Hi all! Sorry for a long rambling, but I've got some nice insomnia here and need something to do.. ;) First, my all-time top 5, err, top 10.. (in no order): SKINNY PUPPY, "Bites & Remission" (In my opinion, the most important record in the last 20 years. I cheated a bit and listed the compilation since both records are monumental) LAIBACH, "The Occupied Europe Tour 1984-85" (Few records have had such an impact on me as this one. It's incredibly powerful!) THE CURE, "Faith" (The peak of their career, in my opinion. It's the most sad record I've ever heard..And among the most beautiful) TANGERINE DREAM, "Poland" (The best ambient electronica ever produced. Side 4 is pure magic. I thought so in 1982, and I still think so.) KRAFTWERK, "Trans Europa Express" (This is by far the best album they ever did. Nothing even comes close. German version is a must..) LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, "Liasons Dangereuses" (Another record that hade a major impact on me. Still outstanding, even so many years after its conception...) THE KLINIK, "Time" (If I had to choose one record that changed my view on music the most, this is it. Dirk Ivens is my house-God) THE SISTERS OF MERCY, "First & Last And Always" (Simply a classic. I still listen to it with great enthusiasm!) XARIS ALEXIOU, "A Kiss To The World" (Of course, I need to surprise you.. This Greek goddess is my all-time favourite female artist. Check her out at www.alexiou.gr!!) NINE INCH NAILS, "The Downward Spiral" (This is truly a masterpiece. Later works failed to impress me a whole lot, but with this record, Trent went into my history book...) .. I could go on for days - I had better stop... And how did I manage to not mention Fields Of The Nephilim, Depeche Mode, Bronski Beat.. Tori Amos, Curve...Damn! And my current top 5: WUMPSCUT, "Embryodead" and basically everything else (Yep, I know that soooo many people hate this guy.. I just wonder why.. This record is totally incredible! Embryodeaaaaaad!) PAUL OAKENFOLD, "The Goa Mix" (I recently got this on CD, mastered directly from the original DAT tape.. It's by far the best trance/goa I've ever heard!) VNV NATION, "Advance And Follow", "Futureperfect", well, anything.. ;) (Again, I know loads of people who think these guys are just silly.. But damn, they are great :) ARCANA, "Cantar De Procella" (I recently discovered this fantastic band.. Swedish dark wave/goth at its very best. Unbelievably beautiful!! www.coldmeat.se) BRONSKI BEAT, "Age Of Consent" (Ha, at least I could list it here.. This album is just wonderful. I love every minute of it. No, I'm not gay, but sometimes I wish..) To move on to the actual topic.. Not trying to start a war here, but I have to comment on a couple of things:
Oh Jay wrote:
to the topic of hdcd encoded cds i can only add that it was ALWAYS a reduction to encode cds in 16-bit format , but - sony - the inventors of the first cds thought that it was a good idea ... jus' like the pretty crappy vhs format for videotapes by their inventors jvc !!!
At the time, 16 bits was the best they could achieve. And mind you, that is in theory. In practice, you achieve about 12-13 bits of precision due to limitations in the design of the player. This has become much better today, however. I totally agree on your comment about VHS as well! It was at the time the single worst format in the universe, and that's what they had to go forward with.. Jeez... It was the cheapest, yeah I know, but still.. Did anyone actually see BetaMax at the time? Beta was (and is still) way ahead of VHS, even if you compare with today's VHS technology (and actually the later BetaMax designs are much better than SVHS)
Soleil wrote:
Oh, don't get me wrong. I think the CD audio format as it is sucks. But I disagree that it's inferior to vinyl, I disagree that digital audio in general is in any way inferior to analog, and I think that people like this HDCD bunch should spend their effort on creating a new digital music medium instead of trying to distort a flawed existing one.
Damn right it sucks. And damn right it's inferior to vinyl, at least sound-wise, BUT, CDs win hands-down when it comes to price/performance.. To beat CD you need a pretty good setup, and CDs are also so much more comfortable in use, they don't break that easily and so forth.. But sound-wise, vinyl is lightyears ahead, and will always be.. At least to standard CD. The newer formats (SACD, DVD-A) are much better than CD, but a good vinyl player / amplifier and a good vinyl still beats them, easily too. And yes, I can assure you that you would hear the difference in a blind test. I've converted literally dozens of people to vinyl in the last few years only, and these are people who used to be happy with boomboxes and car radios...
Unfortunately I also think that this is exactly the wrong time to be thinking about a new digital medium to succeed CD audio, given the absolutely unforgivable activities of the entertainment industry of late. Any new format produced at this time is likely to also be fatally flawed, but in other ways - for example, being playable only on "authorized" devices.
Totally agree here.. I think they should scrap CD and go back to analog once and for all until they come up with something that's not so limited in the sound arena.. :) That'll never happen of course, but one can be naive and hope. ;) I'll close off with my tip of the day.. Buy more second-hand music! It's amazing what value is to be found in old vinyl records.. And as we all know, music WAS better before, right? *grin* Boing, Peo