A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD releases

[Richard]

Hi all

 

Like all of us, i miss the old Mojave site, so here (finally) is my  little blog where i will be releasing new Quadraphonic releases along with a series of HDCD albums decoded and released as 20-bit PCM DVDA's.

 

The address of the blog is: http://quadhi-resarchive.blogspot.com

 

My first release is in the 20-bit HDCD series, which is: "Joe Walsh - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get".

 

Please do leave a comment on what you think of the idea of releasing these albums, quality etc.

 

Hopefully, the much promised Mike Oldfield Quad release will be imminent....... 

 

I'd like to make it clear that i will only be releasing my own works, and no "up-mixes". I personally don't think it's right to release other peoples work without mentioning the original creator.......

 

 

Enjoy   :-)

 

 

OD

[datdemdar]

Thank you very much.

[david n sanchez]

Thanks a lot OD!

2010/1/28 Richard <zoan...@yahoo.co.uk>

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[grill]

Nice effort, thanks: It may be entered on the surround sound link list
of the group.

On jan. 28, 09:39, david n sanchez <dnin...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks a lot OD!
>

> 2010/1/28 Richard <zoanne...@yahoo.co.uk>

> >http://groups.google.com/group/SurroundSound?hl=en- Idézett szöveg elrejtése -
>
> - Idézett szöveg megjelenítése -

[bob maddock]

nice! thanks!

[gfv]

Hi Richard,

Have you listened (on h/w with 24 bit DAC) to the HDCD decoded 20 bit
tracks and compared against the un-decoded 16 bit tracks? Do you hear
any improvement?

Is this HDCD.EXE decoder reliable? I did a test on a FLAC encoded rip
from a HDCD title (Bad Company). For now I could only listen on a 16
bit soundcard, but the decoded track has a lower volume and sounds
thinner.

Thanks,
gfv

[cepl...@aol.com]

very nice.  Hope to get my act together soon to make some contributions of my own.     - Carl

[Richard]

Hi

 

Believe it or not, i haven't gotten around to do a comparison between the two, have to do a lot when I'm able to, and A-B comparisons do come down the list some, but i will get around to it. I've listened to the decoded version and just going from memory it seems "better", but again not actually listened with the third ear.

 

As to the HDCD program, it is reliable, but slightly bugged. as you mention, the HDCD output is some 6db lower than the 16-bit, but that's not such an issue and easily solved. As to sounding thinner, i can't agree I'm afraid. I have a pair of studio monitors in my little studio and a good pair of speakers on my main stereo system and one thing i liked was the better detail in the bass, it seemed easier to follow the bass line (and there's me saying I've not done a detailed listen  lol). Plus the cymbals and hi-hat seemed to have a more realistic ring to them.

 

But without actually sitting and comparing i couldn't say more, but to me it doesn't sound thinner. am confused, perhaps it's you soundcard only being 16-bit perhaps?

 

Anyone whose downloaded it have any views?

 

 

OD

[Profiteroles]

Cool, it looks great!!!
I'll see if I can give you the links to a couple of my conversions!!

[Lokkerman]

Guys
I've had a good stab at these and read some of the threads about the performance of the HDCD rip application.
IMHO, for what it's worth, there is a definite difference between the non HDCD and the HDCD decoded versions.
Reading some of the discussions however it appears that it is content related and back to whether compression is used on the master (which is always the case anyway).
I have DL'd off Avax the Yes collection (Japanese HDCDs) run them through the decoder and I will put the collection on OD's site, thanking the original ripper, these should be available tomorrow once uploading has finished. These discs are supposed to show the value of HDCD (in fact most Japanese HDCDs are supposed to be like this, so look for the gold versions like OD's Joe Walsh.)
The files I will be posting will be at 24/44k1 and I have not  corrected the 6dB level loss as I think it is up to the user, on HTPC players, replay gain can be set without affecting the sound quality so I left alone. If you want to make DVD-As of them - well then set the gain.
When I was younger I used to build and design ampilifiers, as a hobby and one of the tracks I used for tonal balance was Chaka Khan's - THrough the fire. I have this on the vinyl, CD and  "best of" which is a HDCD version.
I have now rendered the latter to 24/44k1 and I note that there are distinct differences, notably, more ambience, the bass is more rounded, the synths sound more analogue and Chaka's voice is sweeter (I don't think that was possible - Lol)

I can also post some tracks for ABX'ing.

