S-HM Discs

[eirepaul]

has anyone here bought any of the S-HM discs available at CD-Japan. These releases are supposed to provide higher resolution sound by use of a higher grade polycarbonate disc formulation that allows more accurate laser reading (?). Not sure I believe this, but would be interested to know if anyone has actually experienced an improved sound with any of these discs. They have a lot of classic rock titles, including all Steely Dan. The early SD discs do not have the cleaner sound of the SD/Fagan releases from the 80s, 90s, 00s. Thanks for any input - if there is a consensus of opinion that these discs truly do offer superior sound, I'm going to be spending a lot of money!

 

[Adam]

That has got to be the strangest thread highjacking by a newbie that I've ever seen.

eirepaul, I don't have any experience with those discs. Sorry.

 

[MDS]

It sounds bogus to me. If the disc is a Redbook CD then the only resolution you get is 16 bit, 44.1 kHz. If the disc is an HDCD or uses some other proprietary encoding format like Super Bit Mapping then you theoretically get the benefit of a 20 bit format but it still conforms to the Redbook CD player so any regular CD/DVD player can play it - whether or not it actually sounds better is debatable.

A special formulation of dye or reflective layer may help the laser to track better but in no way can it increase the resolution of the audio. I'm sure the claim is that it increases the perceived resolution (ie 'it sounds better') but it cannot change the actual resolution and still conform to the spec.

 

[jamie2112]

It not only sounds bogus it is bogus. MDS has it right.....The laser may read better with the new material but it will not affect the audio resolution. I really don't like most of the discs I have that were engineered in Japan. They sound very nasty in the hi midrange and up to 10K usually sounds quite brittle. . To answer your question : Don't waste your money until you can hear it and judge for yourself. I feel you won't hear any difference...... IMO of course.....

 

[Geno]

Pure (B)arbra (S)treisand

I'd put this in the same catagory as the magic pens that supposedly make CDs sound better and Brilliant Pebbles. BTW, are they sold by Machina Dynamica or Mapleshades?

 

[Adam]

I'd put this in the same catagory as the magic pens...

That's the first thing that I thought of when I read this, too.

 

[mudrummer99]

The disc-HSBC was password protected and contained names, life insurance cover levels, dates of birth and whether or not a customer smokes, said HSBC in a statement. “There is nothing else that could in any way compromise a customer and there is no reason to suppose that the disk has fallen into the wrong hands".
------------------
Jonty rodes

I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on how completely off base this response was. I mean, wow, not even in the same sport, let alone same ballpark.

Mike

 

[FeisalK]

not recommending SHM-CDs or anything, but the Led Zep kit sure looks slick

 

[eirepaul]

so FeisalK - what exactly are you saying here? What format is this box set in?

I'm kind of surprised by the responses here. No one seems to have even heard of these releases. I might just take a chance and try one - I'll let you know.

 

[Adam]

I'd never heard of them...but there's a LOT of stuff that I've never heard of, so I'm probably not a good example.

I'd say if you're interested, pick one up - like you said. After all, you'll never really know until you try it yourself, and I'm guessing that a single disc doesn't cost all that much. The consensus seems to be that there won't be any real difference, but the price of admission is low. Please let us know if you end up getting one and what you think of it.

Thanks!

 

[hwkn]

The average price for a single SHM cd is around $30-$40 btw.

 

[FeisalK]

so FeisalK - what exactly are you saying here? What format is this box set in?

I'm kind of surprised by the responses here. No one seems to have even heard of these releases. I might just take a chance and try one - I'll let you know.

the box set is SHM-CD; I just have no idea how they would sound like; but someone's got them and having discussion over at Steve Hoffman's site

the overwhelming impression is that you can't have better resolution than a normal CD (16b/44.1kHz) or it won;t play in normal CD players; the claim that the material improves the sound bears investigating, I guess - someone got the demo CD pack (1 SHM-CD + 1 normal CD with exactly the same tracks) also mentioned in the thread linked above

 

[hwkn]

I'll be getting one of the Led Zeppelin boxes on Monday it won't be cheap[$349].