Diane thinks I have a Big Problem. I have owned and enjoyed Murray Perahia’s box set of The Complete Mozart Piano Concertos, the one with the purple cover, since it was released in 2006. Now, SONY has released the same box set with a new cover, the white one with the muddy picture of Perahia, at a lesser price without the notes included in the original version. And, the other major difference is that the 2006 CDs are 20-bit recordings, the new 2012 set are 24-bit recordings. I, of course, bought the new box set, too. Diane thinks the 2006 set of 12 CDs is “good enough.” I insist this new 2012 box set “sounds better.” Do you buy two versions of the same thing? Should I be attending Shoppers Anonymous?
My doubles are usually different editions of books. But there is one blues recording, SHOWDOWN!, featuring Robert Cray, Albert Collins, and Johnny Copeland through Vinyl, audio cassette, and CD. Whenever a new format emerges, it’s one of the first albums i pick up.
I like Robert Cray, too, Randy. I’m replacing my favorite movies that I had one VHS tapes and DVDs with Blu-rays so I know all about format changes…and costs!
I am not sure what “bit” means.
It’s the sampling rate of the signal produced by your CD player, Patti. The higher the sampling rate, the better the sound…theoretically.
I think Diane may have a point (ducks!). Aside the different “extras,” are you getting anything appreciably new? Is there a true different between 20-bit and 24-bit–or are you getting into a “law of diminishing returns” situation?
I’ve never consciously purchased two versions of the same thing, but occasionally I’ll return from a used book sale binge and realize I’ve purchased books I already have or have already read.
You and Diane have a point, Deb. I admit the difference in the sound of the early Perahia set and this new Perahia set is slight. But I can hear it. I love Mozart’s piano concertos and listen to them frequently. I plan to listen to the “old” set in my vehicle while I’m driving around and listen to the new set on my home stereo system (designed by audiophile Art Scott).
If I had a dollar for every time I bought duplicate copies of books at Library sales and used book stores, I could pay off the National Debt!
Yes, you need to attend Shoppers Anonymous! Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
And no, I don’t do it, at least not on purpose.
Diane and Katie also think I’m a borderline hoarder, Jeff!
I’ve only known a few classical music listener/collector/fanatic types who buy two or several copies of the same work, let alone the same work by the same artist on the same label. Very few of them would make a duplicate purchase solely due to a slightly higher bit rate. Sure I could see an early 12 or even 16 bit being replaced (note replaced, not kept along side of) a 24 bit recording. But 20 to 24? Nope. If Art, or you, I guess, were to come here and look at my classical CDs, you’d find a workman-like collection that allow me to listen to the things I like in digital sound and clarity, sometimes with favorite though less well engineered performances (such as Berstein’s Mahler on Sony). I don’t intentionally buy a second recording as you have done unless for some reason I am very dissatisfied with the one I have, or a newer collection has many more works on it than I have on one or more CDs by that artist, such as the one I bought this week (see New Arrivals coming Monday).
You and Diane might be right, Rick. I may have overdone it by buying two very similar sets of the same Mozart Piano Concertos. I’ll try to be more careful in the future.
George, life is short, and death is long. Enjoy the not inconsiderable pleasure of good music while you can.
That’s pretty much been my attitude until this little dust-up, Drongo.
If you can afford it, hoard it.
We all have things we hoard. I have at least fifty vases, for instance. And I still never have the right size/shape/color one.
I consider myself a rescuer of lost books, Patti. Yes, they tend to accumulate, but I’m planning another large contribution of paperbacks to SUNY at Buffalo in 2013.
I think you were seduced by his less pretentious, grown-up haircut. I’m more than skeptical that just the extra 4 bits makes an audible difference. There are a whole lot of other things the engineers might have done (and not advertised) in remastering the discs that could produce a “sounds better” impression. I’m with Diane on this one, this is a loony line even I have never crossed — not that I haven’t crossed several others.
I’m starting to see that Diane (and you) might be right on this one, Art. The haircut didn’t seduce me, but the prospect of 24-bit sound did.
Unless these are new recordings, recorded in 24-bit as opposed to 20-bit, I don’t see how an improvement in digital resolution can enhance the original recording. You can’t get additional “stairstep” resolution on an analog signal that has been previously digitized to a coarser resolution.
William, you’re probably right. The slight increase in sampling rate probably doesn’t make that much of a difference.