HDTracks Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage 24/96K

[firedog]

This is a very good sounding release.

 

According to HD, made from the original master tape, with great effort to retain the sound of the original. If you look at the plot spectrum, the track slopes off gradually to 22k, and then has some high res frequencies.

 

My guess: this is tape bias or other noise which doesn't have much to do with the music. That said, I want these digital transcriptions of analogue to capture "everything" on the tape. Some of that noise may be part of what we perceive as that pleasing analogue sound.

 

The files have an average DR of 14, which is better than my CD remaster release of the same material (1998, has a DR of 12). This release also sounds better, especially when you turn the volume up. I'm quite happy with this one, it's probably as good as you'll get from an analogue tape of that era.

[Julf]

My guess: this is tape bias or other noise which doesn't have much to do with the music.

 

Tape bias has a well-defined peak. Could be tape/electronics hiss, but the "sloping up towards higher frequencies" HF noise is very similar to what I have seen on material resampled/converted from DSD/SACD.

[firedog]

Tape bias has a well-defined peak. Could be tape/electronics hiss, but the "sloping up towards higher frequencies" HF noise is very similar to what I have seen on material resampled/converted from DSD/SACD.

 

Yes, I should have been more careful and just written "tape noise" as a possible source. Unfortunately we aren't told, but the implication of the blurb from Blue Note is that the remaster was done especially for these hi-res releases. If so, I hope that means it isn't a DSD>PCM. conversion. "Audiophile releases" shouldn't have quality reducing format changes done to them.

 

BTW, the other tracks on the album have a very similar frequency spectrum to the one above.

[Synfreak]

Don't panic ;-)

 

DSD noise would raise much quicker (and higher) as the noise-spectrum shown in the graphs above.

Most likely a combination of tape-hiss and (maybe) inherent noise of the AtoD conversion path (including the used ADC).

[Julf]

Don't panic ;-)

 

Or do, if you want to

 

DSD noise would raise much quicker (and higher) as the noise-spectrum shown in the graphs above.

 

Unfiltered, yes, but not if low-pass filtered. I am not arguing it is, just pointing out how hard it is to detect resampling if any decent measures are taken to hide the resampling. Goes to show how, as in a lot of other things, provenance is essential.

 

Most likely a combination of tape-hiss and (maybe) inherent noise of the AtoD conversion path (including the used ADC).

 

Probably, yes.

[wgscott]

My guess: this is tape bias or other noise which doesn't have much to do with the music. That said, I want these digital transcriptions of analogue to capture "everything" on the tape. Some of that noise may be part of what we perceive as that pleasing analogue sound.

 

Only if "we" includes our dogs.

[firedog]

Only if "we" includes our dogs.

 

No, "everything" on the tape includes all sorts of "noises" that may also be in the audible spectrum.

In addition, question: is there science proving that noises such as tape bias have no effect on our perception of music in the audible frequency, even though the noise itself is inaudible?

[Julf]

In addition, question: is there science proving that noises such as tape bias have no effect on our perception of music in the audible frequency, even though the noise itself is inaudible?

 

Well, as you well know, it is impossible to prove that something doesn't have any effect on our perception of music. That's why we have to ask the opposite question instead, "is there science proving that noises such as tape bias have an effect on our perception of music in the audible frequency, even though the noise itself is inaudible?"

[firedog]

Well, as you well know, it is impossible to prove that something doesn't have any effect on our perception of music. That's why we have to ask the opposite question instead, "is there science proving that noises such as tape bias have an effect on our perception of music in the audible frequency, even though the noise itself is inaudible?"

 

Yeah sure, I'm writing casually and not trying to be as accurate as you (that's a compliment). But the question still remains, no matter how you phrase it.

[Julf]

Yeah sure, I'm writing casually and not trying to be as accurate as you (that's a compliment). But the question still remains, no matter how you phrase it.

 

Thanks - so in an attempt to begin to answer the question, the high frequency noise could definitely have audible effects if passed through a suitably non-linear component (such as an amplifier with significant amount of distortion, or a loudspeaker). The HF components, despite being above audible range, would then cause intermodulation components in the audible band.

 

The effect, if audible, would most likely be detrimental to sound quality, but might in some cases actually provide a pleasant colouring of the sound - but it would not be faithful to the original signal.