(2) Japanese SHM CD: little difference. Perhaps a slight audible bass improvement. SHM materials in the optical layer are supposed to improve the information retrieval from CD players. I am not convinced I hear much difference here.

 

 

(3) MFSL Original Master Recording 24K Gold Disc: Mastering volume reduced. This results in a tradeoff of wider dynamic range however perhaps slightly less detail overall. Totally different sound!
 

 

(4) Geffen DVD Audio – Stereo Track: Sounds wonderful, much more presence and soundstage than the CD editions, if a little compressed.

 

 

(5) SACD: There is no photo without conversion to a PCM based format as it is a DSD technology but it sounds very similar to the DVD Audio, also includes a surround mix, and perhaps subjectively a little more detail to my ear

(6) Blu-ray Audio – Stereo Track: Bears tremendous resemblance to the now out-of-print SACD and DVD-A. Plenty of detail, lots of air around the instruments (soundstage seems wider and more open, slightly longer decays on bells for example in track one)

 

RECOMMENDATION: You should immediately run to your computer or retailer and get a copy of this Blu-ray. Although perhaps not perfect (whatever that means anymore), the other high resolution formats are all long out of print and worth a king’s ransom. This Blu-ray edition marks the return of the surround mix as well if you are a fan of multichannel audio. If you just want a CD edition, the MFSL seems to be a great value and features the bonus track. The Japanese edition suffers from modern remastering for an album that, frankly, doesn’t need it and only declines as a result. The DVD-Audio is the winner for bonus material, but is also slightly punched-up and compressed. If you can happen to get your hands on one, I’d recommend it as well for the bonus material but be prepared to pay well over $100. All high resolution and vinyl editions have shot up tremendously in value in the past. The bluray may as well if and when it goes out of print.

My recommendation to Universal would have been to give it the full treatment and include the same videos and menus on the DVD-Audio. It’s not in keeping with the PureAudio program, but frankly I see nothing that would degrade the sound quality by including separate video material in different chapters. I also would recommend they improve the cover information and include downloads at the same 24/192 quality, but the Blu-ray PureAudio release program only includes lower resolution versions. PS: If I can dream, if an album ever deserved one of the Universal ‘Super Deluxe’ treatments, it’s this one. A double vinyl, bluray wih all the videos as well. It would be a gift to all music fans. Perhaps combine it with the new companion piece ‘Morning Phase’? (Hint… hint…)

This is an excellent example of the DR value not really fully reflecting what’s going on. There are two camps that are set up (1) espousing as much dynamic range as possible and (2) another arguing it makes no difference at all. There’s a highly technical article based on research of thousands of tracks in the EMI catalog at Sound on Sound which claims that the whole term ‘DR’ (Dynamic Range) means little and doesn’t reflect the variability seen in the loudness of the track fully. I disagree – there are clear examples such as REM’s Life’s Rich Pageant – 2 CD Deluxe Edition that sound, frankly, ruined to my ears. I had listened to that CD and record for years and the new version sounds like an FM radio compressed edition. Conversely, some older CDs that are mastered ‘low and true’ are simply flat mixes with little detail. I think each recording must be taken on a case-by-case depending on the source material.

As Gary runs a video site, the best analogy I can give is with photographic dynamic range. Photos with dark shading and bright areas can hide or reveal a great level of detail in either light or dark sections; the challenge is to see as much detail as possible in both. Selective boosting of certain brightness areas, if used judiciously, can reveal detail without ruining the look and feel. Overdone, it looks terrible. But it does depend on the source material – night scenes and darkly lit scenes such as Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ look terrible on some DVD editions. If overboosted, it would all just look grey and noisy.

So all editions of Sea Change released by Geffen / Universal seem to have a lower DR than the MFSL release, but they still sound wonderful. The DVD-A/SACD and Blu-ray releases all have similar DR and analysis curve that surpass the CD. MoFi always keeps it ‘old school’ on the mastering. You’ll have to turn up the volume quite a lot to compensate and fully hear all the echo and width of the soundstage in this recording, but it still sounds great. Audiophiles will lambaste me

A foldout with photos and lyrics and extensive description of the recording process of the album. A paper with a code to access the Blu-ray disc digital downloads online