I still own my first discs from 1983. They came in a packet of five whenever you bought a CDP from Lasky's.
I still own my first discs from 1983. They came in a packet of five whenever you bought a CDP from Lasky's.
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I suspect that is an audiophile myth. I actively try to buy the first releases rather than the later issues and re-masters as they often have a much higher dynamic range, and I'm not the only one who has discovered this. That's why the original releases sell for a lot more second-hand.
I think the explanation for the 'very bright' sound was the systems some people were using back then. The people who complained about it were a vocal minority, the rest of the world adopted the cd pretty happily.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
A lot of stories were made up over the years and turned into urban myths. But the reality is quite different.
I was one of the 1st group of 10 repair engineers to be trained up by the likes of Sony, Philips etc to service the CD players that they were going to release. And from the outset we were told that the discs were 16 bit, whilst some players were as low as 12 bits due to lack of technical knowledge at that stage to make 16 bit players cheaper. Those lower bit players produced a very bright sound due to their limited D to A capabilities.
There was also a problem with regards to the de-emphasis requirements. HIFI users were accustomed to the RIAA curve from vinyl. The de-emphasis used on CD was alien to the new adaptors of CD, and it had to be eventually changed. Some disc players and even DACs (my TC-7510 for instance) have an extra bit of circuitry to recognize the older discs and their emphasis, and convert it to the later decoding curve.
It's not that they didn't know and didn't care. How would they have known? It was all new and CD engineers were as much in the dark as the sound engineers about how to get the best fro the new medium.
By the way I still have most of my discs that I bought in the eighties, and they sound terrific.
Website: http://www.homehifi.co.uk
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Location: Hertford, Hertfordshire, UK
Posts: 321
I'm Adam.
My first CD Player - a Philips - was only 14 Bit. Actually sounded better to me than some of the 16 Bit Japanese jobs though.
I bought the first press UK Factory CD of New Order's "Low-Life" in 1986. The disc was pressed in Japan and had Pre-Emphasis.
In the 1990s I had an early Cambridge Dacmagic which had a light to show if Pre-Emphasis was detected. This was was most useful.
Today after I rip a CD with Pre-Emphasis in Exact Audio Copy I then process the FLACs with the free Sox program. I can then play them as FLACs through my Raspberry Pi Squeezebox clones with the Pre-Emphasis taken care of.
BTW Stanley - I always thought Pre-Emphasis was part of the Redbook CD standard. If I am understanding you correctly not all CD player do Pre-Emphasis ? I have a fairly recent Creek 50CD player. Cost me close on £1000. I wonder if that handles Pre-Emphasis ? I perhaps wrongly assumed that if you play an actual disc on a standard CD Player (as opposed to FLACs through a DAC) that Pre-Emphasis would be dealt with ?
Adam.
My first CD player was a Toshiba XR-J9 mini top loader, bought around 1983 if I recall. I thought it sounded pretty good. I gave it to a friend, who as far as I know still uses it.
GrahamS - It's not what you hear that counts, it's what you think you hear........
Present Kit: NAD 326BEE, NAD C515BEE CD player, JVC QL-7 DD turntable, JVC Tonearm, Shure M97Ve, Audio Technica AT95EX, Pickering V15, JVC Z1E, Wharfedale Diamond 230s, Visual Rio interconnects and My Ears.
Location: Seaford UK
Posts: 1,861
I'm Dennis.
I agree entirely with Martin's post with the exception that occasionally something of merit is released, for eg., Amie.
The effort put into much music in the period he cites seems way above that exhibited currently, it often had a depth in verbal meaning which took considerable time to understand, lovely chord choices and melody, with a great deal of innovation, given the limits of the then technology. Repeated listenings enabled more to come out, and often, despite the more primitive technology, it was better recorded than much current music.
I try and try to see what is the merit of much I hear currently, but of course it is a reflection of the current human zeitgeist and malaise. Bah-Bah Black Sheep, with a looped drum beat anyone?
Last edited by Pieoftheday; 01-11-2018 at 19:15.
novafidelity x40 music server/pre/dac, Arcam A39, roksan k3 power amp,Monitor Audio Monitor 50, Dali spektor 1, van damme interconnects and speaker cable, roskan k3 CD player