Thanks to OD `for the site and opening up this new world, previously missed.

Next Stop Snow by Spock's Beard.

On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 7:04 PM, Profiteroles <empanad...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Cool, it looks great!!!
I'll see if I can give you the links to  a couple of my conversions!!

[VF]

Indeed! Added!

Great initiative OD!

-----Original Message-----
From: surrou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:surrou...@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of grill
Sent: Thursday, 28 January 2010 10:32 AM
To: SurroundSound
Subject: [SurroundSound] Re: A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD
releases

[VF]

Ooh, you said the word ABX :P.

 

Indeed, this is the start of opening up a new world! W00t.

[VF]

So the SACD digital PCM ripper has two options:

1. Take the easy road and produce a poorer job as a result (and receive not
undue complaints).

2. One does the hard yards and everyone loves the results, but because it's
so much work (and such an inaccessible way of ripping), nowhere near as much
stuff is output.

Possible solution?

3. Get everyone involved and collectively perhaps a good library of quality
rips can be shared :D.

??

-----Original Message-----
From: surrou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:surrou...@googlegroups.com]

On Behalf Of Cheezmo
Sent: Thursday, 28 January 2010 9:36 PM
To: SurroundSound
Subject: [SurroundSound] Warning about KeyserDemon transfers on Demonoid

he track marks on some of his uploads are incorrect.

The Sheryl Crow "The Globe Sessions" is one that is a particular mess.

Keyser said that he used downloaded cue sheets to create the chapter
markers on this title and since those are often not from the same/
SACD release, they may not match
as in this case.

Just a heads up if you are doing an conversions from his uploads, they
should playback start to finish just fine, AFAIK.

[Cheezmo]

Really sorry about messing up the topic of this discussion. Not sure what Google Groups had in mind. Anyway, here is the post that changed the topic, that I tried to delete...

--
The track marks on some of his uploads are incorrect.

The Sheryl Crow "The Globe Sessions" is one that is a particular mess.

Keyser said that he used downloaded cue sheets to create the chapter markers on this title and since those are often not from the same/SACD release, they may not match
as in this case.

Just a heads up if you are doing an conversions from his uploads, they should playback start to finish just fine, AFAIK.

I also just checked Toys in the Attic and indeed the chapter markers are off by a few seconds throughout.

There is a lot of work up there, wasted IMHO.

[jolson]

There's said to be dropouts on a few of Keyser's transfers as well.
And the earliest - before Demo-noid went down - didn't work on stand-
alones due to faulty video track, but he supplied a description how to
fix that.

[Stephen Disney]

OOOOHHHH!  Spocks Beard!
S

[Mikey Wenzel]

HUH?
Beard?
on HDCD?
when? where?
I just HAVE to get this

:-)
MIKEY

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:43:08 -0500
> Von: Stephen Disney <sthunde...@gmail.com>
> An: surrou...@googlegroups.com
> Betreff: Re: [SurroundSound] Re: A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD releases

--
"just turn around to the healing colors of sound" -
SB

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mikey Wenzel
sound engineer / musician
S�denstr. 14
85221 Dachau
Tel. 08131/335833
http://www.mikey-online.de
http://www.spocksbeard.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jetzt kostenlos herunterladen: Internet Explorer 8 und Mozilla Firefox 3.5 -
sicherer, schneller und einfacher! http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/atbrowser

[Lokkerman]

listened to it last night it's just so much better, there is a lot more depth and the compression has been lifted
I have the 3 CD boxed special so I will post on OD's site next week as still in the middle of the Yes stuff
Lokks

Südenstr. 14

85221 Dachau
Tel. 08131/335833
http://www.mikey-online.de
http://www.spocksbeard.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jetzt kostenlos herunterladen: Internet Explorer 8 und Mozilla Firefox 3.5 -
sicherer, schneller und einfacher! http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/atbrowser

--

[Mikey Wenzel]

