HDCD Questions

[crawler9]

Hi, I've ripped my entire CD collection with dBpoweramp in the past to 16bit lossless FLAC and have only now discovered and begun to learn about the HDCD dsp. I have a few questions about it I'm hoping someone can answer:

1. I know I have at least a few CDs that are HDCDs. Is there any way to easily identify all my HDCDs? (I already found a few in a list online that I'm sure is incomplete and none of the ones I've found are marked as HDCDs, but the HDCD dsp does recognize them as HDCDs.)
2. Is there a way to convert my lossless 16bit FLAC files to 24bit without artificially inflating the files or reripping them from scratch? In other words, can I obtain the same quality as I would have if I'd initially used the HDCD dsp while ripping my CDs which turn out to be HDCDs?
3. Does the +6dB Amplification modify the audio itself? If I use a CUE sheet to burn my HDCD back to a disk, will it be louder or changed from it's original form if I use the +6dB Amplification?
4. I use ReplayGain tags, so does that mean using the +6dB Amplification would just result in a ReplayGain value that is 6dB lower and would sound the same on devices supporting ReplayGain?

I do have one other unrelated question: is there a way to keep all files accompanying an album with the album when using the Arrange Audio utility codec? I have 2 cue sheets and a log file with all of my albums that I'd like to keep with the albums when using the Arrange Audio utility codec to append the year to each album name in my folder structure.

Thanks for any information or advice you can offer,
crawler9

[Spoon]

Re: HDCD Questions

1. After ripping, you can use Batch Converter select your library, then click List and sort on Bit depth, the HDCD tracks will be 24 bit.
2. Yes convert FLAC >> FLAC with HDCD, only those that are hdcd are inflated.
3. Yes
4. Yes

[crawler9]

Re: HDCD Questions

1. After ripping, you can use Batch Converter select your library, then click List and sort on Bit depth, the HDCD tracks will be 24 bit.
2. Yes convert FLAC >> FLAC with HDCD, only those that are hdcd are inflated.
3. Yes
4. Yes

Thanks for the reply. I don't see an option to sort by Bit depth in the Batch Converter. The bit rate and sample size for everything is 1,411 kbps and 16 bit at a sample rate of 44.1 KHz. Your suggestion to convert FLAC >> FLAC with HDCD has helped me identify my HDCDs, but I wanted to verify one more thing. I saw in another thread (about 2 years old) that you said:

You cannot increase the quality of a 16 bit file by converting to 24 bit, the extra information is not there.

Does this mean the growth in my previously 16bit rips of HDCDs is artificial inflation?

Do I actually need to rerip the CDs I've identified in this way, or am I already done with what I need to do?

Thanks again,
crawler

[mville]

Re: HDCD Questions

You might want to check this thread:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?27540-Ripping-HDCDs-Best-practices&highlight=hdcd+practices

[crawler9]

Re: HDCD Questions

You might want to check this thread:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthre...hdcd+practices

Thanks mville. That thread was a very interesting read, but it confused the heck out of me and while my previous question is answered (The full 20-bits seem to be in the 16-bit PCM stream, unless I'm referencing an incorrect post in that thread.), now I'm not sure if I really should even use the HDCD dsp. I was entirely lost when it came to peak extension, the best way to apply replaygain, and what special steps I may or may not need to take when converting lossless HDCD rips in either 16bit or 24 bit files to lossy codecs for portable playback.

[mville]

Re: HDCD Questions

That thread was a very interesting read, but it confused the heck out of me

Yes, that thread requires several re-reads

I'm not sure if I really should even use the HDCD dsp

It depends on the players ability to recognize/decode HDCD audio

[crawler9]

Re: HDCD Questions

It depends on the players ability to recognize/decode HDCD audio

I use MediaMonkey on PC and I'm not sure how it handles HDCDs. I don't think it has anything special for HDCD playback. I use Neutron Media Player on my mobile playback device (Galaxy S4- US Quad Core version) with 64-bit audio processing, but I don't think that has does anything for HDCD playback either. I play FLAC on my PC and typically use Opus or OGG Vorbis as my mobile codec.