Karen Carpenter Japan SHM CD and 2 Ch SHM CD

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I'm not sure if I ever posted about this but a few years ago when I ordered the Japan SHM CD of Karen's solo CD I ended up doing something for fun. I wanted to simulate what it might sound like if there was ever a 2 Ch SACD of her solo album. I know it's not what it would really sound like but this was just for fun. I was actually so impressed with how it turned out that when I want to listen to her solo album I end up specifically searching for this 2 CH.

Some specs: I have a Yamaha RXV377 and a Sony Blu Ray BDP S5100.
I took the Japan SHM CD and put it in my blu ray player using a Straight 2 CH (display on front of my Yamaha shows Straight 2 CH). In other words No Pro Logic, No Filters, No Adaptive DRC, just a straight 2 Ch L/R. The blu ray player of course is reading PCM format and of course the CD is 44.1 khz sampling.

I then exported that album using a RCA Stereo Audio Adapter L/R to a Stereo Mini to my laptop exporting them into Audacity to capture the files.

I provided come waveforms caps of the regular Japan SHM CD vs the 2 Ch SHM CD. There are some difference but there not major but they sound quite different. The regular Japan SHM sounds light and thin while the 2 Ch seems to take away some of the harsh highs and add a bit more punch not just in the bass lines but in the vocals as well...like she's closer to the mic giving it more presence. It's hard to explain but the 2 Ch just seems like a more studio live experience. In any case I found this very rewarding to hear.

If We Try SHM CD

If We Try 2 Ch SHM CD

Making Love In The Afternoon SHM CD

Making Love In The Afternoon 2 Ch SHM CD

 

[leadmister]

The SHM mixes definitely have more compression with the loudness boosted. No doubt why it seemed thinner to you. But I'm not sure if this is a result of different mastering or if the SHM material was so much better to read that you got more amplitude from the purer signal coming from the lazer. Or both. You've raised a fascinating question though nonetheless.

 

[leadmister]

Also, consider with SHM that you get increases in resolution and clearness the most due to that reduction of signal distortion, but the increase in volume, balance and range aren't even half of the amount of improvement in the other sound features. This is according to a diagram I read a while back comparing SHM CD's to regular CD's in those 5 aspects of sound quality. So maybe they are over-mastered to compensate for that.

 

[Rudy]

One thing to keep in mind is that SHM is only a different type of plastic for the CD, nothing more. "Super High Material." The only thing it can do is reduce read errors from a CD. And on a new CD in a well-functioning player, there will not be many errors at all. The way data is encoded for a CD (and without getting super technical here), it has a mathematical means of perfectly correcting minor errors, since the "frames" of digital data have a lot of redundancy and interleaving.

For those errors it cannot correct, a player performs interpolation, where it has to guess at the correct value from the values surrounding it. If SHM can reduce those interpolations, it can make a very subtle improvement (which even I would have to struggle to hear through something like a $6,000 DAC). And again, I won't get overly technical, but there are other issues such as jitter that probably are affected more by the quality of the playback equipment than the disc that delivers it. (Which is all moot once someone like myself rips a disc to store on the server, and play it from there.)

Differences in the sound of SHM are attributed to mastering only. Most recent CD reissues I've heard that are labeled "SHM" sound pretty darned lousy--they lose dynamics, and the EQ is screwed up somehow. But those were all (rather poor) mastering decisions, and had nothing to do with the plastic used to make the CDs. (Listen to how terrible Supertramp's Crime Of The Century SHM CD sounds in comparison to the Mobile Fidelity--the dynamics are evened out, and the sound throughout is dulled. IMHO it's a waste of superior SHM plastic on a turd of a mastering. ) SHM has been used more as a way to market reissues than anything else and IMHO, I don't mind paying to have SHM if the mastering is any good. In fact, for the SACDs I purchase, I'd rather they use the best material possible. (And it makes more sense on SACDs since the pit sizes are so much smaller than on a CD.)