Lokks,

please DO send me a link when done,
I think I must be the greatest Spock's fan of all time :-)
still I didn't know a Snow HDCD even existed

thanx

MIKEY

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:58:38 +0000
> Von: Lokkerman <phil.s...@gmail.com>

> > S�denstr. 14

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

S�denstr. 14

85221 Dachau
Tel. 08131/335833
http://www.mikey-online.de
http://www.spocksbeard.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nur noch bis 31.01.2010: DSL-Komplettpaket f�r 16,99 Euro/mtl.!*
http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/dsl02

[Mikey Wenzel]

Sorry everybody,

Lokks, please ignore my last post,
for y'all to know:
Spock's Beard Snow HDCD is available at avax

:-)

MIKEY

-------- Original-Nachricht --------

> Datum: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:58:38 +0000
> Von: Lokkerman <phil.s...@gmail.com>

> > S�denstr. 14

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

S�denstr. 14

85221 Dachau
Tel. 08131/335833
http://www.mikey-online.de
http://www.spocksbeard.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GRATIS f�r alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT!
Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

[Lokkerman]

Mikey
I was doing just that, now you need to get the dBPoweamp plugin
for those not familiar with AVAX, here's the link
http://avaxhome.ws/music/rock/progressive_rock/spocksbeard_snow_limited_hdcd.html

> > Südenstr. 14

> --

Südenstr. 14

85221 Dachau
Tel. 08131/335833
http://www.mikey-online.de
http://www.spocksbeard.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GRATIS für alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT!

Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

--

[VF]

BTW I'm sure MANY HDCDs are already available at avax, what.cd, demonoid,
torrents.ru and countless other places....however what hasn't happened is
somewhere (like this new HDCD blog :P) where people can truly know what's
what and they know what they're getting...

So Kudos to this development!

Again, I remind, that if you have any doubts about HDCD.exe's fidelity in
decoding as good as your dedicated HDCD player will (e.g. Oppo 980H), than I
suggest you simply share the original HDCD in compressed form (follow this
guide to make a perfect audiophile-pleasing EAC rip!
http://blowfish.be/eac/): it's only possibly just as good quality OR better
(following the logic that Oppo's decoding may be superior to the non
official HDCD.exe), AND smaller in size for everyone to download... :)

I'm *first* a fan of sharing formats in their original format, aka the
highest quality way of sharing it (with as little distortions or transcodes
from the original). And in *second* place, a fan of transcoding to other
formats which are more widely accessible while being as close to the
original format's quality as possible.

-----Original Message-----
From: surrou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:surrou...@googlegroups.com]

Sorry everybody,

:-)

MIKEY

> > Südenstr. 14

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Südenstr. 14

85221 Dachau
Tel. 08131/335833
http://www.mikey-online.de
http://www.spocksbeard.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GRATIS für alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT!

Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

--

[mircea raibulet]

Hi,Yet another dropout by Keyser:5.1 *DIGITAL* SACD to DTS By Keyser - Ronin Keating Destinatio n...."Ronin" is Ronan and the last 2 tracks have no fr chanell at all.

M

[Lokkerman]

Just to add a little bit more to this; the main difference between HDCD decoded by a player such as Oppo/Denon etc and the software variant is that the DAC does the decoding in hardware on the player.
Interestingly some DACs are common to soundcards and players...... thainking caps on guys....

[Noreltny]

I downloaded CD1 of Spock’s Beard Snow [HDCD] from avax. The CD1 of Snow is a single FLAC with CUE file. I opened the CUE file with foobar and saw that each track was 16-bit/44.1kHz.

 

Then I used dBpoweramp to convert/decode to 24-bit. dBpoweramp’s HDCD DSP plugin says, “Auto detects HDCDs (20 bit High Definition Audio CDs) and decodes to 24 bit. It is safe to use this effect for non-HDCD Audio CDs (audio is left as 16 bit).”

 

So I selected the FLAC file and from the right-click menu, picked ‘Convert To’. Then I added the DSP effect “HDCD” and converted it to FLAC. This should replace the original 16-bit FLAC with a new HDCD decoded 24-bit FLAC.

 

I opened the CUE file with foobar and the files still show 16-bit/44.1kHz.

 

Can anyone tell me what I did wrong?

 

If I can get this working correctly, I’d like to go through my CD collection (that I’m sure has more HDCD albums) and decode them to get the highest quality.

