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HDCD'S

I’m new to HDCD’s in fact I hadn’t even heard about it until I purchased a player capable of decoding an HD disc. I’ve asked around at the local cd shop and a few used outlets, no one seems to know much about it. I’ve searched the internet looking for a list of HDCD titles and came across one site called Fish Records in the U.K. Is there a outlet here in Canada or in the U.S.?
larryvt
sgr's avatar
sgr
689 posts
 
Microsoft bought the HDCD technology, and has done nothing with it as far as marketing to studios, etc. I fear HDCD will disappear even though the discs sound excellent. Try Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris. I go out of my way to find encoded discs and they are almost always worth it!
perfectionist
197 posts
 
I can not find a listing of HDCD titles on the Microsoft site...Nice.
abb9ae7
60 posts
 
1. Brain Setzer Orchestra - "Vazoom!" (not marked)
2. Joni Mitchell - "Blue" & "Court and Spark"
3. Van Halen - all David Lee Roth era remasters are HDCD
4. Dave Brubeck - "Time Out" (not marked)
5. Eric Clapton - "Reptile"
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
HDCD is a very clever way of getting 20 bit program resolution out of a 16 bit recording media (CD). Before true, 24 bit, high resolution media became practical HDCD made sense. Today it is the world's best audio buggy whip.

The basic concepts of HDCD remain applicable to all kinds of digital recording, and will probably resurface in context of both audio and video on DVDs or sucessor media. That is what Microsoft has in mind.

I have some HDCD discs, and some sound very good. However, I am not sure that this is not just the result of good mastering, as I have other regular CD that also sound very good. One HDCD disc, a Judy Collins collection, is inferior to a regular disc of mostly the same material.
texasdave
144 posts
 
Thanks for the explanation, Eldartford. I've been wondering why HDCD made such a swift disappearance from the marketplace.
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