Hello !
I'd like to ask you about something. In the olden days, when the Cds were invented and they started releasing music on cds there were problems concerning the frequency (higher and lower ones) as it was cut and the sound was described as "flat" which is common also nowadays. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I have heard that the Shm - cd (different material) makes it able to record music as it was on the tapes. The high and low frequencies are fully "exported" and the sound has its depth and according to those who have listened to the classical music (rock also) from the shm ones it is an incomparable experience to listening music from ordinary cds.
Now I'd like to ask if that's possible that the Queen material which will be released (again) on shms will be without sound compression ? I don't know if anyone has listened to the GH I an II on SHM ???. I hope that they will abandon the compression way and present Queen sound it its pride and glory.
PS. Have you checked out the audio samples from all albums on the Queen official site ? They sound a bit better than previous remasters.
Cheers !
Ermm no. SHM-CD is a Japanese gimmick and is just a CD pressed using a different plastic. They will use the exact same digital masters and won't sound any different. Only in Japan could they release CDs pressed using a different plastic, and have people buy them on that pretence with no proof that there is any difference in sound quality.
References to early CDs sounding flat is down to several factors. People were used to the compressed (and slightly distorted) sound of vinyl...... early CDs were not mastered loud and lacked the neccessary compression and eq. They also often used inferior tape sources, sometimes the vinyl masters where the bass frequencies were compressed and reduced to fit the vinyl format. Many say the record companies have now gone too far with the compression on CDs - but the are atualy meanng peak limting and clipping as if you compare many vinyl versions of albums with the CD, whilst the CD version may appear to be more compressed - the dynamic range is still greater.
Well, as far as the Amazon description of the new Queen re-releases are proper, the SHM-CD will be pressed in Japan. So the sound should be different according to those who compared the same albums released the same year simultaneously on CD & SHM-CD.
I've just looked on Amazon UK and the SHM CDs cost £38.50.
That's 3 times more than the normal CDs, and unless the sound is therefore 3x (300%??) better, then it's not worth the money.
mondeo112 wrote: Well, as far as the Amazon description of the new Queen re-releases are proper, the SHM-CD will be pressed in Japan. So the sound should be different according to those who compared the same albums released the same year simultaneously on CD & SHM-CD.
Fucking hell. They only release SHM-CDs in Japan, because no other country would buy into such tat. Some SHM-CD titles by other artists DO sound different from previous CDs, because they were remastered for those releases (mostly more compression and jacking up the higher treble frequencies). And seeing as the albums have been remastered ONCE for this re-issue campaign, all copies will sound identical. Christ!
I have both versions, the normal cd and the SHM. No sound difference to my ears, but not identical files. I ripped them with EAC and found almost equal peak levels but different CRC. The attached archive contains the EAC logs.