 

Thanks!!

[RW]

The HDCD format truly ROCKS! I have been into these for going on 6
years and have insisted that all of my stand-alone players support the
format. Fortunately, Oppo has bowed to my wishes and even the BDP-83
still supports HDCD. The sound quality of HDCD is decidedly superior
to standard CD, much better bottom-end, a more "authoritative"
presence, perhaps this is the extended dynamic range I'm hearing. I
have quite a few HDCDs in my collection, perhaps I'll start a separate
folder and begin to share them out on The Hub.

FYI, ALL of the commercial Grateful Dead albums that I have collected
were authored using HDCD and thet sound terrific. Also, "The Other
Ones - The Strange Remain" (members of the Dead, after Gerry's death,
along with Jimmy Herring and Steve Kimock doing the "Gerry" parts on
guitars!!) is authored in HDCD and is one of the BEST-sounding live
recordings I have ever heard. Get this one if you'd like to hear just
how good HDCD can be..

Here's a link if you'd like to buy the original disc for reasonable
money:

http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Strange-Remain_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ3295656

-RW-
.

> for those not familiar with AVAX, here's the linkhttp://avaxhome.ws/music/rock/progressive_rock/spocksbeard_snow_limit...
> .html

>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Mikey Wenzel <MikeyWen...@gmx.de> wrote:
>
> Sorry everybody,
>
> Lokks, please ignore my last post,
> for y'all to know:
> Spock's Beard Snow HDCD is available at avax
>
> :-)
>
> MIKEY
>
> -------- Original-Nachricht --------
>
> > Datum: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:58:38 +0000

> > Von: Lokkerman <phil.steep...@gmail.com>

> > An: surrou...@googlegroups.com
> > Betreff: Re: [SurroundSound] Re: A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD
>
> releases
>
>
>
>
>
> > listened to it last night it's just so much better, there is a lot more
> > depth and the compression has been lifted
> > I have the 3 CD boxed special so I will post on OD's site next week as
> > still
> > in the middle of the Yes stuff
> > Lokks
>

> > On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 7:48 AM, Mikey Wenzel <MikeyWen...@gmx.de> wrote:
>
> > > HUH?
> > > Beard?
> > > on HDCD?
> > > when? where?
> > > I just HAVE to get this
>
> > > :-)
> > > MIKEY
>
> > > -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> > > > Datum: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:43:08 -0500

> > > > Von: Stephen Disney <sthunderroc...@gmail.com>

> > > > An: surrou...@googlegroups.com
> > > > Betreff: Re: [SurroundSound] Re: A new Blog site for Quadraphonic &
> > HDCD
> > >      releases
>
> > > > OOOOHHHH!  Spocks Beard!
> > > > S
>

> > > > On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Lokkerman <phil.steep...@gmail.com>

> > > > <empanadilla...@yahoo.com>wrote:

> > > sicherer, schneller und einfacher!http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/atbrowser

> Tel. 08131/335833http://www.mikey-online.dehttp://www.spocksbeard.com

>
> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> GRATIS für alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT!

> Jetzt freischalten unterhttp://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

>
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> - Show quoted text -

[Lokkerman]

did you get a log file? did you click overwrite existing files - know it sounds stupid but one dreaded missed click :P (LOL)

[Noreltny]

Yes, a log file was included in the rar. Sorry for the stupid question… but, am I suppose to do something with the log file?

 

I tried again:

 

1)      I extracted the files from the rar.

2)      I used dBpoweramp to convert the original FLAC with the HDCD DSP plugin active.

3)      This time, instead of overwriting the original FLAC, I had it create a new file by simply changing the name of the destination file.

4)      The new file is slightly smaller than the original, this is probably because the FLAC encoder was set to compression level 8.

5)      I then renamed the original file by just appending .ori to the end

6)      I renamed the new file to match the original file.

7)      I opened the CUE file with foobar which is paired with the new FLAC file.

8)      The tracks are still listed as 16-bit.

 

Thanks for your help.

[VF]

Nah I have a feeling the decoders are different too..

