Hybrid Stereo SACDs and Remasters from Analog Tape

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Enjoy! Personally I don't see the point of a Stereo SACD. My loss...

Actually, in the hands of Analogue Productions and utilizing the original 30 ips, 1/2 inch Master Tapes, this should sound quite awesome. AP just released Nils Lofgren Acoustic Live which was uncustomarily (at least for AP) derived from a 16 bit Digital master and concurrently, Universal Hong Kong just released Enigma's first album which was recorded in 1992 on a hard Drive (probably also 16 bit) and the transfer to SACD for both was somewhat of a 'revelation' for me. Sonically, they are marvels and what comes to mind for me was the limitation not of the 16 bit recording process but the Brick Wall filtering imposed by RBCD playback itself. Everything over 20khz is brickwalled via RBCD playback. In mastering the full contents of the original digital masters the transfer to DSD allowed those original 16 bit digital masters to shine.

In most circles, Analogue is NOT considered hi res but curtailing the transfer of what constitutes a HUGE legacy of recorded history to a higher res format would, IMO, be INSIDIOUS, especially when it's done with such passion and care by AP, MoFi and AF.

Whether Eddie Money is your cup 'o tea........well, that's your business.
 
Actually, in the hands of Analogue Productions and utilizing the original 30 ips, 1/2 inch Master Tapes, this should sound quite awesome. In most circles, Analogue is NOT considered hi res but curtailing the transfer of what constitutes a HUGE legacy of recorded history to a higher res format would, IMO, be INSIDIOUS, especially when it's done with such passion and care by AP, MoFi and AF.

In some circles Analog may not be appreciated. I wouldn't say most.

This is especially when we are talking about recording and mastering engineers that record and mix in Analog to this day.
And more recently the music fans that are buying Professional Analog Tape Machines to listen to copies of Analog Master Tapes.

http://positive-feedback.com/show-reports/dsd-analog-great-convergence/
 
In some circles Analog may not be appreciated. I wouldn't say most.

This is especially when we are talking about recording and mastering engineers that record and mix in Analog to this day.
And more recently the music fans that are buying Professional Analog Tape Machines to listen to copies of Analog Master Tapes.

http://positive-feedback.com/show-reports/dsd-analog-great-convergence/

Brian, I'm in NO way knocking analogue. In fact, in the last 20 years the newer tape machines with their 'zooped up" electronics FAR surpass what was available years ago when Dolby and DBX noise reduction
was needed to increase the SN of those 'vintage' Open Reel recorders.

As far as being an archival medium, properly stored, those tapes should last for a good long time

And yes, Digital recording has its shortcomings, as well but my statement about AP's recent Lofgren SACD and Universal HK's Enigma SACD may point to a new trend that transferring even 16 bit DDD recordings to SACD w/o that dreaded Brickwall filtering imposed by ALL RBCD players isn't such a bad idea after all.

Brian, one last question: Is MoFi utilizing QUAD DSD to master their Stereo SACDs? There was talk over at the old SA~CD.net that they WERE gearing up to master ALL their SACDs utilizing this process.
 
Brian, I'm in NO way knocking analogue. In fact, in the last 20 years the newer tape machines with their 'zooped up" electronics FAR surpass what was available years ago when Dolby and DBX noise reduction
was needed to increase the SN of those 'vintage' Open Reel recorders.

As far as being an archival medium, properly stored, those tapes should last for a good long time

And yes, Digital recording has its shortcomings, as well but my statement about AP's recent Lofgren SACD and Universal HK's Enigma SACD may point to a new trend that transferring even 16 bit DDD recordings to SACD w/o that dreaded Brickwall filtering imposed by ALL RBCD players isn't such a bad idea after all.

Brian, one last question: Is MoFi utilizing QUAD DSD to master their Stereo SACDs? There was talk over at the old SA~CD.net that they WERE gearing up to master ALL their SACDs utilizing this process.


I've advocated this approach for some time...there are tons of great content on CD's that were well recorded that just need minor tweaks and IMO getting the license wouldn't be that expensive and probably not that hard to obtain... many outshine their hi rez counterparts right now without tweaking....look at those gold cds I have been purchasing...they are excellent...it shows what good mastering can bring to a garden variety CD...I'm going to be very curious to see the results when I compare my Hoffman mastered Bob Dylan Greatest Hits Gold CD with the new SACD offering..I suspect the MoFi version will be mastered by Rob LoVerde...which in the past I've had mixed results from his work...never poor...but seldom outstanding...to be candid I'm expecting my Gold CD to sound better...
 
I've advocated this approach for some time...there are tons of great content on CD's that were well recorded that just need minor tweaks and IMO getting the license wouldn't be that expensive and probably not that hard to obtain... many outshine their hi rez counterparts right now without tweaking....look at those gold cds I have been purchasing...they are excellent...it shows what good mastering can bring to a garden variety CD...I'm going to be very curious to see the results when I compare my Hoffman mastered Bob Dylan Greatest Hits Gold CD with the new SACD offering..I suspect the MoFi version will be mastered by Rob LoVerde...which in the past I've had mixed results from his work...never poor...but seldom outstanding...to be candid I'm expecting my Gold CD to sound better...

Clint, a few years ago, Pierre Sprey who owns Mapleshade was working on a RBCD player which eliminated the Brick Wall filter...citing that impediment as one of the greatest ills of RBCD playback. Unfortunately it never got off the ground and I suspect one of the inherent problems was that the filter WAS part of the RBCD standard (my guess).

Digital Recording commenced mid 70's so one can only imagine how many fabulous recordings were recorded DDD and I wholeheartedly agree that some of these SHOULD be transferred to a higher res medium. So many top artists across ALL genres jumped headlong into digital recording only to be disappointed by the VERY poor RBCD playback hardware of the time.......crappy players listing at $1K at the time....with CDs costing $20 or more (Vinyl was $5 at that time).

Having thoroughly enjoyed the DVD~A 5.1 of Dire Straits 'Brothers In Arms' which WAS initially a DDD recording and now the Lofgren and Enigma SACDs, the time IS ripe to reassess these once considered inferior early 16 bit recordings and offer them to the public in a higher resolution format....because as far as I'm concerned.......they sound amazing to MY ears....especially on modern equipment.
 
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I love how the Foo Fighters made a big, big deal about recording a recent album analog, even including pieces of tape in the package. Then they make it sound unlistenable with compression anyway...
 
A discussion of albums reissued on Hybrid Stereo SACDs from Analog Tapes from Analogue Productions.
 
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