Alice Cooper School's Out Audio Fidelity

but if the person has brought two copys it won't matter !

 

Got mine today ... #0913 ... definitely a big improvement over my standard made in USA WB CD ... smoother, cleaner, clearer, fuller, better balanced top to bottom, drums and bass standing out as sounding especially "more real" ... just a flat-out more enjoyable, more musical listening experience all around ...

I knew it 20+ years ago when I bought my first few CDs mastered by some theretofore unknown guy named Steve Hoffman -- but this new AC SO just brings it home even more in today's horrendous mastering climate -- Steve really knows what he's doiing!

And for all those who consider SO "less than a sonic marvel" ........ how come it sounds so much better than 99% of the releases of today?!

that was rhetorical BTW ...

 

Still waiting for Alliance to receive their shipment...my customers are getting antsy after reading 16 pgs. of raves here!

 

This is in stock at wherehouse.com. With the current code, it's $18.30 shipped.

 

Well I know, but I bet somebody did !!!

 

Sorry Eric, I'm keeping my white ones, but good luck on the search.

 

I have the american cd. BTW it has not been remastered (except by Steve.

 

I am revisiting the sound on this.
A light bulb went off in my head.
When ripping the AF School's out cd to my computer, it does not rip the HDCD encoding.
Its in the wav file, but the encoding needs to be released.
So I got a file called HDCD.exe and a cmd file (Similar to a batch file) and ran it....then re listened to the files through the squeezebox. And yep, everything everyone is talking about that loves this one is there. Running the HDCD.exe makes it a 24bit file.
So those who are having this problem, try the following attached zip and see if it helps.
Here's how it works:
Put the two files from the zip (hdcd.exe & convert.cmd) into the folder of all your music files. The music files must be ripped to .wav to your computer.
Goto Start-->run on your machine and type cmd
Goto the directory where those music files and above files are and type convert.cmd
The original .wav files remand and the new files will be name24bit.wav
Meaning, running hdcd.exe reapplies the hdcd codec and now you'll be able to hear the difference.
Let me know if any of you hear a difference....you will
And if Steve is browsing this thread, I have to say I hope you reconsider HDCD. If you don't have the HDCD converter on your cd player, you maybe losing the effect you are trying to achieve.

 

Or put their grubby, grease-laden, sausage-like fingers on it

 

I'm looking for the thread either for The Cars, "Heartbeat City" or Alice Cooper, "School's Out that reported the broken spindle "teeth" inside the packaging that were damaged during shipping or at the assembly plant. There were also some photos attached. I did some searches but couldn't find it. I would apppreciate a threads link if possible.

 

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=175387&page=9

 

Photos are on page 7

http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=175387&page=7

 

Somebody else mentioned elsewhere on this forum that dBpoweramp already does this very seemlessly with a plug-in.

I tried it last night with the HDCD DRS plug-in and was able to rip straight to 24-bit FLAC files that are playable already on many players/devices as is.

 

I think you have to pay extra for those features on the db poweramp

 

I got my copy today.

I couldn't even guess as to how many times I've heard the album over the past 37 years, but all I can say is WOW. I've never heard it sound like this. I feel 13 again.

For sure the definitive version of this album.

I'm hearing more detail on this CD than I've ever heard before. The clarity in Alice's vocal and in the guitar work make this a whole new album for me.

My thanks to everyone at Audio Fidelity who busted a nut to get this project done... right down to the person who got them out the door.


Cheers & Thanks !

 

I have listened to my copy several times now and it sounds so much better than the WB disc I had . It's such a joy listening to it again with the great mastering touch put to it now.

 

The HDCD plugin is free if you purchased dbPoweramp.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dbpoweramp-dsp.htm

 

Received my copiy today #1735 from CD Universe. When this album was first released I was 17 years old! And after just giving this a listen to it is just remarkable what Steve did with it! I have never heard this album sound sooooooooooooo Good!

Thanks a Million Steve! A Job Well Done!!

 

I apologize if I offended you. I just found it a little wierd that's all. We all have our own little obsessions and I'm no different.

Thanks for keeping me honest Butch.

 

No problem at all.
All collectors are crazy

 

I guess... they have a 21 day free trial which was good enough for this disc... I guess if I want to do others afterwards I'll have to pay.

 

Listening to mine as we speak. All I can say is remarkable!

 

Still awaiting my pre-order for Coop and The Cars. Hopefully this week.
b.

Any other Canadians on the board recieve theirs yet?

 

I got mine, but I had a little help from a friend.

It wasn't sent directly to me from AF.

 

Got mine from Amazon five days ago.