gagelle Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I bought a Japanese SHM CD of a Led Zeppelin album and was impressed by the improvement in sound quality: clear deep base, better seperation etc. For some reason, they also seem more durable. Remember when CDs came out? They were marketed as a scratch proof improvement to records. I have to laugh at this one. Not only do they scratch easily, but when scratched, they become almost unplayable. What a massive scam to get the public to purchase new equipment and fall for the idea-- "it's digital, it has to be an improvement over records." Admittedly, there have been some terrific CD pressings. But getting back to SHM, I was thinking: This is the way CDs should have been made. But alas, the downside is that they cost about twice as much as an ordinary CD. Any other opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I like records, cause you don't need equalization, they don't wear out or scratch. ............. ......................... .... ... no wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 The reason I switched to CDs in 1985 was 12db more bass (record grooves restricted the amount), no hum, no hiss, no distortion, no pops, no scratches, no rumble, no wow, no RIAA equalization unless they made a verbatim copy of the tape, no undersized hole in the center, no warpage, no off center hole, no poor cartridge performance tracking, no feedback, no silent footsteps to prevent needle bounce. no wearing out the grooves chopping the high frequencies, no groove noise, etc. I imagine once you get used to years of listening to the "record slop" the crystal clear CD's sound terrible. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 The SHM really are an improvement that's for sure. I suppose if you want to have a little fun build up a battery (just a resistor in series) supply for a green LED and use a little blue tack to position the LED so that it floods your CD on the playing side (personally I like to have it fire into the edge of the disk while it plays, If you wire in a small switch you can toggle it off and on and compare. Sanding the outter edge and the inner edge and clear section with 220 grit paper (dust and wash after) then use a green or black marker pen to treat the sanded areas helps a CD so does a coating of wax, I like Johnsons past wax wipe on wipe off.. You can also wipe the top surface and both sides of the centre hole with a non sented dryer sheet to get some anti static on the disk. Then aside from getting a good DAC you best hang out at Vinyl Engine and learn more about Record playback. That way you don't have to take flack for having a different opinion. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I bought a Japanese SHM CD of a Led Zeppelin album and was impressed by the improvement in sound quality: clear deep base, better seperation etc. For some reason, they also seem more durable. But getting back to SHM, I was thinking: This is the way CDs should have been made. But alas, the downside is that they cost about twice as much as an ordinary CD. Any other opinions? Interesting. I think I made a post or two about these SHM discs quite a while back. But yes, you took the words right outof my mouth. "This is the way CDs should have been made" (when they first came out). They are definitely kind of pricey (well, actually a lot more pricey). The first one I bought was a SHM-SACD sampler which wasn't too expensive. It also contains a regular CD for comparison. No comparison needed. The tracks on the SHM-SACD are among, if not the best I have heard. The Marvin Gaye song What's Going On and 10cc's I'm not in Love ~ WOW. There's simply stuff on there I've never heard before. Bob Babbitt's bass on What's Going On is just like I remember live electric bass of that era sounding. It's the kind of sound that made me want to play the bass in the first place. The vocal textures in 10cc's I'm Not in Love are just amazing. And yes, the low end seems to dig down deeper on these discs. Everyone I've played these for has had the same impression. I just purchased several more of these. Deep Purple's Book of Taliesyn and Shades of Deep Purple both on SHM HQHD CD, and Shades of Deep Purple and Blind Faith, both on SHM SACD. I just got these in the mail this morning and can't wait to listen to them tonight. I hope the remastering/transfer was done well. I'll be sure to give a report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Gagelle asked for comments. In my experience, CD's are much more scratch resistant that LP's. My collection of LP's in college eventually became too horrible to play. Granted, some of it was taking less than ultra care and a great amount of play. If a CD gets scratched often it can be remedied. It is common knowledge that some early pop CDs were improperly mastered or simply did not sound like the LP for one reason or another. I suspect that in come cases they did faithfully reproduce the master tape before the master tape was processed for making an LP . But that is not the fault of the technology. I also suspect that many well respected pop recording on LP and/or CD have the "right" amount of compression and processing -- even though critics always blame compression, bit rate, bit depth, dithering equalization, or some other buzz word, for something they don't like. Classical CD's in the early days were often very excellent and continue to be. It is annoying when some armchair critic runs down the Red Book standard and then advocates LP's or super digital recordings as inherently superior. In my view, superior results are the result of good mixing and mastering.processes. You can find these superior results in LP's or CD's or high end digital but it is the mixing engineer's work. BTW, I think someplace PWK said that in a comparison of a a live instrument, and at recording, sometimes the recording is judged better. That is what I think. Smile. WMcD . