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In Reply to: RE: Do gold CDs sound better than silver ones? posted by rkeman on April 04, 2016 at 17:18:34
But I am not being paid to educate you.
jm
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From the Goldmine article "Audio Fidelity's gold CDs put the label in a class by itself"
Posted in Articles, High Fidelity | Tags: 24-karat gold CD, Audio Fidelity, audiophile record label, gold CDs in October 31, 2011
GM: Beyond the remastering process, what's the biggest difference between Audio Fidelity's 24-karat gold discs and redbook CDs?
MB: It always comes down to how well it was recorded to begin with and the source that we're working with. When we get our hands on the original masters, it's always a joy. But sometimes you don't have the luxury of getting an original master and what you get is a "one-off" from the original master. We have to make sure there's no EQ, there's no Dolby [Noise Reduction] — it's a clear, exact identical copy of what the master would have been like. And that goes back to the talents of Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, and their ear and knowledge of where the tape came from, who tested it, who used it, how it was stored — all those factors are considered. But we're pretty lucky in that we usually can get a hold of the original master, and we work from that when we can. If not, we make sure that the source quality is something we know will yield a final Audio Fidelity product we can all be proud of. We always want to try and meet a standard so someone can listen to it and know that what they're listening to is different than a traditional CD. It's a better sound; whether it's 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent, in some cases it's 25 or even 50 percent better. It's for those people that hear the difference. That's whom I always wanted to make music for.
Notice that there is no mention of the technical superiority of gold over aluminum in regard to sound quality and Audio Fidelity has produced more gold CDs than anyone in recent memory. The response basically ignores the actual question and falls back to the response that the sound is really all about the mastering!
Comparing the files for gold and conventional CDRs a while back showed both copies were essentially bit perfect and that was enough for me to forego any further evaluation until someone issues a disc in both that shares a common master.
Bling factor?Or maybe, it's a combination of color and price? I've read that 24K gold CD blanks cost $2 more than silver CD blanks do. Could it be that higher retail price contributes to "expectation bias"?
Or maybe, gold CDs really do sound better?
Edits: 04/05/16
I never considered whether the material mattered. I always thought it was used by Mo-fi and DCC, as part of the premium packaging. That the magic was in the remastering from the best possible source.
And I have yet to see any CDs go bad, do to age.
John, I really would like to know what the real story is.
To start with, people have to realize and accept that:
THE COMPACT DISC IS AN ANALOG MEDIUM AND IT IS READ BY ANALOG MEANS.
Period. End of story. The only zeroes and ones are not on the CD; they are in peoples' heads.
The laser that cuts the glass master (BTW, there have been at least 100,000 CDs pressed up in the last 26 years that say "JMR" on them) cuts pits or divots in the glass and those are eventually molded into the polycarbonate.
In order to give the CD player's laser something to "read," the polycarbonate has to be plated with something reflective--usually aluminum.
The difference in reflectivity between the smooth surface of the CD and a pit in the smooth surface creates a difference in the ANALOG output of the photocell that is the origin of the signal that, through processing, is DEEMED to be "digital."
As it turns out, the sharpness of the transition between a shiny reflection (CD surface) and a diffuse reflection (a pit) makes a big difference in the timing of the digital signal train. Remember, the thing that made the S/PDIF protocol economically feasible was that the timing signal was embedded in the music signal. Both a strength and a weakness.
The crystalline structure of gold (an amazing element--you can beat out a one-inch cube of gold so thin it will cover a football field) is more supple and ductile than aluminum. The gold folds over the edge of the pit more neatly, and so the transition time is shorter and the read is more accurate.
Now, feel free to ignore what I say and email John Atkinson and ask him to recall what he heard in my listening room about 5 years ago, when I played for him aluminum and gold JMR CDs made from the same stamper...
He heard a distinct difference. I don't think it made him happy to find out that gold made a difference, but, he heard it. He said that the ambient sound of the church fit in better with the sound of the violin. Or words to that effect.
jm
from a differing mastering or are they just 'gold' CDs?
If I bought a gold one it should sound better based on the 'gold' in the pits, no problem understanding that.
Now what happens when I 'rip' the CD to my hard drive and compare to a ripped silver one?
Would be worth a try if I were sure the TELARC 'gold' CDs from Japan are the same mix with just a differing CD material.
I have several JMR recordings. Most are silver CDs but I do have "Songs My Mother Taught Me" on both gold CD and LP (but not on silver CD). I'd gladly compare all three versions of "Songs" for myself and for the other interested parties here, but I doubt that I'll ever find that particular silver CD at this late stage of the game...
Edits: 04/05/16
THE LEAST HE COULD DO!!!!
... um, ahem.
jm
Very cool-Its great to learn something. Keep posting!
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