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The Beatles in high resolution
2 November 2010
7.58pm
alexbunardzic
Vancouver
Casbah Coffee Club
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I have recently upgraded my audio system, and now that I'm making forays into the world of high definition (or, high resolution) music (24 bit 96 kHz), I was curious to hear the remastered Beatles catalog dithered down from the originally converted 32 bit format to the 24 bit format.

 

To cut the long story short, I'm blown away! On my system these hi rez masters sound much better than their 2009 16 bit CD rips. I was wondering if anyone here had the same mind-altering experience after hearing the Beatles in high resolution? I mean, just to hear “Dig A Pony ” now is a revelation: all of a sudden this song, which used to plod along for so many years, springs to full life and jumps out of the speakers!

Show me that I'm everywhere, and get me home for tea

2 November 2010
10.46pm
EyesofBlue
Decca
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alexbunardzic said:

I have recently upgraded my audio system, and now that I'm making forays into the world of high definition (or, high resolution) music (24 bit 96 kHz), I was curious to hear the remastered Beatles catalog dithered down from the originally converted 32 bit format to the 24 bit format.

 

To cut the long story short, I'm blown away! On my system these hi rez masters sound much better than their 2009 16 bit CD rips. I was wondering if anyone here had the same mind-altering experience after hearing the Beatles in high resolution? I mean, just to hear “Dig A Pony ” now is a revelation: all of a sudden this song, which used to plod along for so many years, springs to full life and jumps out of the speakers!


<fist bump!>  Yep–amazing–sounds like brand new recordings to my ears!  It's like seeing a restored oil-painting masterpiece where all the colors and background come alive again as they first intended to be.  The clarity and depth on the recordings is magnificent.  And to think I was worried the remaster engineers were gonna really f*ck 'em up with too much tweaking…….I am equally blown-away by them…..

george-martin

3 November 2010
12.38am
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mithveaen
Sitarday's room
Rishikesh
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Ok sorry for my ignorance but I'm lost. Totally lost.

 

You mean Hi-Res masters the flac that are in the Apple usb??? apple01

Here comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……

Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…

Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.

Beware of Darkness… 

3 November 2010
10.30am
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Joe
Pepperland
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I was wondering that too.

What sort of audio system are you using, Alex?

Can buy me love! Please consider supporting the Beatles Bible on Amazon
Or buy my paperback/ebook! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs

Don't miss The Bowie Bible – now live!

3 November 2010
11.15pm
alexbunardzic
Vancouver
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Joe said:

I was wondering that too.

What sort of audio system are you using, Alex?


Yes, I'm talking about the 24 bit FLACs that Apple is selling on the USB.

 

My system consists of: iMac running the Squeezebox Center into Logitech Squeezebox Touch as digital transport into Beresford Caiman DAC (via digital coax cable), into DSP 200s preamp into DPA 200s power amp into the pair of Magnepane planar speakers.

Show me that I'm everywhere, and get me home for tea

4 November 2010
3.54am
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mithveaen
Sitarday's room
Rishikesh
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Ohhh so they're worth getting!! That's interesting. Now your stereo system sounds like something that is used at NASA. a-hard-days-night-ringo-8

Here comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……

Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…

Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.

Beware of Darkness… 

4 November 2010
5.13pm
alexbunardzic
Vancouver
Casbah Coffee Club
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mithveaen said:

Ohhh so they're worth getting!! That's interesting. Now your stereo system sounds like something that is used at NASA. a-hard-days-night-ringo-8


Yeah, it looks complicated on paper, but in real life it sounds unbelievable. I've just listened to “Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey”, and by golly, I had a feeling that the lads were right there, with me in my room! Paul's bass never before sounded so muscular, so warm, deep and powerful (he was rocking the house!), while George's guitar in the right speaker carried so much energy, that I thought the band was going to take of and launch into the stratosphere. Add to that John's incredible vocals (the texture and the timbre of his voice was never so palpable as it is on the high definition masters), and you get an experience that can literally blow you away.

 

Worth getting at all costs, especially if you're a Beatle maniac like myself.

Show me that I'm everywhere, and get me home for tea

4 November 2010
5.19pm
alexbunardzic
Vancouver
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26 November 2009
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EyesofBlue said:



<fist bump!>  Yep–amazing–sounds like brand new recordings to my ears!  It's like seeing a restored oil-painting masterpiece where all the colors and background come alive again as they first intended to be.  The clarity and depth on the recordings is magnificent.  And to think I was worried the remaster engineers were gonna really f*ck 'em up with too much tweaking…….I am equally blown-away by them…..
 

george-martin

Completely agree. I just love how tiny little details, that remain undetectable on the CDs, are now so obvious. Especially the way Ringo's cymbals now, for the first time, tend to shimmer for such a ling time, as the sound is slowly dying out. Like on “Two Of Us “, it's simply unbelievable how long it takes for the splash cymbal to simmer down and stop vibrating. The sweet sound seems to linger in the air forever. But it's precisely these 'details' that make the listening that much more enjoyable.

Show me that I'm everywhere, and get me home for tea

5 November 2010
6.02am
EyesofBlue
Decca
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Yep–I noticed it especially on the guitar on Two of Us and on Blackbird . My wife looked at me blankly and asked “When are you going to play the 'other' version?” when I a/b'ed a track for her, so maybe the difference is more-easily detected by musicians/DAW audio gear enthusiasts.  To my ears, there's a really nice resolution at 24 bits BUT I found the flac files a bit untenable to work with because you can't put 'em on a CD without losing that resonance (well, I sure don't know how to, at any rate).  I've done wave comparisons between the 24 and 16 bit songs and the difference visually appears miniscule, if not downright unapparent but the headroom and shimmer, as Alex put it, while subtle, can definitely be heard, regardless of wry remarks some people make…..<smiles!>  (I understand the analogue transfers were mastered at 192khz/24 bit……..how do ya' get yer mitts on those????? )

BUT, that said, if you're not really looking for the difference, like, oh, you're listening while cooking dinner or exercising or driving down the highway or your significant other/roommates/kids/parents are talking and rustling newspapers and your dog just dropped a drooly tennis ball in your lap, then you'd probably not notice a difference at all from the “standard” 2009 Remasters, which sound damn good.  The 24 bit files are nice but I'd say that the difference is more “audiophillic” than a “Gotta have it!”  (Anyone else besides me drive themselves crazy trying to determine which Dr. Ebbetts/MirrorSpock/Purple Chick versions were the best?  The 24 bit version is somewhat like that.)  Keep in mind that I grew up listening to scratchy albums and 45s, so the Remasters are simply gorgeous as far as I'm concerned, at either bit rate!  George Martin and the boys really knew how to make a fine sounding recording…just wait until they come out on DVD-Audio……you know they will……

george-martinapple01

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