Several years ago, I did a lawsuit representing Quincy Jones. I learned more about music from Q than I ever thought I could. Hell, I thought I knew a lot about music before meeting him. After a few days of talks, I realized how little I knew. He showed me the true difference in listening to a master of a great recording and a CD quality version of the same recording. Those of you who think there is no difference above CD quality are as clueless as I was. The biggest thing he introduced me to was true studio quality headphones. Q never used speakers to master his music, always headphones of the highest quality. He eventually decided there was a problem with studio headphones, and that was they didn’t compensate for the individual ear. As a result, he led AKG to developed headphones with what is essentially in ear room correction. They were pricey as hell, but absolutely phenomenal. I helped him win his case and was rewarded with a pair of AKG n90Q’s. His techs helped me get them just right. I tested them against every studio quality set of headphones that have come out sense. They blew everything away. Unfortunately, after 6 years, the power receptacle just broke on a long flight. These have been off the market for a while, so I went with another client recommendation. The B&O H95s. This is like going from a symphony to a high school band. RIP greatness.
Tell me more. Please.
Yeah you should expand in this. What were the key differences you heard? What was the explanation or reasoning for changing that on the CD?
If CD quality audio is capable of producing the full range of sounds that humans can hear, the difference had to be in post processing done to produce mass market speaker friendly masterings suitable for general distribution.