Just finished recording my live quadcast, hope some of you watch the recording. But for those that don't have an hour to spare, here are the results of the first shoot out, EV4 - Involve decoder vs. software script.
First, here's what the contents were
From the comments I received, it seems both methods have their merits, in some cases it may have been close to call, and for some tracks a toss up. This was an interesting comparison. But when it comes down to making a choice, here are the results.
Generally speaking, the Involve decoder was preferred more than software. However, it was a close vote on One Fine Morning, and a toss up on the Big Band Moog tracks. I think at the end of the day, what we've learned here is that the Involve decoder is certainly a worthwhile decoder for playback of EV4 materials. Also, software decodes are certainly worth listening to, and the pursuit of software decoding is definitely worthwhile. More quad = more good, right?
I'm quite excited now to see how the QS shoot outs go, because we still haven't answered the question of whether or not a single decoder can do a superb job of decoding both QS and EV4, and if there's anything to the suggestion that EV4 and QS are compatible formats.
As a follow up to this, I recently got word from Oxford Dickie that he has further modified his EV4 decoding process. At this time if you visit his dreamingspiresquadarchive.wordpress site, there is more information about that on his Jan. 5th post. For those that participated, it might be worth comparing the new decode of One Fine Morning to what was on the shoot out materials, and posting any thoughts on that.
Coming up soon will be the first part of the SQ shoot out. This one is going to be done in 2 steps. First, a shoot out between the Involve SQ vinyl edition decoder and the Tate II. Then after that, if one of those decoders stands out above the other in the results, that one will go up against the software decode. (I'm not sure what I'm going to do if the decoders is a toss up.) Stay tuned for that, I hope to have something posted next weekend.
First, here's what the contents were
From the comments I received, it seems both methods have their merits, in some cases it may have been close to call, and for some tracks a toss up. This was an interesting comparison. But when it comes down to making a choice, here are the results.
Generally speaking, the Involve decoder was preferred more than software. However, it was a close vote on One Fine Morning, and a toss up on the Big Band Moog tracks. I think at the end of the day, what we've learned here is that the Involve decoder is certainly a worthwhile decoder for playback of EV4 materials. Also, software decodes are certainly worth listening to, and the pursuit of software decoding is definitely worthwhile. More quad = more good, right?
I'm quite excited now to see how the QS shoot outs go, because we still haven't answered the question of whether or not a single decoder can do a superb job of decoding both QS and EV4, and if there's anything to the suggestion that EV4 and QS are compatible formats.
As a follow up to this, I recently got word from Oxford Dickie that he has further modified his EV4 decoding process. At this time if you visit his dreamingspiresquadarchive.wordpress site, there is more information about that on his Jan. 5th post. For those that participated, it might be worth comparing the new decode of One Fine Morning to what was on the shoot out materials, and posting any thoughts on that.
Coming up soon will be the first part of the SQ shoot out. This one is going to be done in 2 steps. First, a shoot out between the Involve SQ vinyl edition decoder and the Tate II. Then after that, if one of those decoders stands out above the other in the results, that one will go up against the software decode. (I'm not sure what I'm going to do if the decoders is a toss up.) Stay tuned for that, I hope to have something posted next weekend.