Telarc's new DSD recordings are currently not being released on SACD and BIS' 44.1kHz 24 Bit recordings are.
Most of the world listens to music in 2 channel stereo, even those who watch movies in surround sound. Most of them have dismissed SACD as a surround sound format and have no interest in it at all. Even worse most have no idea that SACD is also a high resolution 2 channel stereo format!
While BIS' SACDs might recruit new multichannel music lovers since CD only offers 2 channel stereo, their 44.1kHz sampling rate might just be the excuse for millions of listeners not adopting SACD since 44.1kHz is the sampling rate of CD. At least until every other label is on board and releasing SACDs from DSD masters, I think the presence of 44.lkHz recordings might just be the final nail in the coffin of SACD.
To recruit 2 channel stereo audiophiles SACDs must be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to be sonically superior to CDs, downloads and at least on equal footing with the best audiophile LPs. DSD recordings from Telarc, PentaTone and Channel Classics prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt, as well as the analog and high resolution PCM recordings from Reference Recordings.
However most of the newest SACDs released are from low resolution PCM either at 44.1kHz or 48kHz sampling rates from many small companies (not just BIS), and it is doubtful the SACD layers sound much better than the CD layers in 2 channel stereo. Thus defeating the purpose for 2 channel stereo listeners. Now that editing and mixing are possible in the DSD domain what is the excuse for record companies clinging to old outdated low resolution PCM technology instead of recording DSD for SACD release?
From Sony's first brochure "Super Audio Compact Disc, Eliciting the full Performance of Music."
Most of the world listens to music in 2 channel stereo, even those who watch movies in surround sound. Most of them have dismissed SACD as a surround sound format and have no interest in it at all. Even worse most have no idea that SACD is also a high resolution 2 channel stereo format!
While BIS' SACDs might recruit new multichannel music lovers since CD only offers 2 channel stereo, their 44.1kHz sampling rate might just be the excuse for millions of listeners not adopting SACD since 44.1kHz is the sampling rate of CD. At least until every other label is on board and releasing SACDs from DSD masters, I think the presence of 44.lkHz recordings might just be the final nail in the coffin of SACD.
To recruit 2 channel stereo audiophiles SACDs must be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt to be sonically superior to CDs, downloads and at least on equal footing with the best audiophile LPs. DSD recordings from Telarc, PentaTone and Channel Classics prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt, as well as the analog and high resolution PCM recordings from Reference Recordings.
However most of the newest SACDs released are from low resolution PCM either at 44.1kHz or 48kHz sampling rates from many small companies (not just BIS), and it is doubtful the SACD layers sound much better than the CD layers in 2 channel stereo. Thus defeating the purpose for 2 channel stereo listeners. Now that editing and mixing are possible in the DSD domain what is the excuse for record companies clinging to old outdated low resolution PCM technology instead of recording DSD for SACD release?
From Sony's first brochure "Super Audio Compact Disc, Eliciting the full Performance of Music."
"Super Audio Compact Disc is the realization of an audiophile's dream come true: all the precision of digital reproduction combined with all the warmth and ambiance of analog sound. The secret is Direct Stream Digital™ encoding. Its one bit, 2.8224 MHz (64 fs ) sampling produces nothing less than a quantum leap in music resolution."
Why is this choice so hard? "2.8224 MHz or 44.1 kHz?" Come on recording companies, DSD is over ten years old and has proven itself over and over and over to be not only vastly sonically superior to PCM at any resolution but also more comfortable to listen to!
I have high hopes for Telarc in the future as Concord Music Group is still contracting with Five/Four Productions for high resolution DSD recordings in Stereo and Multichannel. If they were not considering high resolution for the future they would not be paying extra for the Multichannel mixes.
Plus we are still getting new DSD recorded SACDs from PentaTone, Channel Classics and others, so it is all not a deluge of low resolution even if the new releases sometimes seem that way.
Links to past articles on DSD versus PCM
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