Two Questions for Audiophiles

[mollymawk]

I've been browsing through the lengthy list of used CDs at Tower Records, and several of the ones that interest me are available only as HDCD's.

I know that this is a high-density audio format, and I know that I can't get the benefit of that by playing them on my piece-o-crap CD player. My two questions are:

1. Will an HDCD sound listenable at all when played on my three-year-old (but rapidly obsolescing) machine, or is an older CD player totally incompatible with this format?

2. What about playing them on my DVD unit?

Sorry if these are really stupid questions, but I am a bit of a dummy in this area.

 

[Eug]

HDCD works in any DVD player or CD player, but you don't get the supposed benefit of the HD part.

Personally, HDCD seems like hocus pocus to me.

 

[mollymawk]

Thank you very much for your quick response, Eug. I love this place.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Maybe it's a really lame way of saying they're 80 minute cds? As if any music cd was ever over 74min...

 

[Capn]

Disclaimer: this is only what I remember so don't anyone get all anal and shoot me down too roughly

From what I can recollect hdcd's store extra information on the CD somehow, in between the other tracks or something like that (don't take my word on this)

Using this extra info, the sound is approximately around 20bit sound as opposed to 16bit sound of your regular cd. They can be played in a regular cd player or dvd player, but you need a hdcd compatible player to get the extra sound quality.

 

[oldandquitemad]

Capn is correct. In addition to the HDCD player, realistically you will also need a sweet pair of speakers, a clean amplifier, and all the other goodies that come along with those devices to really appreciate the difference.

 

[mollymawk]

I know I cannot enjoy the superior quality with my old CD player, but I was wondering whether the HDCD would at least sound as good as a regular CD on my old equipment. I had thought that perhaps it would be like playing a Dolby audiotape on a non-Dolby deck, which sounds really awful.

I can't afford an entire new system right now, but the used HDCD's (some of which are not available from Tower in old-CD format) are very tempting. Maybe I will try one and just see how it goes.

Thanks, guys, for taking the time to give advice to an audio dunce.

 

[Goi]

HDCD(High Definition Compact Disc, not High Density) is completely compatible with standard red book CDs. A CD player with HDCD decoding will play normal CDs, and a HDCD will play in any working CD player. The way it works is like what Capn has said, it uses a dithering algorithm to approximate the 20bit resolution. However, many of the perceived benefits of HDCD are also a result of the better mastering usually put on these albums.

 

[cipher00]

Goi is dead-on. HDCD is fine, though you can find bigger differences just when mastering is taken into account (listen to any Water Lily title and see what I mean). Nothing is wrong or right with HDCD; try one and see. Agree with above; you need to carefully mate equipment and upgrading is always an option...assuming the $.

My Linn Karik sounds just fine as is, thank you very much.

 

[cipher00]

Goi is dead-on. HDCD is fine, though you can find bigger differences just when mastering is taken into account (listen to any Water Lily title and see what I mean). Nothing is wrong or right with HDCD; try one and see. Agree with above; you need to carefully mate equipment and upgrading is always an option...assuming the $.

My Linn Karik sounds just fine as is, thank you very much.

 

[RegaPlanet]

Hi

 

[olds]

Good info.

 

[alpineranger]

I just went to the official HDCD site for the first time in half a year and I noticed that the company (Pacific Microsonics) has been bought out by Microsoft.

Part of me is happy that the technology has a greater chance to go mainstream but...
Another one succumbs to the dark side.