Hi guys,

I hope this makes sense to everyone!

I've recently discovered that my HDCD copy of "Van Halen" (the album) sounds significantly better, to my ears, when it is played back in Windows Media Player, which can decode HDCD. No surprise there!

I'm wondering, is there a way to preserve that higher quality audio, when playing the CD back on a non-HDCD player? I ask because some information I've read - admittedly going a year or two back - suggests that by ripping a CD with EAC, and then burning to CD-R, you can preserve that higher quality sound on a regular CD player.

It seems odd to me that you'd be able to replicate HDCD without an HDCD player, but...


Thanks!

I think you could replicate the data during a bitperfect copy process. But CD players would still need to decode it, which regular devices cannot.

I first rip the HDCD-encoded CD with EAC, then use hdcd.exe to convert the 16-bit HDCD-encoded wav file to a 24-bit decoded wav file.

You can get a copy of hdcd.exe here:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129136

I understand it as he likes to burn it back to a cd in 16bit with preserving some advantages of the sound.
So a rip in EAC to a single wav file -> decode -> SSRC (2pass encoding or even normalize) back to 16bit should be the easiest way to do.

I have uploaded a small sample over here:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=61733

It shows that on HDCDs that use "Peak Extension" there can be an advantage to do so. I doubt it will give any improvement if this feature isn´t used.

When you do that with a Van Halen HDCD, you find that basically decoding's just reducing the level by about 6 dB, compared to nondecoded. There is no peak extension, so no gain/loss in dynamic range.

It may still indeed sound better on some systems, because the tracks are no longer bashing up against 0dbFS
all the time (the VH remasters are very much 'loudness wars' examplars). I can ge the same benefit just by using replaygain, though.

However, IIRC the HDCD encoding may have used the variable 'transient filters' option, which doesn't seem to be implemented in hdcd.exe. I don't know if that really makes an audible difference (HDCD claims were never accompanied by published blind listening tests, AFAIK).

Thanks for the replies.

I agree that the Van Halen discs are victims of the "Loudness Wars". The reason I believed that the HDCD sound was better, was because I compared the sound using the "Use 24 bit sound" mode in Windows Media Player. To me, when "Use 24 bit sound" (HDCD sound, I'm told) was selected, the audio was less harsh, and had the higher treble that I was used to with previous non-remastered releases.

Krabapple (and anyone else), are you a fan of the non-remastered "Van Halen I" to "1984" CDs, in comparison to the remasters? I am beginning to lean that way, at least when listening to the remasters in non-HDCD.

But you now realize that it's not just the format, but different masterings as well, correct? You're comparing apples to oranges.

I suppose through all this rigamaroll of extracting the audio, decoding the HDCD to 24-bit, converting to 16-bit using dither and burning back to CD you may possibly get something that sounds better than original HDCD disc played on a non-HDCD player since all 16 bits are now audio data.

I tend to prefer whichever version of a CD hasn't had the dynamics smashed out of it, the loudness boosted, the bass and treble jacked up into a smiley EQ. But there are exceptions. Some original masters are badly recorded in the first place and need help. The original '1984' LP and CD always sounded kind of anemic to me, the HDCD fixes that but maybe goes too far in the 'lively' direction. But as greynol points out, the relevant point for HDCDs is that, when comparing the HDCD to previous versions, you're comparing the new mastering moves, as well as whatever contribution the HDCD encoding is making. For the VH HDCDs, I haven't bothered to archive them as decoded FLACs via hdcd.exe; I've only done that with HDCDs that used peak extension (like the Joni Mitchell HDCDs, and the Japanese Yes remasters)

Oh, absolutely I understand that. It's just that the HDCD "version" of this CD sounded so much better - admittedly, on small PC speakers - than the CD played on regular equipment.

My questions about all of this are out of sheer frustration that the original non-remastered discs actually sound better than the remastered ones. What's the world coming to when sound quality actually gets worse with every new release?!

Hello!
Does anybody knows how to make work hdcd.exe (http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cjk32/hdcd/ ) in foobar2000 converter (which parametrs to use)?

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=59424

greynol, thank you. but i didn't find how to use hdcd.exe in foobar2000 converter...

...then please start a new discussion. Your request is off-topic in this one.