Oppo 95 HDCD playback over HDMI, does it work?

[barfle]

I believe I have ONE HDCD in my collection, and IIRC, it’s an SACD hybrid to boot. Somebody’s sampler.

My Oppo 105 has settings for all of those things, and it appears that HDCD takes precedence over SACD if both are present.

I only use the analog audio outputs of my Oppo (until my Atmos decoder shows up). I don’t recall hearing a difference.

 

[Owen Smith]

it appears that HDCD takes precedence over SACD if both are present.

What an odd decision by Oppo if that's genuinely the case.

 

[barfle]

What an odd decision by Oppo if that's genuinely the case.

I thought so, too. That’s why I remember it.

 

[mandrix]

HDCD on an SACD hybrid. Wow, never seen that, that I know of. I bet that's a rarity.
As far as using the HDCD setting on my Oppo's it's a safe bet it's been many years.
Maybe on the 970HD and possibly the 80. Not on the 103 I'm sure.

 

[jupp369]

What does the decoding should make no difference as long as it's bit for bit. I guess a playback mechanism could introduce extra bits but I don't see the point as it will not introduce more resolution to a 16 bit signal.
If you can prove me wrong, I'll hear what you have to say.

..save as file with 192/24bit, also useful for CD-4 native (30kHz) ..
BUT take care that your TV will not drop down the maximum with their handshake. So I have to use RGB cables instead of HDMI !!

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

Does anybody here have an short HDCD track they could upload as a sample?

 

[mandrix]

Does anybody here have an short HDCD track they could upload as a sample?

I don't have any handy, all CD's boxed up, but I seem to remember or read that some of the early Grateful Dead CD's were HDCD. If that helps any.

 

[mandrix]

https://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=List_of_HDCD-encoded_Compact_Discs

 

[mandrix]

Also I'd be curious if MediaInfo could detect HDCD from a ripped track?

 

[Bill Sherbon]

Also I'd be curious if MediaInfo could detect HDCD from a ripped track?

Yes, it can. I just tested 3 previously-ripped HDCD tracks and MediaInfo had a "Yes" for HDCD.

 

[Mr. Afternoon]

Mark Knopfler's Shangri-La SACD is in fact HDCD-encoded on the CD layer, although there is no difference before and after decoding, which makes it a weird choice that it's encoded that way.

 

[Owen Smith]

Mark Knopfler's Shangri-La SACD is in fact HDCD-encoded on the CD layer, although there is no difference before and after decoding, which makes it a weird choice that it's encoded that way.

That means they used a Pacific Microsonics studio setup and turned all the HDCD features off. That still leaves it flagged as HDCD, the page I linked to with technical details says this was quite common for a while.

 

[mandrix]

The list I linked breaks it down pretty good, I thought. Seems pretty comprehensive anyway. IDK.

 

[H.A.L.]

Joni Mitchell's best work overall before the Quadio was on HDCD and sounds fantastic on the Oppo that supports it, as do others in this short-lived media.
Jerry Garcia's first solo album comes to mind.

 

[Cheezmo]

If you listen to it and don't know if it is working or not, what does it matter?

 

[Owen Smith]

If you listen to it and don't know if it is working or not, what does it matter?

Because I'm a geek and engineer and computer programmer. I like to know how stuff works.

 

[Bill Sherbon]

Also I'd be curious if MediaInfo could detect HDCD from a ripped track?

Yes, it can. I just tested 3 previously-ripped HDCD tracks and MediaInfo had a "Yes" for HDCD.

It turns out while ripping, my J.River detects the HDCD during its 'audio analysis'. Also, I have my J. River library configured to save the HDCD result in the track as a tag. Note that MediaInfo includes tags in its results.

When I ran MediaInfo against my tagged track, it showed the HDCD: Yes , but it was there because of J. River's audio analysis/tag and not because MediaInfo detected it.

Here is a little info on HDCD and J. River's detection: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=121124.0

 

[SeeMoreDigital]

For anyone who's interested, here's what 'UsEac3To' reports for an '16/20-bit HDCD LPCM.wav' file: -

And here's what 'UsEac3To' reports when the same '16/20-bit HDCD LPCM.wav' file is re-encoded to a regular LPCM.wav file: -

As you can see, the original 16/20-bit HDCD file is converted to a 20/24-bit file. And thanks to Mandrix for providing the HDCD sample file

 

[inspclouseau]

I don't have any handy, all CD's boxed up, but I seem to remember or read that some of the early Grateful Dead CD's were HDCD. If that helps any.

Mark Knopfler ~ Golden Heart is HDCD as well

 

[mandrix]

For anyone who's interested, here's what 'UsEac3To' reports for an '16/20-bit HDCD LPCM.wav' file: -

View attachment 111521

And here's what 'UsEac3To' reports when the same '16/20-bit HDCD LPCM.wav' file is re-encoded to a regular LPCM.wav file: -

View attachment 111522

As you can see, the original 16/20-bit HDCD file is converted to a 20/24-bit file. And thanks to Mandrix for providing the HDCD sample file

File courtesy of Bill Sherbon. Honestly don't know what to think right now. lol.
Guessing it is for sure HDCD.