"Anthony PDC" antdeclan_at_hotmail.com wrote in message

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 05:50:08 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Anthony PDC" antdeclan_at_hotmail.com wrote in message


PS: Four years on from that post above-quoted, SACD and DVD-Audio
are genuine advances over CD and high-end LP playback. Anyone with
ears can discern the higher quality immediately with half-decent
amplification/speakers.

The difference you can hear with SACD and DVD-A discs, as compared to
earlier CDs is due to the fact that they were remastered. The basic
technology has zero audible benefits for listening to music.

Then I am happy they were remastered (if I agree with your basic
assumptions a la Emperor's New Clothes, with which I do not). But hey,
we are all agreed thay sound better, so what's the problem?

I've heard a lot of remastering jobs that were IMO steps backwards,
sonically speaking. Two ways that this can happen involve adding dynamic
range compression, and adding artificial reverb. I haven't heard that any of
the remastered SACD/DVD-A releases have added artificial reverb, but several
of them have had their dynamic range substantially compressed.

As always, newer does not always mean better.