[adanac061]

The Official HDCD Thread/ Information Central.

This thread exists to have all the info on HDCD's on Head-Fi in one place.
Also exists as a discussion forum for HDCD related matters.

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About HDCD. (As per wikipedia)

High Definition Compatible Digital, or HDCD is a patented encode-decode process that claims to improve the sound quality of standard audio CDs. A relatively high-quality sound-system would be required to take advantage of the improved dynamic range that a decoded HDCD can deliver relative to standard 16-bit linear PCM "Red Book" CD recordings. HDCD encoded CDs may be played back on systems without HDCD decoding with acceptable audio quality

HDCD is a proprietary process, and no completely accurate technical description has been released to the public.
HDCD, according to the original literature, encodes the equivalent of 20 to 24 bits worth of data in a 16-bit digital audio signal by utilizing custom dithering, a series of switchable audio filters, and some reversible amplitude and gain encoding; Peak Extend, which is a reversible soft limiter and Low Level Range Extend, which is a reversible gain on low-level signals.[1][2][3][4]

HDCD encoding places a control signal in the least significant bit of 1-2% of the 16-bit Red Book audio samples (a technique known as in-band signaling). The HDCD decoder in the consumer's CD player, if present, responds to the signal. If no decoder is present, the disc will be played as a regular CD.

In itself, the use of the 1-2% of the bits in the (dithered) least significant bit stream does little to degrade sound quality on a non-HDCD player (only decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio by a minuscule amount). HDCD Peak Extension (if chosen in HDCD mastering) however does apply compression to the peaks which will be audible in playback on a non-HDCD system which will not apply the approriate expansion curve.

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HDCD Threads.

- "HDCD list" (A huge list of HDCD's)
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67082

- "HDCD Question"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=238970


- "SACD vs. HDCD vs. Regular CD?"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=143826

- "Funny thing I noticed with HDCD."
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=93113

-"Encoding HDCD redbook?"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=170104


- "Myth: HDCD Discs Sound Better Even in a Regular CD Player?"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=162430

- "HDCD"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=237169

- "HDCD: Ripping & Playback"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=231193

- "On the superiority of HDCD"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=223891

- "HDCD and SACD?"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224549


- "HDCD lost in ripping?"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=184040

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The Rip HDCD to Wav Project.

The Rip HDCD to Wav Project is an idea that you can capture the extra 4 bits of information so it can be played through a non-HDCD dac.

The idea comes from these threads :

>Slim Devices forum.> http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=15185

>Hydrogen Audio > http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...howtopic=30999

Using the Chronotron wav plugin found here >> http://www.chronotron.com/content.php?page=downloads
and WMP To record/rip a new Wav file that includes the hidden 4 bits of info.

On Head-Fi the project has been started in this thread.

- "HDCD & Dynamic Range - it's no joke!"
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=221104









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================================End Transmission=========

 

[GAD]

'cause you can never have too many formats!

I have CD players, SACD players, DVD-A players and now this.

I miss my record player.

GAD

 

[HiWire]

Thanks for posting this. It's sad that Head-Fi is one of the last information sources about HDCD... most of the official pages are gone. Thanks a lot, Microsoft.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Excellent compilation, adanac061.

 

[cherepashka]

HDCD is crap.

 

[adanac061]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cherepashka /img/forum/go_quote.gif HDCD is crap.

Thanks for your awesome contribution!

 

[cherepashka]

If you want to discuss ****'s flavor, go on. And yes that was an awesome contribution.
Not to take anything away from you. Great job on systematizing all that info.

 

[colonelkernel8]

cherepashka, it really isnt nice to thread crap. Please leave, troll. If you dont like HDCD, then why even visit the thread.

 

[Duggeh]

I personally am curious as to what the beef cherepashka has with HDCD actually is. I have heard HDCDs that are worse sounding than the non-HDCD versions of the same album but that's always been obviously because of crappy re-mastering rather than the format. Mike Oldfield's entire Virgin discography is available on HDCD and I prefer almost every single album on HDCD than on the pre 2000-master regular CDs. That's just the mastering benefits trickling down to me too, because I don't own an HDCD compatible CD player and don't use WMP for my computer.

 

[a shovel]

Thank you so much for this primer. Fellow hdcd fan reporting in ^^

 

[randerson3024]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I personally am curious as to what the beef cherepashka has with HDCD actually is. I have heard HDCDs that are worse sounding than the non-HDCD versions of the same album but that's always been obviously because of crappy re-mastering rather than the format. Mike Oldfield's entire Virgin discography is available on HDCD and I prefer almost every single album on HDCD than on the pre 2000-master regular CDs. That's just the mastering benefits trickling down to me too, because I don't own an HDCD compatible CD player and don't use WMP for my computer.

I agree, there are many good HDCD's out there, especially those marketed by Reference Recordings. If you have a strong source, they even sound great without necessarily having the patented HDCD filter.

 

[silverrain]

On my ($$$ but worth it) Marantz HDCD player/recorder, I can really hear a significant increase in SQ with HDCD disks.
The sound just seems to "open up" on top and bottom.
Hard to explain -- but everyone should be lucky enough to try it on a decent system.

 

[randerson3024]

I haven't heard the Marantz, but I have a buddy who has one and just loves it.

 

[feckn_eejit]

Former HDCD fanboy checking in, now recovering. I respect and appreciate the technology in its context, it can do some cool stuff, but the cost is high... monetarily and otherwise - it shafts everyone with nice non-HDCD players.

At this point, I actually find it quite suitable that Microsoft owns the technology - it is no surprise that its licensing scheme would appeal to their monopolistic nature. Everyone at every level pays if they want to get the benefit, otherwise they get shafted!

So, you're a mastering engineer. Your client delivers you their 2-channel 24/96 mixdown, and you are charged with getting it onto a redbook cd. Want to release it in HDCD? OK, now you've got to buy an analog to digital converter that has the HDCD encoders built in, licensed from Microsoft. So you do, you put the HDCD out, and now everyone who hasn't shelled out for a CD player where the manufacturer has paid for the license to build in the HDCD decoder is screwed - only those with HDCD players get to experience your masterpiece in its full glory. Everyone else gets shafted by an inferior A/D process, and loses a bit of resolution. Even worse, most HDCD-equipped players/dacs sound worse playing non-HDCDs! Why? Well! The spec for the decoder implementation mandates that all non-HDCD material must be attenuated by 6db. HDCD-encoded material is of course 6db quieter due to the extra resolution, and it would suck if non-HDCD material won in any sort of comparison because it was louder, which often wins comparisons... and guess how most CDP/DAC manufacturers deal with the 6db attenuation requirement for non-HDCD mateiral? In the digital domain, at the filter! Whoopee, now the actual DAC chips get handed less information on regular redbook material! Whipped!

...some manufacturers do it correctly in the analog domain, others got brave and provided a jumper to disable the 6db attenuation altogether. Mark Levinson came up with the most interesting solution IMO. When you have a no.360 DAC and no.380 preamplifier, with the ML proprietary system communication link connected, the DAC will tell the preamp when HDCD material is being decoded and the preamp will turn the volume up to compensate. Now THAT'S cool!

Enough ranting for now... anyway I know a fair bit about how this system works, so ask ask away

 

[silverrain]

I've found that some HDCD disks are not even marked as such -- on the package, or the disk itself -- I play a new CD, and sometimes the HDCD light comes on, telling me I just hit pay-dirt!