Universal Japan has finally announced, as expected, the release of all 13 Carpenters albums on MQAxUHQCD discs in December 2018. It has already released The Singles 1969-1973 in this new format earlier in June this year.
The purpose of this thread is not to start a debate on the pros and cons of MQA and UHQCD (those interested in such discussions should head to the Stevehoffman forum where multiple epic threads on this topic exist), because I am interested in neither per se (I don't have, and not planning to acquire, the necessary hardware/software to decode MQA, and since I now rip everything to computer, the materials used in the manufacturing of cds, such as UHQCD, are largely irrelevant).
Rather, the real factor that piqued my interest associated with this new cycle of release is the fact that Universal Japan claims that it will be using brand new high resolution (352.8kHz/24bit) DSD masters prepared in 2018 for the albums. If so, I'd seriously consider a purchase. Does anyone have more detailed information about these new masters, and whether Richard has been involved in creating them?
For reference, The Singles 1969-1973 album released earlier this year in this new format utilized a master prepared in 2014. I don't own this disc, but am very interested in finding out how it compares with this album based on older masters in the past. Could someone who has this disc share some observations?
The purpose of this thread is not to start a debate on the pros and cons of MQA and UHQCD (those interested in such discussions should head to the Stevehoffman forum where multiple epic threads on this topic exist), because I am interested in neither per se (I don't have, and not planning to acquire, the necessary hardware/software to decode MQA, and since I now rip everything to computer, the materials used in the manufacturing of cds, such as UHQCD, are largely irrelevant).
Rather, the real factor that piqued my interest associated with this new cycle of release is the fact that Universal Japan claims that it will be using brand new high resolution (352.8kHz/24bit) DSD masters prepared in 2018 for the albums. If so, I'd seriously consider a purchase. Does anyone have more detailed information about these new masters, and whether Richard has been involved in creating them?
For reference, The Singles 1969-1973 album released earlier this year in this new format utilized a master prepared in 2014. I don't own this disc, but am very interested in finding out how it compares with this album based on older masters in the past. Could someone who has this disc share some observations?