when you rip an SACD or HDCD...

[tfarney]

...do you get the higher resolution on your hard drive file? This might be a dumb question, but it's one I'm not afraid to ask!

 

Tim

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hey Tim - Unfortunately SACDs can't be ripped to a computer. You can rip the redbook CD layer of a dual layer SACD though. HDCDs are a little different. I've been able to rip the HDCD information and play it back using Windows Media Player. I haven't done this in years though and I'm not sure of the current situation.

 

[tfarney]

Hmmm...it was pretty much a rhetorical question, as I don't have any SACDs. I do have a bunch of HDCDs, though, they ripped to my Mac fine using iTunes, but I don't know if I'm getting any benefit from the HDCD enhancement - that's an upsampling scheme of some kind isn't it? I imagine that is useless to anything but a cdp with HDCD built in.

 

Tim

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

To get the full benefit of HDCD you need either an HDCD compatible CD player or software on your computer to take advantage of it. WMP did this a while ago, but I believe lately you have to use the physical media to get full HDCD. I've heard many people say they can't get the full benefit on ripped music. Can someone confirm or refute? I don't think you get any HDCD benefit on a Mac even with the physical media.

 

From Wikipedia:

 

High Definition Compatible Digital, or HDCD is a patented encode-decode process, now under Microsoft, that improves the audio quality of standard Redbook audio CDs, while retaining backward compatibility with existing Compact disc players.

At over 4000 titles, HDCD-encoded releases constitute a fraction of the total CD commercial music catalog, but many popular artists insist on using HDCD for their new releases. A web site devoted to HDCD recordings can be found at the following location [[1]].

A number of universal CD and DVD players include HDCD decoding, and version 9 and above of the Windows Media Player software (on personal computers with a 24-bit sound card) are capable of decoding HDCD.

An HDCD-encoded CD usually, but not always, has the HDCD logo printed on the back cover. An HDCD logo will be displayed in Windows Media Player 9 or above when an HDCD encoded disc is played.

New HDCD-encoded CDs are still being mastered and being added to various catalogs, and there is no additional cost for these HDCD recordings, unlike the higher price charged for newer digital audio formats based on higher bit-rate media such as Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio.

 

Link to full article.

 

[tfarney]

"High Definition Compatible Digital, or HDCD is a patented encode-decode process, now under Microsoft..."

 

Ah. Nevermind.

 

Tim

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Yeah, they really let it fall off the face of the earth.