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Post by Barrington on Nov 16, 2016 20:31:27 GMT
I've not got that many 'hi res' recordings but thought I'd give the Pure Audio (and similar 24/96 + recordings) a try. So bought an Oppo 103 and an HDMI de-embedder to strip the high res LPCM output and feed into my DAC. Anyway, not got round to trying it yet but started looking for some discs . . . Oh dear, what a meagre selection there is. Seem to be either quite obscure musicians (I'm sure some will be fine) or re-releases of old material in the new format. Now I understood that Pure Audio was meant to be 'uncompressed' and offer the 'studio master' sound but I'm not so sure. First those old re-releases would never have been recorded in high res digital formats in the first place. Other comments on the web suggest there may be unscrupulous practice by record companies in simply upsampling lower res versions and compression (ie the 'loudness wars' issue) is still going on. How can I have any faith in what I'm buying ? I'm getting the feeling that hi res on disc is already dead in the water. Perhaps I'd better see if there are some SACDs out there . . .. I have done all this just before you , I have CA 752BD and started buying some Blu-Ray audio discs , my DAC didn't flag up the 192hKz so got an em-bedder , a bit more research and I changed my DAC for a NAD which has HDMI input so got rid of the embedder. So the discs , High Fidelity Pure Audio (the clear cases) are reckoned to be the people who put the best recordings out , but like you say very limited and possibly no more coming. This site has all the info on the quality and availability of discs , there is also a link to the new site which is now probably better. www.sa-cd.net |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 16, 2016 21:40:18 GMT
Good site, that. Been going since the early days of SACD.
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