CD players are back ?

[Teresa]

3 hours ago, monteverdi said:

...The only aspect I miss was the UI of the CD transport, i.e. getting up from my chair and looking in my shelf for a specific CD...

 

I still do this, however I'm usually putting an SACD in my Yamaha Blu-ray / SACD universal player.

 

I actually prefer physical formats, especially the fact that I can sell or trade-in discs I don't like or no longer like. With computer music files my only choice is to delete them at a 100% loss. This is why I hope universal players continue to be available for a very long time, at least until I die.

 

My computer music files (mostly DSD and 24-bit PCM) are for music I can't get in high resolution physical formats. Also I don't play computer music files when I'm on the internet, as they tend to skip when loading a page on the internet. Right now I am playing Tango, a Telarc SACD.

 

3 hours ago, monteverdi said:

...every CD had (has) liner notes...

 

 I added (has) to the above, since new CDs and SACDs continue to be released.

 

Sometimes the music download comes with a PDF of the booklet included with the physical disc. However, too often one only gets an image of the cover with no notes whatsoever, I consider this a rip-off.

 

In addition, there is sometimes information on the back (bottom) inlay card that is not in the booklet such as the resolution of the master and other details of the recording.

[Teresa]

17 hours ago, fas42 said:

the one downside is that 'audiophile' recordings become rather boring - because, they rely on rig distortions to give them their 'lift' ...

 

That is wrong. Audiophile and other naturally made recordings don't require any distortions or lifts. They have full dynamic range as they are not part of the loudness wars. Audiophile and other naturally made recordings just require a natural sounding audio system capable of full frequency response, fast transient response, etc.

 

The only way you will get a natural sounding audio system is by using natural recordings for setup. Recordings made in real performance spaces, with real ambiance, correct instrument and vocal timbres, etc. Using the fake crap from the major labels (especially their pop and rock recordings) will not work, period! 

 

What audiophile recordings have you heard? Perhaps they were not audiophile recordings at all, you just believed they were. Audiophile recordings are most definitely not boring, if anything major label recordings are boring as well as distorted due to the loudness wars.

 

Here are some of my favorite audiophile labels:

• Analogue Productions Originals (recorded live direct to 2-track analog with no editing in Blue Heaven Studios, a church-turned-recording studio)
• AudioQuest Music (SACDs are back in print reissued by Sledgehammer Blues)
• Channel Classics
• Chesky Records (Their philosophy is to create the illusion of live musicians in a real three-dimensional space.)
• DMP (no editing within a single song or composition as owner Tom Jung believes editing destroys the flow of the music.)
• Groove Note
• MA Recordings
• Opus 3
• PentaTone Classics
• Reference Recordings
• Sheffield Lab
• Stockfisch Records
• ViTaL Records (Vacuum Tube Logic) especially the SACD and DSD versions as rereleased by fonè)
• Wilson Audiophile

Are any of your so-called audiophile recordings on the above labels?

 

[Teresa]

9 minutes ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

Another "audiophile" label was DCC ("Digital Compact Classics").  Steve Hoffman definitely used some specialized tube gear between the tape playback and digital capture devices for "warmth".  So there is precedent for "distortions" in the mastering chain.  Were the DCC discs the best masters in their day?  I would say almost always.  Do they all hold up today to modern, "white glove" mastering?  Meh.

 

Perhaps I was not clear enough, I was discussing audiophile labels who make their own recordings. Such recordings are audiophile from the microphones to the finished product.

 

DCC, like MFSL. etc. are audiophile remaster labels. They remaster major label recordings.

 

Also, Analogue Productions releases remastered material as well, if you want their own recordings make sure it says Analogue Productions Originals or APO.