Format, format, format.

[James83]

You're trying to co-opt my thread.

Yes, my views, my direction when paying: I pursue pure Hi-Fi—which we should keep in mind stands for high fidelity.

I'm not going to explore new 44.1/16 if it's going to cost me.


And I'm not always pursuing Hi-Fi, YouTube being free, the following "sounds good" to me:

Not your kind of thread? Note the title of this favourite:

So having looked up what you were getting at.
Yes, Hifi does stand for Hi Fidelity.
But, what does Hifi (Hi Fidelity) mean?
Apparently it means quality reproduction of sound. No matter what the source. In contrast to crappy equipment which does not reproduce sound anywhere near as well.

So, a quality CD player, amp and speakers, reproducing a decent recording from a CD, is Hi Fidelity!!
In contrast, playing a hi quality, super dooper FLAC recording over your crappy laptop, would not be Hi Fidelity.

Fantastic. Every time you mention Hi Fidelity I'm going to ask you what decent CD player you are using!!

 

[Wil]

Faux pas.

Fantastic. Every time you mention Hi Fidelity I'm going to ask you what decent CD player you are using!!

Connected balanced XRL to the amp seen in my 1st Post, my dedicated CD player is a level above. The CD-7, glimpsed at the left:

That Was Then... Marantz CD-7

We revisit Marantz’s last dedicated flagship CD player

www.whathifi.com

It's also named as one of The best 24 CD players of What Hi-Fi?'s lifetime


Some of my other players have been shown in Change…

 

[Wil]

There's-not-enough-time (in each day), that's how I've been greatly feeling since late last year.

Wil, unfortunately they're expensive, but there are some disc players that will natively play DSD/SACD without downsampling or converting to PCM. Marantz and PS Audio among others make such players.

If SACD did not take off then it's only Sony/Philips to blame. And blame that on pure free market greed. It was a well known fact that even in the 80s CDs were cheaper to produce than vinyl but still priced higher. And SACD even more so, along with dismal and confused marketing. Why the **ck woul anyone want to buy it back in '99 when CDs were still thriving? Especially when Sony clearly didn't know how to sell it! Is it any wonder it failed??? It also arrived about at least 7 years too late.

I have neither the desire, time nor space to go back to vinyl. As for CD, contrary to what others say some CD players are bl**dy well better than others. It's still a very valid format.

As my previous Post showed, I've bought decent hardware. Software/music-media is nowadays prevalent, can be as cheap-as-streaming. If anything, I'd like to save to spend money on buying still better hardware (while revisiting what's been neglected in my library).


Incidentally, stepping back, I recall manicm once praising the PM7000N to me, I see it got 5 Stars and is a What Hi-Fi? Awards 2020 winner:

Marantz PM7000N review

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2021 winner. An entertaining just-add-speakers stereo streaming system

www.whathifi.com

Fun, I had earlier bought a NA6006. But network audio isn't something I'm currently using much of.

 

[Wil]

1x dubbed casssette, 4x genuine…

So, I've found my cassettes (format that introduced me to many albums…)… Comparing the performance of their Hybrid SACD releases, CD layer sounds conclusively second place to its DSD version.

If anyone has a CD to recommend me, I'll look into it. But it'll have to be extraordinary for me to want to buy 16bit/44.1 again.

Incidentally:

Compact cassette tape inventor Lou Ottens has died aged 94

Ottens also helped develop the CD

www.whathifi.com

 

[iMark]

I agree that quite a few CDs sound absolutely awful. But that's more to do with the mixing and mastering than anything else.

I own quite a few CDs with classical music from the 1980s and 1990s. Many of them were early digital recordings. In the hands of the right recording engineers digital recording was a huge step forward from analogue recording with its inherent problems. CDs from that era still sound good.

The medium CD is not the problem. The Redbook standard has more than enough headroom to qualify as HiFi. The problem with modern CDs is poor mixing and mastering.

I fully agree with what Lou Ottens said about the CD. A wonderful medium and a major leap forward from analogue recording and LPs.

 

[Wil]

The Redbook standard has more than enough headroom to qualify as HiFi.

It doesn't qualify as Hi-Res Audio, remember:

2/3 of the Posts since I last commented are wayward. The OP wanted to talk about higher "bitrate and sampling levels" than 16bit/44.1

As WHF link explained back in Post #8, 16bit/44.1 isn't Hi-Res:
"The Recording Academy, together with record labels, formally defined high-resolution audio as “lossless audio that is capable of reproducing the full range of sound from recordings that have been mastered from better than CD quality music sources".

In its simplest terms, hi-res audio tends to refer to music files that have a higher sampling frequency and/or bit depth than CD, which is specified at 16-bit/44.1kHz."

High-resolution audio: everything you need to know

Is hi-res audio worth it? Our handy guide on high-resolution audio will help you decide

www.whathifi.com

I fully agree with what Lou Ottens said about the CD. A wonderful medium and a major leap forward from analogue recording and LPs.

What was said in that WHF piece:
"When NRC Handelsblad had asked Ottens in 2018 what he thought about the renewed interest that cassette tapes were having in recent years, the pioneer thought it was silly, noting that CDs were unbeatable for audio quality."

