Ahh yes the new HD Digidesign industry standard. Just BTD your finished session and check the HDCD box and bingo! :D

Renie ???

What file format do the HDCDs read? Can you burn a regular CD and get it? What type of software do you need to encode it? Do you know the limitations?

Thanks

Darren

Well, I finally found out some info about the HDCD. It is a type of encoding the makes a regular 16bit CD play like a 20bit CD on HDCD enabled CD players. It is backwards compatible too. Let me know if anybody wants anymore details. It is pretty cool.

Darren

Darren

Making 16 bit 'play like' 20 bit --I admit i'm suspicious...but if you say it's cool.... what's technically going on there?

Is the format supposed to become a CD replacement -why don't they just settle on a 24 bit format?

What about sample rate?

Sorry about that attempt at a joke earlier!!
:roll:

Renie

Renie,

What I was told is they find away to put the extra 4bit info "streamed" into the redbook data. So it is like the extra 4 bits are tucked here and there, and the decoder knows where to pull the data from and assemble it with the 16 bit data to equal the 20bit data. The converters are very high end too which helps the overall sound on "non HDCD" players sound a bit (pun intended... maybe) better.

It stays at 44.1k , but it might do higher. I know the mastering converter goes up to 192k at 24bits, and I think it will play on the HDCD players but not on conventional players of course.

I'm still researching but, I've heard it makes a dramatic difference, and conventional CD players because of the high quality converters, and a much better difference on the HDCD players because of the decoder.

You're cool about the joke... I didn't get it, I thought maybe you knew something I didn't. Thats why I asked the more specific questions right after. :)

HTH

Darren

HDCDs sound quite nice, definitely a step up from yer regular CD. Pacific Microsonics I believe was the parent of this technology (with Keith Johnson in the mix). Maybe David Glasser will chime in with the poop on it... Plenty of real mastering houses offer it.

I don't believe there is any charge for using the process as long as you include their logo on your disc.

There are some fine examples of it's use on Reference Recordings (the label) Cds, as used by it's creator. Very nice stuff! Emmy Lou's "Wrecking Ball" is HDCD encoded also.

microsoft bought pacific microsonics a while back... I don't know what that means for it's future. :D

It's definitely worth a listen!