HDCD

Hootsmon

would you expect this format tae play on your units?

wont play on my hi fi or PC

hi fi or PC are not ancient but would not describe them as cuttin' edge

speshul91

Daft suggestion but have you tried in a DVD player?

dano

Windows media player on a PC  should do the job

Axe_meister

HDCD and sonys SACD were very niche formats. I used to have a DVD player that could play both but they have done the way of Betamax/VHS. I doubt any manufacturer even considers these formats these days.

oaf

Aren't HDCDs playable in any CD player (you just don't get the extra bits of resolution)? Foobar2000 has an HDCD plugin if I remember correctly... yep: http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_hdcd

LoFi

oaf said:

Aren't HDCDs playable in any CD player (you just don't get the extra bits of resolution)? Foobar2000 has an HDCD plugin if I remember correctly... yep: http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_hdcd

Yes - have a couple, and never had a problem playing them.

Winny_Pooh

IIRC they are 20bit resolution and SACD and some DVD players will output at 20bits.
The quality of your speakers make a far bigger difference than format at the consumer end. 24bit files and nice monitors do sound better than 16 mind you.

oaf

Yes, that's right. HDCD aware CD players and some other devices will decode the additional bits. I vaguely remember there's some clever encoding in the way that it's dithered or something.

I'd struggle to identify 24 versus 16 bit recordings through my main system (B&W 800 series speakers and Parasound Halo amplification, so reasonably good) at anything approaching normal listening volumes/conditions and it looks like this lot did too:
http://archimago.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/24-bit-vs-16-bit-audio-test-part-ii.html

I have a few hires FLAC albums but I think their sound quality is more down to the effort made mixing and mastering them than their resolution/bitrate.

Hootsmon

well Jack shit be happenin' with my hi fi and PC CD/DVD player

oaf

Perhaps the disc is a goner!

speshul91

Vlc on pc plays almost anything. 

Winny_Pooh

oaf said:

Yes, that's right. HDCD aware CD players and some other devices will decode the additional bits. I vaguely remember there's some clever encoding in the way that it's dithered or something.

I'd struggle to identify 24 versus 16 bit recordings through my main system (B&W 800 series speakers and Parasound Halo amplification, so reasonably good) at anything approaching normal listening volumes/conditions and it looks like this lot did too:
http://archimago.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/24-bit-vs-16-bit-audio-test-part-ii.html

I have a few hires FLAC albums but I think their sound quality is more down to the effort made mixing and mastering them than their resolution/bitrate.

I don't like it when classical music is used for sound quality tests as the "air" in the room and distant miking leave background noise/verb that obscures the effect of the higher bit depth on the noise floor & clarity of softer sounds and smooths things out. Personally, well recorded acoustic jazz and bluegrass is more revealing IMO (like the Mike Shipley Alison Krauss record) I cant gaurantee that I would pass the test everytime but I heard it with my own material before and after 16bit conversion.