Bottom line--if we put a standard and SHM CD with the exact same mastering side by side in a comparison, I would bet just about all of us would never hear the difference.

 

[leadmister]

One thing to keep in mind is that SHM is only a different type of plastic for the CD, nothing more. "Super High Material." The only thing it can do is reduce read errors from a CD. And on a new CD in a well-functioning player, there will not be many errors at all. The way data is encoded for a CD (and without getting super technical here), it has a mathematical means of perfectly correcting minor errors, since the "frames" of digital data have a lot of redundancy and interleaving.

For those errors it cannot correct, a player performs interpolation, where it has to guess at the correct value from the values surrounding it. If SHM can reduce those interpolations, it can make a very subtle improvement (which even I would have to struggle to hear through something like a $6,000 DAC). And again, I won't get overly technical, but there are other issues such as jitter that probably are affected more by the quality of the playback equipment than the disc that delivers it. (Which is all moot once someone like myself rips a disc to store on the server, and play it from there.)

Differences in the sound of SHM are attributed to mastering only. Most recent CD reissues I've heard that are labeled "SHM" sound pretty darned lousy--they lose dynamics, and the EQ is screwed up somehow. But those were all (rather poor) mastering decisions, and had nothing to do with the plastic used to make the CDs. (Listen to how terrible Supertramp's Crime Of The Century SHM CD sounds in comparison to the Mobile Fidelity--the dynamics are evened out, and the sound throughout is dulled. IMHO it's a waste of superior SHM plastic on a turd of a mastering. ) SHM has been used more as a way to market reissues than anything else and IMHO, I don't mind paying to have SHM if the mastering is any good. In fact, for the SACDs I purchase, I'd rather they use the best material possible. (And it makes more sense on SACDs since the pit sizes are so much smaller than on a CD.)

Bottom line--if we put a standard and SHM CD with the exact same mastering side by side in a comparison, I would bet just about all of us would never hear the difference.

Well said. You are 10000% correct. As long as the enhanced quality of the SHM disc isn't over-compensated for by over-mastering, it can be an improvement over regular CD's, although a minor one. I have the equipment to tell the difference, and honestly, unless you have the finely tuned audiophile ear, you just won't hear anything besides sharper high frequencies and possibly more loudness overall, which are the 2 main things that occur in over-mastering for SHM. The most important factor here though is psychological. Whether there is a noticeable difference or not, the excitement factor of listening to what is considered to be an improved format can make the experience all worthwhile, and in the end, it will sell enough extra copies.

 

[CARPENTERS-COLLECTOR]

Spotted these a few days ago and wondered when it will stop! I don`t know how many ways and times the Japanese can keep releasing this stuff;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARPENTE...251012?hash=item260b0e6904:g:IcMAAOSwLKhb-XdI

CARPENTERS: AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS (LTD) (DSD) (HQCD) (CD *PRE-ORDER*) 4988031308721 | eBay

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

Spotted these a few days ago and wondered when it will stop! I don`t know how many ways and times the Japanese can keep releasing this stuff;

CARPENTERS: CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT (LTD) (DSD) (HQCD) (JPN) (CD *PRE-ORDER*) 4988031308691 | eBay

CARPENTERS: AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS (LTD) (DSD) (HQCD) (CD *PRE-ORDER*) 4988031308721 | eBay

Might ask that same question of Mikes Davis and Donald Fagen’s record labels while you’re at it. They’ll do it as long as it makes money.

Ed

 

[CARPENTERS-COLLECTOR]

Might ask that same question of Mikes Davis and Donald Fagen’s record labels while you’re at it. They’ll do it as long as it makes money.

Ed

i guess a fool and his money ...............

 

[leadmister]

i guess a fool and his money ...............

Hooooooooooney. If you want it, here it is......

Couldn't resist. lol. But I guess they're doing like Falco did with Rock Me Amadeus, but instead of endless remixes, it's endless forms of media.