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gagelle Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 I wrote comments about CDs a while ago and have since learned some things. There's a big difference in sound quality from a well engineered CD player than from an inexpensive mass market player. I never knew that people spent thousands on CD players. I am not saying that it's necessary to spend that much to get superior sound quality. But after some research, I found that better CD players have well designed DAC circuits. A few months ago, I bought a Grant Fidelidy Tube DAC, hooked it up to my Emotiva CD player and was startled by the improvement in sound quality. There was a clarity and refinement in the music that I never experienced from a CD before. A few months later, I bought a Grant Fidelity tube CD player and have never looked back. I'm finally into my CD collection and sometimes prefer the tube sound to my MC cartridge which can be a bit harsh at times. I finally understand why so many Klipsch owners like tubes. Horn type speakers just mate so well with a good tube setup. One day, if I can afford it, I would like to go completely to tubes. So, IMHO, the problem I was having with CD sound was with the equipment I was using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 BTW, I think someplace PWK said that in a comparison of a a live instrument, and at recording, sometimes the recording is judged better. WMcD Absolutely true Gil. In regards to what PWK said (I believe this comment is somewhere in the Klipsch Audio Papers), he made reference to an acquaintance of his from the military who attended a live demonstration comparison in England between a couple of high quality playback systems and a live orchestra. Colonel or Sergeant whoever commented "The orchestra came in third" I actually witnessed this phenomena myself at the Chicago Summer Consumer Electronics show back in the 80's. I believe it was AR doing another live vs recording demo against a live drummer. Most people thought the recording was the live drummer, even being able to see the drummer right in front of them (not blind ~ or maybe they were, LOL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Well recorded, well mastered, well pressed is just that....well done...... I don't take sides as I just love to hear music, and whichever medium does it the best is what I go to....... I love the ritual of vinyl, I love the ease of my music server...... but what I go for is the overwhelming feeling of joy, hairs tingly, tears start to well up, of the emotional response to a good edition..... no matter which medium is used to reproduce it... yes i have my favorites...... i have some great vinyl, really awesome 1st pressings, great remasters........ and some just $uck out loud.... Same for all the incarnations of digital....... Guess it's the price we pay for loving music..... buying multiple copies of everything we love, even if the wife needs a new vacuum cleaner..... ( I'm so glad she's not on this forum or I'd be dead by now..... lol ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.H.E. Droid Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I looked up a bit more information on this "new" cd format, and found that it's not a new format at all. It's just a different die material for the disk. I also found the claims to be absurd, and apparently written by someone who has no idea how digital technology works. There were no substantive technical tests, such as a bit to bit comparison of an SHD and conventional disk, which would be the ultimate test. And the subjective "audiopile' report, well, read it yourself: " I heard more definition, more air, smoother textures and nuances, a lot more depth, reduced digititus of all types, more of an analog sound and feel, bigger dynamics micro and macro …the whole ball of wax. I put some L’Art du Son on the SHM-CD for even better results. " That's pure audiopile mumbo jumbo, right down to the application of snake oil. I'm sure I won't be wasting any money on this "technology" anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Good work, droid. I'd point out that I can produce a CD with two versions, one with "Awesome Audio Augmention (AAA)" processing and one without and ensure that the twice the price AAA version sounds better. As to Gil's comment on Redbook vs newer digital formats, I'd say partially true. Just a look at the specs will convince one of the wider everything in DSD as opposed to Redbook. OTOH, if you don't need the "extra" for your project the difference is that of using a right sized glass for your beer or one that has twice the needed capacity. The beer will taste the same. I have, and have recorded, Redbook that is (by even prejudiced ears) as good or better than vinyl. It isn't rocket science in that if you use the right mikes in the right place in the right space, choose a format to record that has specs that meet or exceed the characteristics of the source, and use the right electonics between them and the data storage device (analog or digital) you'll get awesome and accurate sound. I am open to be proven wrong. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseyrevolver Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I have found that rubbing I Can't Believe It's Not Butter onto one's CDs with cheesecloth does wonders for the dynamics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I have found that rubbing I Can't Believe It's Not Butter onto one's CDs with cheesecloth does wonders for the dynamics. Makes a tasty snack, too. [] Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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