Here are my favorite cd's:

1 - MFSL

2. SACD

3. DVD-Audio

4. DTS 5.1

5. SHM-CD (if they are remasters)

Anyone else into collection recordings in these formats?

Any newer recordings released that you would recommend???? BTW: I love the MFSL of the Pink Floyd, the Beatles stuff.

The Bowie SACD's I also recommend.

Still haven't bought the Prince SHM-CD - hearing mixed reviews and seeing no remasters. I doubt.

I hope some of you are on here. Tip me to some cool cd's.

Loving the new Led Zep SHM-CD remasters also...
I can't wait to get my new place so I can get a larger sound system with a projection screen..etc.

I don't have an SACD player. Is it really that different from DVD-A?

I own the MFLS releases of Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' and a Carpenters album - can't remember which one.

I don't know what MFSL is but have been collecting SACDs and DVD-Audio for some years. It's a pity they've almost disappeared.
At first I was only interested in the 5.1 mixes but the sound improvement was so huge that for a while I couldn't stop buying everything I heard of:
The Doors, The Kinks, Björk, Depeche Mode, Donald Fagen, Seal, Genesis, Elton John, War Of The Worlds, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the 5.1 Bowie's, even some Alan Parsons and Carpenters
I hadn't bought anything new in a few months so last week I ordered 2 5.1 Flaming Lips albums and expect to receive them tomorrow


Prince's are the only SHM-CD and I'm afraid I can't barely notice the difference with the old CD's though I haven't compared them track by track.

I can't hear the difference in quality

I don't know anything about high end stereo equipment. I was in a Bose store in Tampa last summer and I listened to their home theater system, and didn't know what was so impressive about it. I mean, it sounded great but I wouldn't be able distinguish between it and something like Sony.


I can definitely tell the difference between after market earbuds and the ones that come with your iPods, but your dealing with lossy compressed files either way. I still don't think I could tell the difference between something on a high fi medium and an mp3 player that's 256+ kps . I think my ears are just damaged from years of clubbing and concerts.

Since we're discussing this,
Does anybody have the Talking Heads DVD-As? I could never play the DVD-Audio layer. It blocks my system. All 8 discs
The DVD-Video layer works fine so I can still listen to my beloved 5.1 mixes.


Somebody? Anybody?

I agree that the Prince SHMs seem to be just packaged nicer. No true audio enhancements have been done. They actually can't without Prince's and WB's say-so.

I have a Mobile Fidelity hybrid SACD of The Pixies "Surfer Rosa" that was remastered, and the sound is amazing. I'm going to pick up the SACD Doolittle and Bossanova as soon as possible. They've all been remastered from the recently re-discovered 2" masters.

PANDURITO said:

I have the DualDisc versions of Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures and True Stories. I really only bought them for the remastered stereo tracks and haven't listened to the DVD-A surround mixes. I need to.

The issue you are having is quite common. The problem is a combination of the DualDisc (CD/DVD) configuration and hardware compatibility. Older players are more likely to not work with the hybrids. If you are in the market for an upgrade, bring your 'Heads DualDiscs into the store and make sure they play on whichever DVD-A machine you are interested in.

Imago said:

I've never liked Bose. The full dynamic range never seems to be where it should be. When I compare Bose to JBL and other similarly tiered speakers, I always tend to go with the JBL. Bose has a heck of a marketing blueprint in place, though.

squirrelgrease said:

They're not Dual Discs. I have the CD + DVD version. And as I said I have quite a collection and those are the only ones I have problems with.

I have a few DualDiscs too but never had a problem with them. Only that many players don't like them

PANDURITO said:

:hmmm2: I didn't know there were Talking Heads CD + DVD sets. When did these come out?

squirrelgrease said:

In 2006 too
Some are on offer now at hmv for 4.99 GBP

squirrelgrease said:

Yes, I have that one. MFSL does an amazing job. If you are a Floyd fan get your hands on "Dark Side of the Moon" MFSL.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab takes great pride and tons of time in Remasters.

squirrelgrease said:

Agree. Never cared for Bose speakers. Still, imo Bose makes good headphones. I'm not into the speakers either. I like custom klipch speakers. Pioneer imo makes a nice receivers.

PANDURITO said:

Yes. I have the Talking Heads dvd-audios. Like them very much.

Wow, it's like a whole different world up in this thread...

that's amazing!

squirrelgrease said:

The differences may be subtle sometimes but I think these are new masterings, even if they aren't tweaked as much as most modern remasters.
I know for sure that D.M.S.R. on the new 1999 CD is not from the same source as the regular 1999 CD because there are distortions in the second half of the song on the regular CD which are missing on the SHM-CD. This must be a new mastering or transfer or whatever you want to call it because this kind of audio noise doesn't go away by changing the plastic in the CD... and if one were to believe all the hype about the SHM-CD format, those distortions would actually be more noticeable. I could post short comparison clips to demonstrate this, but I'm not sure if the Org allows this because it's Prince's music.

purplehippieonthe1 said:

I've been considering getting the Prince SHM-CDs from Japan but from the discussions here, I doubt that they're remastered.

DMSR is an odd song to compare as it wasn't on the original 1999 CDs and was added for later CDs. It might be from an inferior source than the rest of the tracks or transferred poorly etc. and this mistake was rectified with the SHM-CD release. (Does anyone have any info regarding this?)
[Edited 8/24/09 4:22am]

Did anybody buy the Warners R.E.M. 5.1 reissues a few years back?
If so are they worth getting?

I have all of the Björk 5.1 Dualdiscs and love them. When listening to "Headphones" from Post it's absolutely amazing. Highly recommended.

connorhawke said:

Absolutely. They ARE a whole new experience. I heard sounds and instruments I didn't know there were there before
Totally recommended I don't listen to the stereo mix anymore

PANDURITO said:

Thanks!!!! I will do. Can't wait to hear Bang And Blame and Country Feedback in 5.1!

realm said:

I'll have to consider that Floyd disc.

squirrelgrease said:

I love Floyd. Has Wish You Were Here been done too?

One of blu-ray DVD has Wolfson digital audio converters.
LOVE it. I play everything I really want 2 here thru it when I'm NOT in the studio.

realm said:

I tried a pair of Bose over-the-ear "surround sound" headphones, and they were really very realistic. Klipch is usually my second choice for floor speakers. Nice range. My main receiver is a THX certified Kenwood 6.1. It's a few years old, but it's spacial surround capabilities and quality are great. It doesn't have HDMI i/o's, so that's kind of a bummer, but I guess I can live with it for a while.

purplehippieonthe1 said:

I understand what you're saying. My best guess is that these SHMs were mastered from the 3/4 Digital Tape in which all of the regular WB CDs were mastered from. Newer technology allows for some tweaking that wasn't done back in the late 1980s when WB put out the bulk of the "golden era" Prince CDs. But there is no way that the stereo analog masters were used for these SHMs.

Another, better Digital Tape source must have been found for the DMSR cut. Maybe the one supplied for the Risky Business Soundtrack, which seems to sound better anyway. It's also possible that the original Japanese CDs were sourced from better tapes in the first place. I don't have a Japanese copy of 1999.

squirrelgrease said:

Bose is 99% marketing. They amp the bass end and imho nowhere near a flat response, which is what I want 2 hear from a speaker. If u want those most bang for your buck, try some infinity speakers. Great sound.....better price.

PANDURITO said:

I also have the REM 5.1's. Yes, very nice. Love to blast the Green 5.1's..

squirrelgrease said:

About impossible to find without paying an arm-n-leg. You can find them for dl. IMO the MFSL mixes are better than the Anniversary SACD which is also a cool listen.