Dire Straits - BROTHERS IN ARMS - XRCD: good or bad?

The stereo program on the SACD was just a remastering, not a remix. The 5.1 was (obviously) a multichannel remix. Maybe that's where the confusion lies.

 

This XRCD, along with those from the Eagles, Diana Krall, the Carpenters, Aaron Neville, Kenny G, etc., were commissioned by Hong Kong Universal Music. These XRCDs were made in Japan and were intended for the Hong Kong market only. In fact, all of HK's major labels, plus the independent labels, release XRCD versions of their titles, so XRCD versions are not all that unusual.

 

Stereophile also said that 1 was the best the Beatles have ever sounded on CD.

See, every thread IS a Beatles thread!

 

Thanks for the clarification Soundboy.
Do you know if the same fine XRCD engineers from Japan that are involved in the Non-HK releases are involved in this one?

 

I'd have to get back to you on that since I'm at work. I do remember that every one of these XRCD are remastered in Japan by a Japanese engineer. I've never seen the name of a HK engineer involved in the production....and this include XRCD of local titles.

Btw, as further clarification and I must emphasize, these XRCDs are intended for the HK market only. Outside of HK, with the exception of SE Asia and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the traditional Chinese characters that are printed on labels or inside the booklets are hard to understand for the mainland Chinese population. Therefore, these XRCDs are not intended for mainland China. Along this line, the remastering or sound quality is somewhat "geared" towards the sound quality preference of HK audiophiles....which may not match those in the West.

 

My XRCD of Hell Freezes Over lists Hiromichi Takiguchi as the mastering engineer. It says manufactured in Japan and appears to be a JVC pressing (which would make sense).

 

The Carpenters XRCD's mastering engineer was Sugimoto Kazuie. It's a XRCD2 title. I couldn't get a clean scan of the cover, but I will post a pic of two of this CD later on.

 

Here you go....

 

You'll like this waveform:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2150586&postcount=28

Take a guess what cd it is from.....

 

I've heard that the SACD of Brothers in Arms is even worse than the XRCD in the digital compression department but I can't tell for sure, I don't have a SACD Player and therefore didn't buy it.

 

Same here, but consider both very good.

 

That was from the 2005 20th anniversary remaster......

 

another vote for the dual disc.

i've also got the RL remastered CD and recently found an original LP used also mastered by Bob Ludwig which sounds very good, too.

later, chris

 

Hong Kong Universal Music just announced Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" XRCD going SHM....



Yes, one of the other title that this forum may be interested is the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over". Only 300 discs will be pressed for each of the SHM-XRCD titles.

These titles will likely be available at the beginning of August, when Hong Kong host its annual "High-End Audio Visual Show".

 

That's like polishing a turd!

 

Most of my SACD's are not better than there red book versions . In general Iv'e been disappointed with SACD , at first I thought it might be my player even though it was highly touted . When I upgraded CD players about a year ago , I made sure the new one had a good reputation for SACD too . ( AYRE C5Mp ) . But my opinion of them has not changed .

 

Huh. Most SACDs I have purchased have sounded much better than CD, with a round, warm, organic vinyl-like quality vis a vis the CD. However, Brothers in Arms is the exception. The SACD is poor sounding due to the compression. Just listen to The Man's Too Strong. It sounds wimpy. The parts that should sound like thunderclaps and jolt you are instead at the same volume as the rest of the song. They have no startling effect whatsoever. FAIL.

 

The latest version of "Brothers In Arms", the SHM-XRCD, arrived in the mail yesterday....




Haven't had the chance to listen to it yet. As you can see from the pictures, the disc is kinda hard to get at. It's totally enclosed in a clear plastic case, with very hard-to-open flaps. I don't own the "regular" XRCD version, but I think this new SHM-XRCD version is basically the "regular" XRCD, but made with SHM (Super Hard Material).

 

+1

 

Funny
It works well if you turn up the volume. Like that option.
Even my meager 8 watts can get it loud enough

 

Is this BIA XRCD2 that is available from Acoustic Sounds the original one that is not that highly regarded? I'm not familiar at all with XRCDs and was wondering if XRCD2s are more recent versions. I have the BIA DualDisc as well as the SACD and I much prefer the DualDisc.

Bill

 

The best sounding version of this album is the original mastering. I wouldn't bother with any of the more recent remasters. I was thoroughly disappointed with the SACD too.

 

Well....the problem with BIA is that it was recorded at 16/44, which means it is never going to be hi-res.

 

Has anyone tried running BiA through SoX? It's so darned bright it could almost be missing a pre-emphasis flag.

 

Eric,

Thanks for your thoughts. I have the WG Vertigo (824499-2) which I believe is the original mastering. So with this version and the DualDisc I'll skip buying the XRCD2.

Bill