Tried linking through to NRC Handelsblad to see the full original context? I tried, there's a paywall. But regardless, SACDs (what I'm getting into) beats its CD version/release.

Name a CD you'd recommend me, after looking into it, I'll tell you honestly whether I'd buy it.

 

[Wil]

It's nearing 6 weeks…

I had a fall 2 hours ago, injuring my left arm from bracing the impact.

And half a day has passed since an appointment to assess how my arm is healing. Unfortunately, although the hand is fine, my elbow's recovery is complicated.

For the 3 and a half months since I last Posted I've focused on fixing my elbow. The needed surgery was a success. But the rehabilitation is time consuming.

Surgeon doesn't promote the idea of me 'being able to regain the full straightening of my elbow again.' But I'll succeed by putting in the-work.


I'm now often exploring this Glenn Gould release, in USB 24bit/44.1:


Is it better sounding than his other collections (in CDs) I've bought? Yes, through my setup, it is.

 

[Wil]

Let's recall again how Grudin said "Happiness may well consist primarily of an attitude toward time."

When Netflix released Terrence Malick's Song to Song (in a 1080p 5Mbps stream), I watched nearly half an hour before stopping to go find it to own in better quality.


4K version proved indeed to be much more enjoyable. Its AV stats:

 

[aversaurus]

I really don't think there's a issue with cd .I did give SACD a go but really didn't think it was that much better .

 

[Wil]

Take the example of Netflix, my brother invited me to use his Premium Ultra-HD subscription (otherwise, I wouldn't be able to access it, because I won't subscribe/pay to have it). Majority of its offerings look awful on my 55" 4K tv (thus, if I really want to watch a certain title, usually in 1080p below 5Mbps, I'll use a 21.5" monitor that'll have the pixels closer together).

By the way, I've fibre, internet speed isn't an issue for VOD.

Rather than go into the specifics of Hi-Fi components we own, in short, I'm in a situation where I've chosen to pursue Hi-Res audio (when I'm serious about listening during free time).

I really don't think there's a issue with cd .I did give SACD a go but really didn't think it was that much better .

 

[Tinman1952]

Majority of its offerings look awful on my 55" 4K tv

Then I think you need to check your TV settings……
Netflix looks absolutely fine on my 55” LG OLED … even HD content! 4K looks stunning. 🙂

 

[Wil]

I'm late, was just intending to be back and Edit to "Majority of its offerings [that I'd watch] look awful on my 55" 4K tv" because, of course, I don't watch the-total-majority-of Netflix.

Then I think you need to check your TV settings……
Netflix looks absolutely fine on my 55” LG OLED … even HD content! 4K looks stunning. 🙂

To be specific, naming one genre I'm interested in, go check out on your tv these Korean dramas that look awful on my Samsung KS9500:
Possessed
My ID is Gangnam Beauty
Tale of the Nine Tailed

And for The School Nurse Files series, it's in 4K, but maxing at around mid-2Mbps…

 

[Wil]

I’ll say a couple of good things about Netflix, I liked these 2 recent 4K film releases:
My Brother, My Sister
Last Summer

And, visually, this is what I meant about using a 21.5" monitor for low bitrate content (my brother subscribed to Prime Video and recommended to me a documentary on an ex-rugby player, Dan Carter):


Are readers familiar with Criterion Collection? They're releasing 4K discs. Just as well, for I previously laughed seeing their 1080 release of Cuarón's Roma (when you know who has it at 4K).

Another time I'll share what Criterion discs I've bought.

 

[Wil]

Recap, as a format, I do use YouTube. However, I mindful of not spending too much time there.

This vid is a tie-in to the album “I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico”:

 

[Wil]

In the mid 2000s, my then girlfriend introduced me to this online music review programme from New Zealand radio, titled New Horizons. Last weekend’s show happened to be on the tribute Velvet Underground album:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/newhorizons/audio/2018815861/velvet-revisiting

I enjoy listening to New Horizons, its always enchantingly considered narrative has often led me to searching out the featured music, sometimes buying…

 

[Wil]

After updating to macOS Monterey for my 2018 Mac mini, I’ve started again exploring Apple TV+

In short, it’s a better experience e.g. HDR is easier for my setup/4K Samsung (due, seemingly, to being able to tick a box within System Preferences/Displays). And, somehow (I don’t know the specifics, chalk it to the-passage-of-time, ISP improvements…), higher quality streams come through.

Was watching this Todd Haynes documentary on the Velvets:

Watch The Velvet Underground - Movie - Apple TV+

Watch The Velvet Underground, a BSFC award-winning music documentary on the famous rock band. Directed and produced by Todd Haynes. Streaming on Apple TV+.

tv.apple.com

 

[Wil]

A plug for this news:

Save up to 80% on Hi-Res and CD-quality albums in Qobuz's Black Friday sale

Because it's nice to actually own music

www.whathifi.com

Browsing through… there are numerous albums I’d like to own in Hi-Res Audio e.g. I've a fondness for Charlotte Gainsbourg.

 

[nopiano]

I've a fondness for Charlotte Gainsbourg

I believe she speaks well of you too!