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Re: Japanese Mini LP CD titles

1 000 thanks Paul (my bankman is not happy...).

Addresses and commentaries : perfect.

I'll become homeless but with fantastic cd sets in my plastic bags.

Re: Japanese Mini LP CD titles

And what do you think of the sound quality of these products, Paul ? Because I read a thing and its opposite : great sound, bad mastering, etc.

I use only my generic CD player to listen to these CD (I have only two: Santana "Lotus" and Atoll, frog prog) and I am far from having an expert's ear.

I was looking for Magma's production but this is out of print and at crazy prices on ebay. Too bad but I don't want to mortgage my house to enrich the retailers... (bracket: I saw Magma live last Saturday: fantastic! One of the 5 best concerts I've been in my whole life , not less and I've been to dozens: end of the bracket).

Re: Japanese Mini LP CD titles

Hi Philippe,
From my own collection I think the sound quality is very good. The mastering is also largely very good. I have often noticed that the volume is not that high on the mastering but if you turn it up to get louder volume you retain clean, clear sound, no distortion or 'brickwalling'. One exception to that would be Oasis, all their albums were over-recorded I think. Usually the Japanese re-master for their own territory but sometimes, they just release titles as they are in the West. I have the complete collection of the Slade albums as minis and the sound on these is not all that good, it's ok but not up to usual Japanese mastering standards. Other than this though I don't think I have any problem with the mastering or sound. I guess it depends on what you play them on. I find Americans complain a lot about sound generally, maybe they have more sensitive equipment? I just have a Bose portable CD player (top loader). A good quality make but not Hi Fi. It gives me good playback I think on all the mini titles (I have a lot of them too).

Also, you can be assured that if you see any of the differing styles of Japanese Cd below,they all play on ordinary CD players without the need for any additional soft or hardware:

HQCD - High Quality Compact Disc. I think the difference here to a standard CD is the bit rate mastered at but I'm no expert.

SHM (super high material disc) - made form a different polymer than a standard CD which supposedly gives a enhanced signal (cleaner, more audio presence).

SACD Hybrid - Super audio CD but a hybrid which plays like a normal CD on a CD player but unlocks another layer of sound if played on an SACD player. ordinary SACDs of course need an SACD player.

Blu Spec or Blue Spec II - These use the same coding in manufacture as the Blu Ray disc. Supposedly they have a truer or clearer path for the CD laser to read and so are more stable. I am not sure about audio difference. All these discs sound great to me maybe I need a more sophisticated player to notice any real difference.

All these formats I think are specific to Japan and they don't license their use outside. So you can buy The Beatles in mono from a UK retailer and the mini LP CD sleeves will have been made in Japan but they will be on standard European made CDs. You have to buy the version actually manufactured in Japan to get the Japanese made discs.

As you know you are buying the whole package, miniature sleeves, gatefolds, inner sleeves etc with these mini LP Cds, so the pleasure is as much as visual artworks as listening pleasure. I hope you make some great finds!

Paul

Re: Japanese Mini LP CD titles

I'm drooling reading your comments guys I may look at the Santan set

Re: Japanese Mini LP CD titles

So beautiful you can die...

You can get the music for free with downloading, but I do like beautiful things...