SHM-CD remasterings.

[Polarius T]

No! No! I will get all of the new discs no matter what they cost. I am a Mahler CD maniac! 

But...none of those discs are "new"... just the opposite, in fact; the very same titles that already are available on the shop shelves, even in the U.S., are in all likelihood significantly newer... (Mastering-wise at least 10 years newer, then.) 

This is just the newest way to cash on a small and single-minded group of maniacs like us when the general markets are dwindling. There is no sound improvement, just a different plastic coating. That's what they ask us to believe translates into something other than what it is. It's a bit like going back to those green ink pens and stuff that Amphissa brought up.

We can be music maniacs but that costs money, so better spend it wisely!

Methinks,

PT

[alpsman]

As i already said but not too clearly, there is no  improvement of the SHM remasterings, at least to the Karajan decca recordings. But maybe i have to be a little cautious to my evaluation, since I have great respect for the japanese music industry.
But the price is outrageous, and maybe the value of these releases is that we can have some out of print recordings

[Polarius T]

[M]aybe i have to be a little cautious to my evaluation, since I have great respect for the japanese music industry....
and maybe the value of these releases is that we can have some out of print recordings

You are right on both accounts. The best remastering and restoration jobs come out of Japan, every time. For one example only, have you been able to compare the Toshiba Japan EMI remastered CD reissues to the EMI U.K. "ART" remasterings (as in their "Great Recordings of the Century" series)?? Quite a revelation what a differece a good mastering job can do. The Toshiba reissues are from another planet and every time I get so surprised how much there was on that particular tape that I never suspected in the first place, based on the heavily filtered EMI UK versions of the same.

Ditto with many other labels.

But these SHM-CDs are not new remasters. They just have a new plastic on the back which smells of something dubious, big-time; and I can't get over how people can fall for them (must be the case since there is an endless string of those titles being issued all the time), especially with the steep price they carry. But you are right in that it could be an opportunity to acquire otherwise out-of-print items. Also, if we assume that a compact disc has a life span, it'd be like starting from the scratch and looking forward to many new years of prospective listening. (Unless it turns out that more "transparent" plastic is also more permeable to the atmosphere in which case they're dead and gone before the first CD we bought back in the early '80s gets oxygenated.)

PT

[alpsman]

The best remastering and restoration jobs come out of Japan, every time.

That's right. And they are also in very reasonable prices. Also they have the original covers( in full picture, not like Original series) , which i like a lot.

[John Kim]

About the Japanese remastering, this much I can tell you:

Lenny/NYPO/DG M2, M9 Japan > Lenny/NYPO/DG M2, M9 USA
Sinopoli/PO/DG M2, M3 Japan > Sinopoli/PO/DG M2, M3 USA
Karajan/BPO/DG M9 (analogue) Japan > Karajan/BPO/DG M9 (analogue) USA & Europe
Levine/Philly/RCA M9 Japan > Levine/Philly/RCA M9 USA

Regards,

John,

[John Kim]

How about yet another new format?

SASHMCD

"Super-Audio-Super-High-Material CD"   

John,

[alpsman]

How about yet another new format?

John

be patient, there are coming. We have already Blue Ray.
And what about Direct Cut Super Audio in hmvjapan:
The recordings of Macal and Zweden and others 18000yen per cd/31500 double

[Polarius T]

How about yet another new format?

John

be patient, there are coming. We have already Blue Ray.
And what about Direct Cut Super Audio in hmvjapan:
The recordings of Macal and Zweden and others 18000yen per cd/31500 double

Better still is the reissue (not remastered however) of the Karajan '62 LvB 9th, which just came out as an even more "transparent" all-glass CD costing a measly 200,000 yen per disc. That's about $2,000 if you want to ship it home, too.

www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2625293

The opinion seems divided on the worthiness of the inventor's effort. I myself entertain no doubts. 

PT

[alpsman]

"transparent" all-glass CD costing a measly 200,000 yen per disc. That's about $2,000 if you want to ship it home, too.

Yes it is extraordinary and make one laughs loudly. Karajan's recording as jewell with diamonds and pearls.

[John Kim]

SASDMHD-CD

"Super-Audio-Super-Diamond-Material-High-Definition CD"

manufactured by John's Company in USA

sold for $100,000 per disc

 

[Polarius T]

Karajan's recording as jewell with diamonds and pearls.

Perfectly put... 

PT