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In Reply to: RE: The Japanese never gave up on high quality cds posted by Sprezza Tura on September 26, 2014 at 13:06:47
You are correct. Many of the SHM CDs are among the worst versions out there, assuming a listener considers huge DR compression bad. Be very careful what you're buying these days, there are plenty of resources to easily separate the chaff but it does take some time.
OTOH some of the Japanese CDs are the best versions out there, but if you look around, there is very often a non-Japanese version with the same contents available for much cheaper. IOW I've found that very few of their CDs are "unique" in content, but are often unique only in the "formulation" of the media (or the marketing terms for the media).
Follow Ups:
Agree...well infomred post.
Ther are also titles that were released in Japan that were never domestically released..like Santana's Borboletta and bunch of Jeff Beck albums.
I wasn't trying to be a jerk, just don't like to see people get burnt. Which is really none of my business, but some people like the heads-up...
Not only are the Japanese releases sometimes the only release available, just as many titles are only released in the UK (say), market taste/demand, but sometimes the SHM CDs (say) are the cheapest version you can currently get new.
And I didn't mean to infer DR is the only thing, it's not by a long shot, but when a disc is remastered and all they did was really crunch the DR, that sure isn't going to make the music sound better, least in the type of systems we render our "judgments" on here.
I have some versions of CDs that were noticeably compressed vs a much earlier version, and I much much prefer the newer compressed one. Guilty! They may have done other small things too, I dislike A/B-comparing iotas so I'm not sure. They were done by a true master though, somebody with IMO a really good ear and a light hand. No distortion (ignoring the DR part) and a lot of punch, it suits the musical style. IOW it wasn't just a preset clicked on some computer, somebody knowledgable/tasteful actually listened while they were doing it...I'm not sure that always happens.
The early "regular" CDs that were made in Japan ('80s) seem to be pretty good and still stand up, least all the ones I have, so it is an imprimateur worth looking for, with care.
Interestingly, many Japanese CDs appeal to, and are sometimes priced to gouge.... the the collector. Regardless of mastering.I have a friend who has 5 or 6 version of many of the title in his collection. He has a fetish for Japanese releases, and loves the to see the Japanese writing on the packaging. He pays through the nose for many of these, but for him it is about the thrill of the acquisition, and not the music anyway. He buys no modern music and has not seen a concert for 15 years.
Edits: 09/28/14
Other than Daft Punk's past two releases I'd be hard pressed to think of a 'modern' release I've bought in years.
"We are all in God's hands... and God is a malign thug."
-Mark Twain
Well I've bought quite a few CDs of modern music. I have almost universally been disappointed with their "flatness" and "loudness". I've read that very often the LPs of the same tunes are much better, though recorded from digital files but obviously not the same ones used for the CDs. Even the "hi res" files often sold are not the same as what's on the LPs.
I haven't bought an LP of "modern" music since some Radiohead, and that was quite a few years ago. I have some mental block re purchasing LPs of digital files that I have to get over...
One part of it is it's not easy for me to rip the LP, and most often these days I listen to rips. That's the other reason why many of these special Japanese CD formulations are mostly irrelevant to me: the only thing that matters here is transferring an accurate digital file, any potential sound quality improvement from an advanced disc formulation has no bearing on digital file transfer.
Without a shadow of a doubt you have not even made the slightest attempt to put your finger on the pulse.
Guess you have never heard of Ray Lamontagne, Dawes, alt-j, Paolo Nutini, Temples, Gary Clark Jr, and droves more who I have seen recently and have tickets to see in the next month.
Hard pressed...gimme a break.
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