Silky and soft highs II: CD reference tests


I've been in some interesting discussions here recently regarding high end CD players and have heard a couple at dealers recently, including the DCS Puccini which certainly has to be considered one of the best.

I currently own a very modest Denon player/recorder that is sounding the best of any player I've ever owned in my current system at present.

The flaw that I have heard most frequently in CD players over the years that I notice and bothers me when I hear it is what I think is commonly referred to as graininess, often recognizable as sibilance in the high end. I hear it most easily when present in long drawn out violin notes at a certain pitch, for example, possibly a result of jitter in the analog signal due to clock or other issues in recreating high frequencies from the digital stream correctly in the analog waveform. I suspect better CD players do a better job in general of avoiding or perhaps even masking this somehow if in fact it is inherent in the CD formats limitations.

I'd like to know if anyone can suggest a CD recording I might own that I might use as a test for how well my player handles this? Also any info regarding what to listen for to determine sound quality would be appreciated.

General discussion of this topic is also welcome.

Thanks.
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xmapman
I have Bob James and Earl Klugh "Cool" and Earl Klugh "Move".

Anything similar worth listening to in these?
I've recently revisited several CD recordings in the Jascha Heifitz Collection series on RCA Vistor Gold Seal.

I must say that these are some absolutely striking recordings both in terms of sonics and performance, among the best I have heard recently.

Specifically, I am currently listening to The Mozart Concerto #5, Sonata, Quintet CD. The Concerto #5 piece was recorded in 1963 and is quite exquisite!
0ne of the tracks I use for comparing things is Diana Krall's cover of "A Case of You," from Live in Paris. I think it's a pretty good recording, and with just her and the piano and the room, it seems a pretty revealing test. If I get you, it does not have the kind of highs you are looking for though. John
Shelby Lynne (track4), when played though my Rotel pre/pro it sounds fine but though the Adcom dac her voice seems to breakup at times. Nora Jones (sunrise)and Cat Powers (a few tracks) same thing. The Rotel seems to mask CD problems more but the Adcom sounds better 98% of the time. When I burn a copy the problem goes away.
A common theme emerging seems to be that many problems with CDs start with the recording itself and that different units do different things to compensate or not.

I'm still struggling to determine how much of a resulting good sound from CD source is due to higher quality or more accurate reproduction (harder/more costly to achieve) versus performing various signal processing tricks in the digital domain to make things sound "better" (easier/less costly to achieve).

To me its analogous to what makes a good digital image. You can have a better camera with better optics, A/D converter, etc., the technology for which is expensive But the picture can still be made to look better via use of filters, image processing enhancements, etc., the technology for which is veryy common place these days and not as expensive.

I suspect the same things go on with digital audio as a rule.