 

HDCD.exe, afaik is custom code made by someone who made it up themselves....it does the job but I’m not sure if it does quite as accurate a job as an official decoder like in the Oppo (I’m not leaning either way). E.g. what about the 6 decibels softer thing? (or whatever it was...from a few posts up).

 

This is like the DSD2PCM.exe program which is not an official DSD to PCM converter but code made up by the author...there are other much better ones out there like the one I released at Christmas.

 

But I’m not sure about this one...

[VF]

I'm sure HDCDs, like most DVD-As and SACDs, are usually well mastered too
(with more consideration for audiophiles and attention to detail)...which
imo is a huge part of why our favourite formats sound so good. The extra
resolution is another matter but I'm still in a long slow process of making
up my mind on where I stand on that ;). Either way, I'll never leave these
formats, I'm too much of an obsessive audio lover :D.

[Lokkerman]

not sure about the HDCD.exe but the plugin in DBPoweramp is a different kettle of fish, presumably (so the blogs say) taken from the WMP (bearing in mind Microsoft bought the IPR) coding which is exact
Noreltny - I haven't a clue what is wrong now as the same process gives me results, and by log file I mean the output from the  dBAmp file, sorry I wasn't explicit, have you had this log file?

[Noreltny]

It doesn’t look like dBpoweramp is generating a log file.

 

Anyhow, it looks like everything is ok after all.

 

I played around with this a little. Like I said, with Spock’s Beard – Snow CD1, the converted FLAC was still showing 16-bit after opening the CUE file with foobar. I decided to extract to individual tracks using foobar’s convert util. The resulting tracks were indeed 24-bit.

 

I also discovered that when I opened the CUE files for Spock’s Beard – Snow CD2 and CD3, all of their track were listed as 24-bit, Not sure why this wasn’t the case with CD1 until after extracting tracks, but I guess it is no big deal. I went ahead and extracted all the tracks from CD2 and CD3 and added them to my music library.

 

I also have the regular Spock’s Beard – Snow CD, which only has 2 discs. These were in my library and encoded as lossless WMA. Just for kicks, I used dBpoweramp on one of these WMAs to see what would happen when I converted it to FLAC with the HDCD DSP plugin active. The WMA converted into a 24-bit FLAC, so I guess my purchased discs are also HDCD. I’ll have to dig through my box to see if the HDCD logo is on the artwork.

[Lokkerman]

lots of HDCD rippers have said this - many albums unclassified
enjoy...
:-)
Lokks

[Noreltny]

After a quick Google search, I discovered this list of known HDCD albums:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f9/hdcd-list-65414/

[VF]

I’ve now read that it’s normal for HDCD decoded output to be 6dB less...

 

Interesting about the dBpoweramp plugin...it might be as good as HDCD decoding can possibly be then.... though I’d want to confirm if I were to download a dbpoweramp-decoded HDCD myself....but even then, I think my preference for HDCD sharing is original packed 16-bit files (perfect EAC rip), just like ISO is for DVD-A, compared to FLAC J.

 

Mind you that’s my preference for *sharing*, not necessarily personal playback. Hi-res FLAC media library is the future, beybey :p. Once HDDs become capacitive enough for us crazy audiophiles to have enough room for both the original ISOs (as an archive of the original format) AND Hi-res FLAC files for practical playback in ones own media library on a HDMI HTPC/high quality media streamer, I’ll be converting my entire DVD-A, Blu-ray, SACD, HDCD, Quad rip, DTS DVD (etc) collection, ALL to FLAC and have it tagged perfectly :DD.

 

And THEN I’ll be waiting for HDDs to become even *more* capacitive so that I can actually then backup my tediously-tagged and lifelong labor of love known as my personal media library :O. Preferably some crazy unlimited internet backup service (google, hurry up!) so that I have offsite backup in case of fire etc :P.

[VF]

Blu-spec CD....that's a lame enhanced sort of CD where the 1s and 0s are
etched onto the disc with more precision (using a blue laser rather than a
normal red laser) and thus apparently jitter or something like that is
reduced...Something like that anyway...google will find you all the info.

But long story short: if you ripped it it's nothing but a normal CD rip, the
only "advantage" (and what a tiny advantage) lies in the original physical
commercially-pressed disc that you buy.

