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Re-issue For Communique
Topic Started: Thursday, 4. September 2014, 14:03 (122 Views)
qjamesfloyd
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I got an e-mail from Amazon.co.uk with the heading New Dire Straits album, you can imagine what I thought. But clicking on the link it turns out that Communique is getting a re-release:

Cardboard sleeve reissue from Dire Straits features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format. HR cutting from DSD master in 2011. The cardboard sleeve faithfully replicates the first pressing UK LP artwork. Includes an obi replicating the one included in the first pressing edition of Japanese LP. Comes with a description.

That was a quote from Amazon.

I don't really know anything about the SHM-SD format, so can't comment further on that, does anyone here know what it is? I wonder why they chose that album to re-issue?
"Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy"
Mark Knopfler.
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3Pints
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Hi QJF,

I was intrigued by this so I decided to check it out. SHM-CD, or Super High Material CD, is a supposedly improved version of the polycarbonate material that virtually all CDs are made from. It uses the same type of enhanced transparency material developed for use in LCD screens.

Universal Music Japan and JVC co-developed the SHM-CD and they claim that the new material allows the pits to be formed more precisely and that it eliminates laser "splatter". The signal characteristics are supposedly improved as a result with overall lower "distortion" and better musicality. Of course, you would need to have relatively highend audio equipment to hear the difference, so this won't be a big deal for most people.

Universal Japan has reissued a lot of albums from their extensive catalogue, across all genres. There are a lot of skeptics who say that CD technology is the same and changing the material that the actual disc is made from can't possibly do anything for the sound. But I've been reading some reviews which indicate that it does make a difference! My guess is that the skeptics are those with average playback equipment. <_<
Cheers,
3Pints

"It’s a quiet life from here on in,
You’ve dropped your poisoned cup
The telephone is ringing, but you’re not picking up
"
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3Strats
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I can certainly tell the difference when I record something at a sample rate of 96K (24bits) compared to 44.1K (16bits) which is CD quality. there is a further and more obvious step down if I convert a CD quality recording to 256kbps MP3 file.
Although that is a different issue to the actual material the CD is made of, I'm quite prepared to accept that technological advances in materials in the +/- 30 (!) years since CDs were introduced will make a difference too, although as 3 Pints says, it will probably only be discernible on high end audio gear :blink:
When you point your finger 'cause your plan fell through, You've got 3 more fingers pointing back at you.
I reserve the right to change my opinion at a moment's notice - Why should it just be a woman's prerogative?
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qjamesfloyd
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Or it could be some clever marketing ploy to keep people buying CD's over digital music. I still prefer to buy CD's but I do have a high end system and amazing speakers so it does sound great.
"Yeah, me and my mate like ac-dc
Hot & sweaty, loud & greasy"
Mark Knopfler.
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