[95Dyna]

There have been several recommendations for CD's manufactured by Reference Recordings on the current thread "Recommended Audio/Video That Must Be Heard".  The RR website devotes a section to the HDCD CD's they are making and the need for equipment with HDCD decoding to take full advantage of their sonic virtues.  Most CD players don't offer this decoding on board including the BCD-1.  Does anybody have the straight scoop on HDCD?  What I've been reading, including some other threads in this circle, is all over the place.

Regards,

Bill

[Phil A]

I've listened a bunch of time to HDCDs.  Like anything else, a format does not guarantee good mixing and mastering whether it is CD, SACD, etc.  I've heard HDCDs played on good equipment and never really blown away to the point where I would buy one piece of equipment over another based on the fact it can do HDCDs (I have some HDCDs and some equipment that can decode it).  There's some general info here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Definition_Compatible_Digital

For example I have an old Micromega DAC right now in the secondary basement system with a transport that I've also hooked to a Receiver that has HDCD (Marantz 7300 OSE).  I'll take the DAC (which does not decode it) and the transport on HDCD I've heard vs. going through the rec'r.  At one point I had a rare Samsung HD1000 down there that also did HDCD and it did not impress me either.  Linn CD players generally have done HDCD but I've not heard any, including their old reference CD12 (which listed for $20k), that I would take merely because it does HDCD vs. whatever CD player it was being compared to on merit alone.  I remember listening to a Linn Ikemi vs. a Marantz SA14 (both were around $3.5k) many years back on good systems and the Linn had HDCD and the Marantz did not and I personally had a preference for anything played through the Marantz.