ralphpnj;502594 Wrote: > Throwing my 2ยข in I can tell you that I spoke with my daughter's > boyfriend, who happens to be a digital mastering engineer, and he told > me the following: > > When music is prepared for issuing on a CD all the mixing and editing > is done at 24 bit and whatever sampling rate the engineer is comfortable > with, be it 44.1, 88.2, 48, 96, etc., Then a 24 bit / 44.1 kHz digital > master is produced, in other words, whatever the "working" sampling rate > may have been, it is down sampled to 44.1 kHz. And finally this 24 bit / > 44.1 kHz digital master is dithered down to the 16 bit /44.1 kHz digital > master used to actually make the CD. > > This goes a long way in explaining why they chose to release 24 bit / > 44.1 kHz versions - while it's still a higher resolution than the 16 bit > /44.1 kHz CD version, it is still not a true high resolution version. > Therefore the potential cash cow of a true high resolution digital, i.e. > 24 bit with a 88.1 or 96 kHz sampling rate, release still remains for > yet another round of Beatles re-re-re-re-re-re-issues. So my advice is > keep your wallets ready. > >
I just did some web searches, and the process described above was exactly what the engineers who worked on the remasters described: transfer of original analogue tapes to 24/192; then a downsample to 24/44.1. The 24/44.1 was edited, EQ'd etc for the final CD masters, and then a 16/44.1 master for the CD's was produced. Engineers chose this method as it involved the least amount of times re-sampling the files, yet enabling them to work in 24 bit. So the USB stick files are the same master source as the CD's, just produced from the same master files before the final down sample to 16 bit. They should sound somewhat better than the standard CD's. My personal experience is that 24 bit files do have some advantage over 16 bit files, even at 44.1. In other words, poster "ralphpnj" above had it right: the "unadulterated" 24/192 files are still available for making another remaster. I also agree with him about the marketing. I'm not buying the 24/44.1 version, I'll wait till the inevitable hi-res version is released. I think that will happen as soon as the sales of the lower res version fall off and EMI feels there's enough of a market for hi-res to make an investment in making new hi-res remasters. The hi-res market is growing, so I'm sure it will happen in a year or two...or three....or as soon as EMI thinks they can separate us boomers from another $250 for the hi-res set. -- firedog Tranquil PC fanless WHS server running SqueezeCenter; SB Duet through Empirical Audio Pace Car; TACT 2.2XP; MF X-150 amp, Sonus Faber Concerto; Mirage MS-12 sub; Dual 506 + Ortofon 20 (occasional use); sometimes use PC with M-Audio 192 as digital source. SB Boom. Arcam CD82 which I don't use anymore, even though it's a very good player. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ firedog's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11550 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=72852
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