Post by AmonRa January 15, 2015 (11 of 40)
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What Meridian is attempting is a compression system without the flaws of MP3, namely mostly the loss of HF. I do not see it as some kind of audio processor which could be used to extract more detail from digital files.There is no more detail there is. They claim this system brings the master file quality to home, but so does a copy of the master file also, which we already have.
The setup at the demo must have been very good, and when people are told to sit down and listen to all the wonderful detail when the "authenticated" light turns on, they are likely to hear wonderful detail. So? If they he'd just demoed new set of speakers people would not have sit still enough to notice all the detail which always was there.
Rammipie, you tend to judge the product by the package, not the substance.
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Post by rammiepie January 15, 2015 (12 of 40)
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AmonRa said:
What Meridian is attempting is a compression system without the flaws of MP3, namely mostly the loss of HF. I do not see it as some kind of audio processor which could be used to extract more detail from digital files.There is no more detail there is. They claim this system brings the master file quality to home, but so does a copy of the master file also, which we already have.
The setup at the demo must have been very good, and when people are told to sit down and listen to all the wonderful detail when the "authenticated" light turns on, they are likely to hear wonderful detail. So? If they he'd just demoed new set of speakers people would not have sit still enough to notice all the detail which always was there.
Rammipie, you tend to judge the product by the package, not the substance.
Not true to your last statement. The seasoned skeptic in you denounces sonic seasonings of any persuasion as in "It can't possibly sound any better:" The Glass Half empty approach.
Whereas, the seasoned listener, being me, always strives to improve what is already on those discs, whether RBCD, SACD or DVD~A, by incorporating sonic seasonings: read TWEAKS: The glass half full approach.
Meridian's MQA will of course benefit MP3 and other lossy codecs but will also be applied to 16/24 bit Master digital files, with the added benefit of extracting every last ounce of musical 'nuance' contained within those files which escaped ordinary delivery systems....or think of it as musical cues that somehow were "buried in the mix."
Impossible, you say, or improbable......but I feel Meridian's Bob Stewart has always been somewhat of a maverick and before condemning his efforts, I will hear for myself what MQA is all about.
Rather than disagree with you or vice versa, I think we should both adopt a wait and see approach and if it is much ado about NOTHING then I will gladly disqualify it as the next possible big thing and avoid IT like I've avoided a lot of next big things...as trends are just that......TRENDS.
Fair, AmonRa?
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Post by AmonRa January 16, 2015 (13 of 40)
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rammiepie said:
Meridian's MQA will of course benefit MP3 and other lossy codecs but will also be applied to 16/24 bit Master digital files, with the added benefit of extracting every last ounce of musical 'nuance' contained within those files which escaped ordinary delivery systems....
All the "master file" WAV or FLAC downloads already have all the musical nuances in them, it is up to your DAC mostly how well those nuances are delivered to your ears, or at least to your amps and speakers, the later are the most likely to let the nuances escape. NEVER the master file.
I repeat: MQA is a compression algorithm attempting not to mangle the HF. Totally unnecessary, as we already have WAV and FLAC master files. Or lossless SACD and CDs.
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Post by rammiepie January 16, 2015 (14 of 40)
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AmonRa said:
All the "master file" WAV or FLAC downloads already have all the musical nuances in them, it is up to your DAC mostly how well those nuances are delivered to your ears, or at least to your amps and speakers, the later are the most likely to let the nuances escape. NEVER the master file.
I repeat: MQA is a compression algorithm attempting not to mangle the HF. Totally unnecessary, as we already have WAV and FLAC master files. Or lossless SACD and CDs.
There you go putting the cart before the horse again, AmonRa.
Have YOU actually heard it?
Nay. But you're prematurely stating how it ultimately performs.
VERY unscientific, solely based on speculation and/or previous applications of compression algorithms.
STOP giving me FLAC. There's a NEW WAVe in town......Gone surfin'. There's a NEW moon rising!
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Post by AmonRa January 16, 2015 (15 of 40)
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Unscientific?
I would rather say that any lossy compression method CAN NOT bring back the original, and that is scientific. No matter how much marketing is put into it.
If the original master file needs "improvements", there are dozens of different effects boxes, EQ, reverb, aural exciters, etc etc available already. Why do not you buy all those? We do not need more compression artifacts masquerading as "sonic improvements".
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Post by SteelyTom January 16, 2015 (16 of 40)
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fausto K said:
Sneakily, they have removed the diagonal in the right corner on the cover indicating "digital recording", which is on the original cd [and most likely also on the LP, given how proudly digital was announced as superior to analogue back then -- and of course it is :-)]; I don't know whether they have also removed the indication "Digital-Aufnahme" on the back cover. From 1981, most if not all von Karajan's recordings on DG were digital. So among the new remasters, all those from 1981 onwards are most likely based on the digital tapes (unless, of course, analogue tapes were run concurrently). However, one can recognize the digital recordings from the analogue ones, also apparently on these Japanese remasters, by the indication "numérique" or "Digital-Aufnahme" underneath the yellow banner with the title. As a rule of thumb: only if it says merely "Stereo", one can assume the recording is from before 1981 and hence analogue (although maybe still ADD).
What a shame these latest Karajan SACDs are from the early digital era. The one, safely analogue Karajan SACD from Universal I've gotten is Don Quixote with Fournier, a tour de force both artistically and sonically. Alas, with so much to choose from….
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Post by Claude January 21, 2015 (17 of 40)
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fausto K said:
However, one can recognize the digital recordings from the analogue ones, also apparently on these Japanese remasters, by the indication "numérique" or "Digital-Aufnahme" underneath the yellow banner with the title.
I always wondered why DG, a german label, put the french word "Numérique" on the cover of their CDs sold throughout Europe.
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Post by zeus January 31, 2015 (18 of 40)
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Daland said:
By the way, the CD Japan link takes you to a different recording (Finlandia etc.).
Fixed.
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Post by mknappe February 2, 2015 (19 of 40)
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AmonRa said:
Same thing can be said of all analogue tape recordings. In all aspects of sound quality they are inferior to CD, even early CD.
If it is possible to make a MCH remaster, then ok.
Really, analog tape is inferior to CD in ALL aspects of sound quality?
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Post by AmonRa February 2, 2015 (20 of 40)
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mknappe said:
Really, analog tape is inferior to CD in ALL aspects of sound quality?
Give me ONE technical spec which is better on analog tape than CD.
(high frequency extension reaches on tape sometimes higher than 22 kHz, but do we hear it and how about the microphones? That is the only one I know. All other measurements are 10-1000 times worse than on CD. Some things tape has are missing on CD altogether, like wow & flutter, speed errors etc.)
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