It's money-making, and nothing more...oh i just realised that a CD rip
played on an SSD drive (even a normal HDD) is probably more "jitterless"
than a blu spec CD AYWAY, LOL! What a joke...

-----Original Message-----
From: surrou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:surrou...@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of Tab Cursor
Sent: Friday, 29 January 2010 6:11 PM
To: SurroundSound
Subject: [SurroundSound] Re: A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD
releases

Richard,

Good times!

I'm pretty sure I have several of these sweet Japanese HDCD rips. Not
quad, but new sound. All are in FLAC format. Is it the same quality?
Artwork included.

Are we also considering "blu-spec" CDs?

Finally, how do we start sharing on your site?

Thanks,

Tab Cursor

On Jan 27, 6:24 pm, "Richard" <zoanne...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi all
>
> Like all of us, i miss the old Mojave site, so here (finally) is my
 little blog where i will be releasing new Quadraphonic releases along with
a series of HDCD albums decoded and released as 20-bit PCM DVDA's.
>
> The address of the blog is:http://quadhi-resarchive.blogspot.com
>
> My first release is in the 20-bit HDCD series, which is: "Joe Walsh - The
Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get".
>
> Please do leave a comment on what you think of the idea of releasing these
albums, quality etc.
>
> Hopefully, the much promised Mike Oldfield Quad release will be
imminent.......  
>
> I'd like to make it clear that i will only be releasing my own works, and
no "up-mixes". I personally don't think it's right to release other peoples
work without mentioning the original creator.......
>
> Enjoy   :-)
>
> OD

[Lokkerman]

Noreltny
What a find; perhaps OD may want to make this into a list we can all contribute to?
Sorry OD - no pressure meant we can all help on this - just you have the lead:)
VF: agreed the wonderfull thing about this new HDCD dynamic is that to all that save lossless, it's plus ca change, in fact I've already  started paralleling conversions in FLAC with the originals in APE or WV, that way all the tracke data is saved and then the dreaded ABX can happen, BTW IMHO HDCD is better
and how many TLAs on one line??? :P

[Andre Massa]

I downloaded ELP - King Biscuit 1974. I think it's a "must have". it's an awesome performance.
Although it's defined as "mastered with an excessive use of compression" , It is still very enjoyable.
I only changed the CUE file to Split "Karn Evil 9" (34min) into its 4 distinct parts. 
Thanks

2010/1/29 Lokkerman <phil.s...@gmail.com>

--
Sds;
André Massa

http://www.linkedin.com/in/andremassa

Sent from Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

[Joe A]

Here's what I've ended up doing as far as HDCDs are concerned.

I keep my CD-quality stuff segregated from high res stuff. Although
it is irritating my inner OCD nerdiness having the same content
duplicated, I'm keeping the encoded 16-bit stuff with the CD sourced
material and the decoded 20-bit version with the high res stuff.

[Bob Russell]

Thanks to all those involved with setting up “A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD releases”. I have been experimenting with HTPC for about 5 years now. I knew Flac files existed before but have not experienced them until downloading a few of your HDCD releases. So I am new to Flac and foobar. Some things are a bit confusing to me and perhaps you can help me.

First when I play the flacs in Yes - 91025 (HDCD) the foobar console says “Initializing DVD-Audio Watermark Detector: 6ch 44100Hz” but in the bottom left hand corner of the foobar player window it says “826 kbps | 44100 Hz | stereo |”. So are these HDCD stereo or 5.1?

Next I suspect the sound coming from my rear speakers may not be correct. It does not seem as discreet as DTS, AC3, and surround DVD Dolby music I have played with other players. So I am wondering if the front speakers is being reproduced in the rear speakers.

In the Active DSPs section of Foobar Preferenes I have “Convert Stereo to 4 channels” active.

To try to gather more understanding about the fore mentioned problems I found a site with Flac test files
http://www.gimell.com/musicstore-download-test-files.aspx

When I download and play the two files below in Foobar of 6 channels I only hear 2 (front-left and front-right) 4 other channels are silent.

