PRE-EMPHASIS: pre-emphasis increases the magnitude of some frequencies with respect to the magnitude of other frequencies in order to improve the overall signal-to-noise ratio. A corresponding de-emphasis process is required on playback so as to restore the original signal. It was used early on in the manufacturing process, but advances in digital audio rendered pre-emphasis obsolete; however, some have claimed that some pre-emphasized discs, when played back properly, sound superior to subsequent re-masters that don't have pre-emphasis. Your experience seems to indicate that SOMETHING good is going on.
I was somewhat concerned with this issue as I own a Linn Majik CD Player, and in his measurments for the Stereophile review, John Atkinson noted: "However, when it played back pre-emphasized data, there was a slight positive error in the treble, which will be just audible with those few CDs that were mastered with pre-emphasis."
So I did a little reading on the subject and this is probabaly the best threads I found: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34336 http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-76710.html
Bottom line: From what I gather, only a very few CD's were mastered with pre-emphasis, and none since the 1980's. From what I can tell, very few CD players had an indicator light that the CD was mastered with pre-emphasis, and that this information would not be on the CD packaging/liner notes.
I was somewhat concerned with this issue as I own a Linn Majik CD Player, and in his measurments for the Stereophile review, John Atkinson noted: "However, when it played back pre-emphasized data, there was a slight positive error in the treble, which will be just audible with those few CDs that were mastered with pre-emphasis."
So I did a little reading on the subject and this is probabaly the best threads I found: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34336 http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/archive/index.php/t-76710.html
Bottom line: From what I gather, only a very few CD's were mastered with pre-emphasis, and none since the 1980's. From what I can tell, very few CD players had an indicator light that the CD was mastered with pre-emphasis, and that this information would not be on the CD packaging/liner notes.