The Audio File: Chomping at the Bit

ClassicsToday.com is pleased to introduce a new monthly feature column, The Audio File, written by audio maven and high-end technology expert, Karl Schuster. Karl's articles will offer music lovers a practical guide to the rapidly changing world of home sound reproduction, and an opportunity to look at major new releases and new technologies from an audio professional's perspective.

Chomping at the Bit

So: what's the highest resolution CD in your music collection?

A recent meticulously informal, categorically non-exhaustive perusal of the classical music bins of a national music outlet unearthed the following cutting-edge technologies: Archiv's mysteriously oblique "Original Image Bit Processing," Deutsche Grammophon's "4D Audio Recording - A new dimension in clarity and realism," BMG's RCA Living Stereo re-issues "Digitally remastered using UV22T Super CD Encoding, which delivers 20-bit resolution and quality on any standard CD player," Sony's "Super Bit Mapping High Definition Remastering," Telarc's "20 Bit Digital," Reference Recordings' "24 bit HDCD recording," and the winner of this round of "my digital's better than yours," BMG's High Performance Recordings "Digitally remastered in Weiss 24/96 technology using a customized Studer transport with Cello electronics and universally compatible UV22 Super CD encoding." Whew! Pass the beer nuts!

Now, which of these new technologies delivers the highest resolution CD sound reproduction on your home player? A difficult question to answer. Despite the above claims, all CDs are 16 bit, with a sampling rate of 44.1 kilohertz. No more, no less, no matter which fancy technology is used in the recording or mastering process. Most of the above "technologies" do refer to very real advances in the recording and transferring of music. Some do a better job than others. All indicate at the very least that some attention has been paid to the actual sound quality of the CDs being produced, though in the case of remasterings, as opposed to new recordings, all depend equally on the state of preservation and excellence of the original source.

Many of these advances have been developed specifically to overcome the inherent limitations imposed by the CD storage medium itself. The official "Red Book" consumer audio CD specification allows for only one data format: 16 bit stereo sampled at 44100 samples-per-second. However, for over a decade now professional digital recorders have been able to record new music (or transfer precious older analog master tapes) with higher resolution, by extending the word length from 16 bits to 18, 20, or 24 bits, and by increasing the sampling rate from 44100 kHz to 88200, 96000, 182400, or 192000. Many recent classical music releases already have been recorded using high-resolution digital formats, regardless of whether or not the final CDs are emblazoned with notices to that effect or reflect what you can actually hear with your existing equipment.

Several of the above-mentioned technologies refer to new digital mastering techniques that better preserve the inherent quality of high-resolution digital masters when down-converting them to the 16 bit 44.1 kHz CD standard, such as Apogee Digital's UV22 encoding, JVC's rigorous XRCD production process, Sony's Super Bit Mapping, and Pacific Microsonics' HDCD encode/decode system. Still, remember that high-tech tools do not guarantee an enjoyable listening experience. Sophisticated recording and processing hardware can only serve to better convey the artistry of the performers, as captured by a sensitive and astute production and engineering team. A great recording cannot improve a mediocre performance, nor can meticulous digital mastering restore a natural instrumental balance to a recording made with careless microphone placement.

Over the past several years record manufacturers, noting the rapidly changing sonic landscape, have begun making discs "for the future," though this hasn't stopped them from labeling their discs with the hype of today. Many of the advances in audio reproduction represented by this very brief survey will only be fully realized by new generations of players, some currently available at high cost, others still in development. So remember when you see recordings that purport to utilize new standards of digital reproduction, that good tools in the hands of an adept artist -- either musical or technical -- will always produce more satisfying results than cutting-edge tools in the hands of an amateur.