Presto Music (for jazz and classical) and NativeDSD are decent resources, too.
It is pretty difficult (although some people do manage) to find playback equipment that would not be transparent enough for any resolution you’d throw at it, except for maybe speakers. Redbook is perfectly capable of preserving any “microdynamics” a human can hear anyway. Good mastering is far more important and unfortunately not as common as one would hope though.
They master anything for lowest common denominator it’s got nothing to do with resolution of that master. As I mentioned further up. I have a hires master of Sticky Fingers which is fairly recent. It’s compressed to hell and sounds awful compared to cd remaster made in 1994. Whilst it could be looked on to have more upper detail this is at the sacrifice of dynamic range, depth and warmth, the mix feels off play it loud like it actually says to do on the vinyl release, you can’t it sounds too harsh and in your face. You immediately reach for the volume to lower it. Hires means nothing if poorly mastered, garbage in garbage out. When mastered well, all versions are superb and I can’t tell the difference at all.
I do find the lack of this information on remastered albums (vinyl/CD and streaming) frustrating. With all the paraphernalia chucked at Box Sets these days ( old posters, badges, other tat and printed matter ) you would think that a brief but accurate description of the sound source, the treatment. pressing plant etc would be a standard on every re-release. Sadly its the exception rather than the norm.
Surely the people who buy this stuff are invested in that as well as a red/green/clear vinyl record?
Well said.
I get very occasional tinnitus as a result of medication I have to take and it’s given me a glimpse of what it’s like and I get it only very mildly.
I agree, I listen at low to medium volumes and if going to gigs wear in ear protection, which means I can hear the band and not get the rigging ears afterwards.
I’ve had very high pitched ringing constantly, never ceasing, for 34 years, in both ears. It started when a doctor had me on a very high dose of Motrin for back pain. That plus the noise induced hearing loss is probably the cause.
Really needs a showing in the “The Vinyl bar 2024” thread!
