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Re: [ARSCLIST] Longevity



Tom Fine:

> Also, Goran brought up an important point. Some or 
> perhaps many SACD players do not output "pure" 
> DSD digital but rather convert to PCM and then D-A.

To clarify some 95 percent of about 30 so called SACD capable players
that I have looked at, the schematic in the service manual, were all
doing the down conversion of the SACD stream to regular 48/16 PCM.

Makes sense since they were also capable of playing normal CDs and since
most customers will never hear the miniscule difference between pure DSD
and regular CDs then it makes sense to use one conversion system, DAC,
to cut cost of the units.

Only pure SACD players in the top cost wise did use the pure DSD stream
for conversion into audio out.

> And, worse, many SACD's are made by converting a PCM file into
> DSD after all the workstation work is done. The reason being that,
> for instance in remixing a 24-track tape, the engineer is more 
> likely to want to work in the Protools format he's used to. 

Right.

> I think
> but do not know for a fact that companies like SADIE and Pyramix
> now make many-channel all-DSD workstations but I believe they are 
> expensive and few studios will go that route for a sinking format. 

Entirely correct in my experience.

Why invest in something costing a small fortune if the returns are small
indeed.

> I think but do not know for a fact that most new (ie
> not reissue/remix) SACD's are made all-DSD from the start.

This cannot be taken for granted.

A SACD disk may come from any available source including 44.1/16 if
that´s the only thing available to the record company.

It´s all about the content, ie music, and the carrier whether it is SACD
or 44.1/16 CD is of very little concern to anybody.

------------------------

Subject:Re: Noisy Input Device Chain? (PC Multitracking)
Date:Tue, 27 May 2003 02:46:05 -0400
From:"Tony Faulkner" <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To:"HOW' DO YOU DO THAT?" <masteringhowto.61313@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Dear Glenn,

You are on the button here.  There is one particular good selling 
and well received SACD with my name on the back as engineer, where I
know all the record company had in the control-room was a 44k1/20-bit
Genex hard-disk recorder and a 44k1 DAT for backup - nothing DSD, nor
high-speed pcm.  The release was made into an SACD because the
original CD got such nice notices in Japan.

Incidentally, I just had to do a CD compilation for one client three
weeks ago.  Four tracks were straight pcm from us, four tracks were 
DSD downsampled to 44k1 from another studio.  Some of the material
needed a bit of CEDAR ReTouch to get rid of audience noises.  When I
looked at the DSD originated downsampled material on the ReTouch 
screen, there was an obvious steep low-pass filter characteristic 
around 21kHz, and one load of random noise below it.  I guess it must
have been SBM'd - one noise-shape too far for me - the string sound 
had gone quite 'fizzy'.

Tony

GREEN ROOM PRODUCTIONS  LONDON  ENGLAND
tel: 01895 822771   mobile: 07884 232533
We are on the Web at: www.auracle.com/greenroom
Email: tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Come to us for Premium Quality CD, CD-ROM, DVD and DVD-ROM Duplication
Audio Mastering with SADiE, Cedar and dCS technologies


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Glenn Meadows" <gmeadow@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <Recipients of 'masteringhowto' suppressed>
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 5:46 AM
Subject: Re: Noisy Input Device Chain? (PC Multitracking)


> **  In Response to what Alan Silverman <arfnyc@xxxxxxxxxx> said on Tue, 27
May
> 2003 00:17:38 -0400
>
>
> > One of the best sounding modern jazz SACD's that I know of came 
> > from a 16-bit dat safety copy - the only master available.  Sorry,
> > can't name names.
>
> Like I've always said.  It Ain't the bits, it's the brains using the bits.
>
> -- 
> glenn

---------------------------

Brains.

-- 
Best,

Goran Finnberg
The Mastering Room AB
Goteborg
Sweden

E-mail: mastering@xxxxxxxxx

Learn from the mistakes of others, you can never live long enough to
make them all yourself.    -   John Luther


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