Ok the Lateralus CD has this special HDCD feature, can anyone tell me which is the difference playing it on a special Cd player other than a common one? and don't just tell me to follow the oficial site cause i can't make out the differnce
i'm not sure why, but i made the assumption/realization that HDCD is somewhere between CD and DVD. i know that CDs are capable of being recorded in 3 channels of sound, whereas DVDs are capable of 5 channels (which is basically the same as hearing the band live). maybe HDCD is 5 channels like a DVD.
Originally posted by seeker i'm not sure why, but i made the assumption/realization that HDCD is somewhere between CD and DVD. i know that CDs are capable of being recorded in 3 channels of sound, whereas DVDs are capable of 5 channels (which is basically the same as hearing the band live). maybe HDCD is 5 channels like a DVD.
As far as I know cd's have only two channels, left and right.
DVD's normally have 5.1 audio channels, meaning one centre, front left, front right, rear left and rear right (depending on if you can decode DTS or not), and a subwoofer channel. But you can get players that can recreate different "dimensions" of sound, which simulate spacial sounds.
HDCD just means the quality of the sound is higher, but its no where near DVD quality, and you need a player that can decode the extra 4 bits.
Okay, HDCD is an encoding form that uses the least significant bit of the data (the last 1 or 0 in the 16-bit stream on a normal CD) to somehow encode 4 bits of information. It's not really 20-bit sound, but 19, because instead of one bit, you get 4.
I'm not exactly sure of the mechanics of it, but I notice that Lateralus does sound a lot better than most of my other CDs, including the newer Floyd albums, and that's on a normal CD player. I personally don't think that I'll spend the money on an HDCD player, as it plays just fine in a normal CD player. I'm hoping SACD catches on, though, as that is an entirely different, 1-bit process that gives greater resolution than normal CDs AND HDCDs.
But really, it's all a matter of how YOU think it sounds. I notice my ears are quite a bit more sensitive than most of my friends', so I'm a little more picky, but whatever sounds good to you is all that matters.
Oh, and HDCD is just boring ol' stereo, and not DVD audio quality, either. But DVD audio isn't nearly SACD quality... so... whatever.