Studio Master 5.1
http://gimell-download.cctechnology.com/test/5fefbd3f-63a2-4d4e-aed7-2b1daa5ea510.aspx

Studio Master Pro 5.1
http://gimell-download.cctechnology.com/test/e557d437-82e3-4219-a43c-c7f6f792e068.aspx

Every flac test file on this gimell webpage when played on my system have no sound in the rear speakers even though I have “Convert Stereo to 4 channels” active in the Active DSPs section of Foobar Preferenes.

So many mysteries? Perhaps you have some ideas or fixes.

Lastly I am wondering if my problems could be caused because I have an SPDIF connection to my surround amplifier. Then again perhaps my sound card can’t handle these HDCD type flacs.

Thanks

RARBAR

-----Original Message-----
>From: Joe A <joe.a...@gmail.com>
>Sent: Jan 31, 2010 6:48 PM
>To: SurroundSound <surrou...@googlegroups.com>
>Subject: [SurroundSound] Re: A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD releases
>

[Richard]

Hi Bob

 

I'm afraid i can only answer one part of your questions as I'm not computer based as far as playback goes.

 

The HDCD's you downloaded from my blog are stereo only.

 

Hopefully others may be able to help you with the other problems

 

 

OD

[Joe A]

Bob:

Let me try to address what I can.

- HDCD is 44.1kHz and stereo only, 20-bit. Not sure about foobar and
the DVD-A watermark detector warning.

- Overall I think a lot of your problems may be coming from the fact
that you're connected by SPDIF. If you don't have the ability to
generate Dolby Digital or DTS on the fly in your sound card, the
computer is going to be putting out stereo sound (as it does from any
other player). For DVDs to pass DD/DTS to your receiver, you have to
select "pass through" which sends the unmolested DD/DTS to the
receiver where it is decoded. Without the "DD Live" or similar
feature where your sound card will encode 5.1 to DD/DTS (and lower the
quality of the files you are playing), you aren't going to hear
surround but only 2 channel stereo.

- For 5.1 sound, FLAC can handle multichannel files and that's
probably the stuff you mentioned downloading. But to play it, without
the ability to encode DD/DTS on the fly in your sound card connected
via SPDIF, you need one of the following options:

- 5.1 analog out to your receiver
- HDMI

Unfortunately, it stinks but SPDIF is limited IIRC to 1.4 mbps which
is the data rate of a redbook CD, and DD is actually at a fraction of
that. It isn't capable of more than stereo and high-res audio without
DD/DTS encoding.

Also, another problem down the road is the Windows system mixer that
will mix together all the sounds coming from your system in the
"native" format you select in control panel. To bypass this and get
the unmolested audio, you need to involve ASIO or similar "direct"
sound playback methods.

Joe

On Feb 1, 6:39 pm, Bob Russell <rar...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Thanks to all those involved with setting up “A new Blog site for Quadraphonic & HDCD  releases”.  I have been experimenting with HTPC for about 5 years now.  I knew Flac files existed before but have not experienced them until downloading a few of your HDCD releases.  So I am new to Flac and foobar.  Some things are a bit confusing to me and perhaps you can help me.  
>
> First when I play the flacs in Yes - 91025 (HDCD) the foobar  console says “Initializing DVD-Audio Watermark Detector: 6ch 44100Hz” but in the bottom left hand corner of the foobar player window it says “826 kbps | 44100 Hz | stereo |”.  So are these HDCD stereo or 5.1?
>
> Next I suspect the sound coming from my rear speakers may not be correct.  It does not seem as discreet as DTS, AC3, and surround DVD Dolby music I have played with other players.  So I am wondering if the front speakers is being reproduced in the rear speakers.
>
> In the Active DSPs section of Foobar Preferenes I have “Convert Stereo to 4 channels” active.
>

> To try to gather more understanding about the fore mentioned problems I found a site with Flac test fileshttp://www.gimell.com/musicstore-download-test-files.aspx

>
> When I download and play the two files below in Foobar of 6 channels I only hear 2 (front-left and front-right) 4 other channels are silent.
>

> Studio Master 5.1http://gimell-download.cctechnology.com/test/5fefbd3f-63a2-4d4e-aed7-...
>
> Studio Master Pro 5.1http://gimell-download.cctechnology.com/test/e557d437-82e3-4219-a43c-...

[Joe A]

The other option is to re-encode any multichannel audio you get to DD/
DTS files using a software encoder.