depending on your musical taste youll find there are some really good HDCDs out there. The one that comes to mind first, though its been overplayed, is Frampton Comes Alive. The deluxe 2cd version is HDCD encoded, and sounds fantastic. I compared it with MFSLs version, and it was no contest. I own Rotels RCD991AE along with Rotel power, audioquest and stealth cables, and Polk LSi speakers. In cognito I use Sennhiesers studio closed headphones. I know Ill get some flak here, but the japanese HDCD encoded YES catalog also sounds better then any other format, or mastering than Ive ever heard! Happy hunting
Best HDCD cd's ?
I am presently starting a 7 day in-home audition of the Rotel RCD-1072 Cd player, and the first night of listening has been wonderful. I have a few HDCD discs, which are sounding GREAT. What are some recommended HDCD discs ? Are there any good places to find them and buy them ? Does anyone have some great HDCD discs that they recommend ? Thanks for your input.
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First, I think HDCD is a great format that has been lost in the audio discussion with the myriad of formats including SACD and DVD audio. I have a Rotel RCD-1055 which is the multi-disc version of the 1072. I also run a single disc player through an HDCD enabled DAC. I will say that if you want HDCD's you have to search for them. There use to be a German(?) website that kept a list of the titles available on HDCD, you can also search ebay using "HDCD" and find some that way or go online sellers such as CD Universe where you can specifically search for HDCDs. All in all it is a treasure hunt because not every new "remaster" of the old discs are HDCD encoded and not on every package is it obvious that it is in fact HDCD encoded. I don't know the types of music you want to listen to but here goes. Much of the Grateful Dead's catalogue has recently been released in HDCD, many of Neil Youngs discs are HDCD, the Cars first two albums (S/T and Candy-O both excellent recordings if you are a Cars fan)have been re-release in HDCD and it is right on a sticker on the front of the case. A number of Lucinda Willliams and Steve Earle's discs are HDCD encoded but you can't tell by reading the package. The Joni Mitchell catalogue has been reissued in HDCD (HDCD indicated right on the packaging sticker) as have Crosby Still and Nash (S/T first album) as well as Daylight Again. Why only those two? There is a Doors box (cube) set (but not the lastest one) that is HDCD enooded - I have that, a great set of recordings. There is also a series of Doors single disc releases that are HDCD. There is a Dire Strait GH compilation "The Sultans of Swing" that is HDCD and the Roxy Music and Brian Ferry catalogues have been re-released in HDCD. Other artists have single releases on HDCD, I think one of the earlier Switchfoot CDs is HDCD. Japanese pressings for certain artists are out in HDCD, I have a couple of Japanese King Crimson HDCDs and I have seen a David Bowie GH release that comes from Japan in HDCD. One last thing, while many of HDCD encoded discs sound great, I have found the occasional disc where the remastering of the sound is "different" (I will leave it to the listener to judge if it is worse) than say the original vinyl. The CSN first album sounds that way to me. Hope this helps. |
Regardless if good or not, HDCD easily competes with the best on many recordings, Problem is some of the best albums are done in HDCD however they stopped putting the symbol on the package of many recordings about 10 years ago.. I am still finding even new releases I have that light up the HDCD encoder led and you would have never known it had the layer on there and nothing in the cd will tell you unfortunatley. Examples are all the Doors remastered releases and most of Beck's releases as far back as 96'. Some others like Roxy music albums also and more that I can't think of right now. |
Pretty much the entire Mark Knopfler catalog is HDCD encoded, as are several of the Keb' Mo' albums. I know that one or possibly more of my Holly Cole discs are HDCD. As mentioned previously, the Reference Recordings discs are almost all (if not all) HDCD. I'm especially fond of From the Age of Swing by Dick Hyman--fantastic recording and unbelievable dynamics. This website http://www.hifimusic.se/hdcd/index.php?p=base also has a searchable database. |
Check this link http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f9/hdcd-list-65414/ I think you'll find a bunch of good stuff. I also am a big fan of HDCD. |
I was surprised to see Van Halen on HDCD. 1,2 and Women and Children First. I could not find Fair Warning but all of these others I found at best buy. When I turned the cd over I saw the HDCD emblem to my surprise. I will have to throw Niel Young back on and see if the HDCD light comes on. I know this particular cd sounds good and I probably did not even notice the light coming on. |