HDCD

Is it possible to rip HDCDs and maintain the format? Anyone know of downloads that are in this format?

 

Afaik ripping HDCDs works the same way as ripping CDs but you will need a plug in to extract the information (if there is any - many HDCDs don't make use of the HDCD features).

 

You can rip it like any ordinary CD and it would retain the original hdcd format. You will need a hdcd decoder to access the hdcd features though, Foobar has one btw.

 

Answered my question about whether you can download any. Bought HDCD Sampler Vol 2 from HDTracks and disabled any volume leveling etc. and the Sonic Frontiers DAC's HDCD light went on.

 

Tool - Lateralus is a HDCD but doesn't use any of the HDCD features. All HDCDs were converted using the special HDCD ADC (forgot the name), which I think is one of the better ADCs, but still not the holy grail (GAIN 1).

Lateralus also has quite a bit of dynamic compression (why didn't they use the low level extension/peak extension/penis extension?), which is a shame because the music itself is very dynamic.

 

I momentarily was going to post something to the effect of, "wow I can really hear a difference between their comparison tracks!"

Then I remembered that HDCD is like 5dB higher than non-HDCD on this DAC. Cheap trick...

 

My only HDCD, In the Court of the Crimson King 2004 master from the original tape, isn't really an HDCD as Robert Fripp never enabled the weird peak extension bullshit when mastering it. He just stuck the sticker on it and people believed him just like they let him compulsively take voyeuristic photos of them as he's King Crimson and he made Red. The big sets with the 2009 stereo remix by Steve Wilson doesn't even call the 2004 master an HDCD.

I wonder how many other HDCD masterings never enabled the "20-bit" HDCD crap for that inhibits playback on normal CD players and just pressed the CDs at the typical pre-loudness war levels.

 

Yeah, you can immediately tell you're getting a bit-perfect digital. Any volume adjustment kills it. I have ripped HDCDs (King Crimson & Neil Young) and they play back through my Squeezebox to my DAC fine as long as leave the volume at 100%. The DAC has the PMD100 HDCD decoder/filter chip.

 

My only beef with HDCD disks were ones that were marked HDCD but didn't turn the light on, when I played it. I have Joni Mitchell 'Blue' that clearly states it, but doesn't decode to it.

 

PMD200 is the shit.

 

Necro post, I know...

How did you rip HDCDs? Do you have one of the Pioneer blue-ray players that you can hack to rip them properly, or can you just rip HDCDs with any old drive and get them to play back properly?

There are a few HDCDs I'd like to grab but it would be pointless to buy them if I'm not getting them bitperfect digitally.

 

Been a while but back in the day iirc the hdcd flag would simply get ripped automatically with eac flac and lame mp3.

 

I rip "normal" bit-perfect images onto my server and play them back through an old HDCD-capable DAC (Adcom GDA-700) via a Squeezebox music player. As far as the whole chain goes, it is exactly what I do for any red-book CD audio.

It's just the same as if the HDCD disc were being played in a CD player/transport and feeding the same DAC.
The HDCD codes are embedded in the red-book audio data and extracted by the PMD100 chip in the DAC. I think there also some sub-codes that are involved, too. The DAC has a red LED that lights when it detects a HDCD track. Any form of digital processing (e.g. digital volume adjust in the Squeezebox player) stops it being recognised as HDCD.

1. disc -> transport -> SPDIF stream -> DAC
2. disc -> file -> server -> music player -> SPDIF stream -> DAC

BTW, I have always used cdparanoia on Debian for ripping: these days it's in a VM on a Mac and still works 100% OK. I have never had to add any extra command switches, or anything like that.

 

I ripped my HDCD with dBpoweramp with default settings, and my Sonic Frontier's HDCD display lit up as long as the audio data wasn't upsampled by the playback software or DDC.

 

Thanks!

I think I must have been confusing ripping SACD with HDCD. The former requires some hacks. The latter looks easy peasy.

 

You need an early version Sony PS3 to rip SACD. Whether it's worth getting is up to you.

No Sonic Frontiers DAC can decode SACD/DSD.

 

You can rip a HDCD with the encoding intact, just rip like an ordinary CD. It will light up the HDCD indicator on a DAC.

You can rip a HDCD with the file(s) decoded. It will come out as *20 bits and will not light up the HDCD indicator on a DAC. And you don't need a DAC with a HDCD decoder to playback files with all of the HDCD properties if ripped this way.

Some HDCDs have a dynamic range compression/expansion component ( "peak extension") that can remain part of playback in the former or decoded prior to playback in the latter.

(I can't remember how to do the decoded rip, ATM. It is a software process.)

Edit: *Maybe it decodes to 18 Bits.
Edit 2: I will look for my decoded ripping notes later.

 

I haven't been able to find my notes. I'm pretty sure this is the source of my notes.

Spoiler: - From Ham Sandwich

For ripping HDCD I use CUETools. It's a little free app that can verify and split a CUE file to separate tracks and optionally detect and decode HDCD. It's a Windows program.

My process:

Install CUETools
Click the gear icon in CUETools to get the settings
Select the HDCD tab in settings
Check the "Detect HDCD encoding" option

Rip the CD to a CUE using EAC
Open the CUE file in CUETools
Select the "Verify" action
Click Go
Inspect the log to see if HDCD was detected and what HDCD features were detected (peak extend, filters, gain)
If peak extend or gain was detected then decode to HDCD
If no peak extend or gain then don't bother to decode and keep the file as regular redbook 16-bit/44.1
To decode the HDCD make sure the "Detect HDCD encoding" option is set
Select the "Encode" action
Click Go

There are other interesting posts in that thread. Here is one from member boiledbeans:
For an HDCD, as others have said above, you rip it normally in EAC. What you have now is the un-decoded file.

Now you have two options.
1) Decode the files using hdcd.exe (or CUETools). The resultant file will be decoded, and you can play the 24bit file on any hardware or software media player that supports it. However, the file will be larger in size.
2) Play the original un-decoded file in foobar. Foobar can decode the HDCD files on the fly as you're listening. So you can listen to the 24bit file, without an increase in file size.