HDCD Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[AndyN]

I believe the City of Angels soundtrack is also in HDCD.

 

[Doug_WSmith]

The most current patch of media player 9 does HDCD.

 

[Doug Otte]

The Denon DCM-380 (5 disc CD changer) plays HDCDs. I just bought mine about 2 months ago, and love it. I think it has Burr Brown DACs, but I'm not sure.

 

[Thomas Newton]

I am guessing my Pioneer 563a SACD/DVD-A universal won't play HDCD?

You don't need HDCD support to play a HDCD disc -- just to hear the HDCD signal shaping. On a normal CD player, I'd imagine that HDCD encoding sounds like very low-level noise.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

HDCD is now owned by Microsoft so of course they would add playback support to Media Player, but nevertheless Microsoft doesn't have a clue about sound quality because they insist on converting everything to 48k sample rate.

 

[Angelo.M]

Grateful Dead, American Beauty and Workingman's Dead
Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball
Joni Mitchell, Blue

 

[LarryDavenport]

All of the recent Beach Boys remasters are HDCD. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds Sessions box is too and sounds great. Also if you like Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac, the three Live at the Boston Tea Party discs are HDCD encoded.

 

[Daniel Mai]

There seems to be quite a few more available than I thought. Lots on ebay. But I'll have to try Best Buy later today or tomorrow and see what they got. It's probably blend in with the regular CDs.

 

[Jeffrey Wiffen]

Some of my favorite HDCDs:

- Beck - Sea Change
- Costello/Bacharach - Painted From Memory
- Roxy Music - Avalon
- Spiritualized® - Let It Come Down
- Emmylou Harris - Red Dirt Girl
- Brubeck - Time Out
- Ron Sexsmith - Blue Boy

 

[Greg Black]

There seems to be quite a few more available than I thought. Lots on ebay. But I'll have to try Best Buy later today or tomorrow and see what they got. It's probably blend in with the regular CDs.

Yes, the only way to tell if a release is HDCD is to look very closely on the back cover of the CD, and you should see the little HDCD logo. Sometimes though, it isn't even listed on the back! Although, I have to say that's rare, but it does happen once in a while.

The easiest thing to do would be to go to the official website Link Removed and browse through the list of releases, write down the ones you are interested in on a piece of paper, and use that as a guide when you go to Best Buy.

-Greg

 

[Doug Otte]

Jeff, my Avalon SACD, which purportedly has HDCD on the redbook layer (per the box), is only recognized as a regular CD on my Denon. I've read others have the same problem on other players. Is yours the HDCD, or a separate HDCD-only release?

Greg, hdcd.com doesn't list all releases. I just did a search on Mike Oldfield, & it listed only one. He's got around 10 titles in HDCD. So, don't use hdcd.com as a definitive list.

Thanks.
Doug

 

[Greg Black]

True, hdcd.com is not a definitive list, but I mentioned it because, as far as I know, it's the most comprehensive (and I think) the only list of HDCD releases on the internet. Therefore it would be the only way (that I know of) to reference HDCD titles. Which of course is easier than looking through the CD selection at a store for a tiny little logo on the back cover

I have several non-marked HDCDs; one that I just picked up yesterday is Story Of The Year - Page Avenue. Sounds wonderful when decoded in HDCD: nice dynamics, and spaciousness to the mix. If you like melodic hardcore, then I would recommend that disc. Sounds similar to The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Senses Fail, Thursday, etc.

 

[Daniel Mai]

There's a lot listed on ebay, mostly from China, that I didn't see in the stores. Are these legit or are they bootlegs? Or are they official releases for other regions that we don't get here (yet?)?

 

[Jeffrey Wiffen]

I do not have the SACD version of Avalon. I have the newly remastered redbook CD, which is HDCD endoded.

 

[Doug Otte]

True, hdcd.com is not a definitive list, but I mentioned it because, as far as I know, it's the most comprehensive (and I think) the only list of HDCD releases on the internet. Therefore it would be the only way (that I know of) to reference HDCD titles. Which of course is easier than looking through the CD selection at a store for a tiny little logo on the back cover

Good points, Greg. Thanks for calling me on it.

 

[Michael_T]

Jeff, my Avalon SACD, which purportedly has HDCD on the redbook layer (per the box), is only recognized as a regular CD on my Denon. I've read others have the same problem on other players. Is yours the HDCD, or a separate HDCD-only release?

I wouldn't say this is a "problem" - just a misprint or holdover from the redbook CD version copy. The SACD version's redbook layer is not HDCD encoded, but it really shouldn't matter, if you bought the SACD - you most likely bought it for the SACD stereo and MCH layers - which trounce the regular HDCD redbook version by a mile!

 

[Doug Otte]

I wouldn't say this is a "problem" - just a misprint or holdover from the redbook CD version copy. The SACD version's redbook layer is not HDCD encoded, but it really shouldn't matter, if you bought the SACD - you most likely bought it for the SACD stereo and MCH layers - which trounce the regular HDCD redbook version by a mile!

Michael, quite right, but my SACD player is in the living room. My CD player in the computer room has HDCD capability, & it would be nice to hear the additional bits there. When all my players are SACD, I'll stop my petty whining.

Doug

 

[Rick_Brown]

One thing to note is that in order to "decode" HDCD you must either listen via analog cables if decoding via the CD/DVD player, or you must listen via a digital connection if decoding via your receiver.

You can't decode HDCD via your CD/DVD HDCD-capable player if you are sending the signal to your receiver via a digital connection.

 

[Jeffrey Wiffen]

Another HDCD recommendation:

- Lucinda Williams: World Without Tears

 

[StevenW]

TOOL - Lateralus, is my favorite.