Thread: SACD surge in Hong Kong again?

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Post by Allen May 9, 2015 (1 of 24)
I just noticed that starting about 1/2 years ago, Universal, Sony and Warner in Hong Kong released a stream of pop titles in SACD format.

I have not seen new titles, though. All the releases are just re-release of some pop stars' famous album or re-compiled "greatest hits", probably targeting collector.

Is this just a regional market thing? Especial after a long winter hibernation?

Post by soundboy May 11, 2015 (2 of 24)
Allen said:

I just noticed that starting about 1/2 years ago, Universal, Sony and Warner in Hong Kong released a stream of pop titles in SACD format.

I have not seen new titles, though. All the releases are just re-release of some pop stars' famous album or re-compiled "greatest hits", probably targeting collector.

Is this just a regional market thing? Especial after a long winter hibernation?

The SACD resurgence in HK actually started at end of December 2012, when Fung Hang Records released "Deanie Yip: SACD Collection, Vol. 2". However, the surge didn't reach its peak until the 2014 HK High-End Audio Visual Show in August 2014, when there were weekly release announcements from HK Universal, HK Warner and HK Sony. By the end of 2014, there were over 120 SACD releases, with the vast majority of them being titles appearing for the first time on SACD. You can see almost all of them in my Flickr below:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ematcion/sets/72157646863749370

As of today, the rate of new SACD release in HK for 2015 is about the same as 2014. However, HK Warner has yet to release a new SACD title in 2015. At the same time, HK Sony has also not released a new Chinese pop SACD. The situation may change as it gets closer to the 2015 HK High-End Audio-Visual Show during the summer. In the meantime, the below link to my Flickr account will give you a good idea what have been released in 2015:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ematcion/sets/72157651044717216

HK EMI's catalog is currently under the control of HK Universal, and there's no word whether there will be any SACD being released from its catalog (or from its subsidiary, DMI).

As for "new" titles, if you mean all-new recordings appearing on SACD, HK Universal Music is the only label releasing such SACDs....it has released 4 of them (2 of which also available on Blu-ray Audio).

Post by FullRangeMan May 11, 2015 (3 of 24)
SoundBoy when you boring from these awful SACDs just let me know.

Post by soundboy May 11, 2015 (4 of 24)
FullRangeMan said:

SoundBoy when you boring from these awful SACDs just let me know.

I have more coming in.

Post by Allen May 16, 2015 (5 of 24)
My real question for these SACDs is:

Did they go back to the master tape for the remastering or just transfer from RBCD 44.1KHz/16bits, and call it a SACD release?

This has always been my suspicion for SACD released in HK.

Post by chenzl May 17, 2015 (6 of 24)
FullRangeMan said:

SoundBoy when you boring from these awful SACDs just let me know.

Most of them are early DDD releases. I actually owned some of these SACDs, the sounds were a great improvement over the original CDs. Its great that companies in HK are supporting SACD format thru these Chinese pops releases, hopefully the classical realms will reap the benefits. Thanks SoundBoy for this exciting info!

Post by Allen May 17, 2015 (7 of 24)
None of these are in sa-cd.net's listing.

Would you mind adding these to /submit if you have SACD?

I have mail ordered about 30 of these releases from HK HMV, more from China's taobao.com to come.

Post by soundboy May 18, 2015 (8 of 24)
Allen said:

My real question for these SACDs is:

Did they go back to the master tape for the remastering or just transfer from RBCD 44.1KHz/16bits, and call it a SACD release?

This has always been my suspicion for SACD released in HK.

That is really dependent on which company's SACD you're talking about. Take HK Universal Music as an example since it is easily the biggest supporter of SACD in the city. There have been rumors over the years that many of the master tapes of HK PolyGram Records, HK Universal's predecessor, were destroyed in one of the biggest building fires in HK history. See below youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9V5CVVJkE

HK Universal never confirmed, nor denied, the destruction of its master tapes. Within the last year or so, HK Universal Music surprised audiophiles with Blu-ray Audio releases, originally recorded in the 80s, that featured all-new remixes from the original multitrack analog master tapes. So maybe the rumored destruction of the master tapes were just rumors?

As for the other music companies, who knows? HK Sony Music, having its own DSD production facilities, may have archived its analog master tapes to DSD.

Post by soundboy May 18, 2015 (9 of 24)
chenzl said:

Most of them are early DDD releases. I actually owned some of these SACDs, the sounds were a great improvement over the original CDs. Its great that companies in HK are supporting SACD format thru these Chinese pops releases, hopefully the classical realms will reap the benefits. Thanks SoundBoy for this exciting info!

Again, dependent on which company's SACD we are talking about. I am certain that the latest 10 SACD titles being released on SACD by HK Universal Music were originally recorded in analog. Many of the newer titles are indeed digitally recorded, and at higher than redbook bit rates (i.e. Susan Wong SACDs).

3 new SACD titles of classical music were just released last week by HK Sony Music.

Post by Allen May 18, 2015 (10 of 24)
I have all titles from the "Ultimate Sound SACD" series from Warner HK.

Just did several comparison, the sound of these SACD varies - not necessarily better than RBCD.

On the positive side, I have Julie Sue, Tsai Chin, the SACD stereo is clearly better than the RBCD release.

On the negative side, I have Fei Yu Chin and Danny Chan, I simply could not tell the difference between the SACD stereo and his other RBCD release.

I could not say of other titles, though, as I do not even have any RBCD for those singers. ;)

As to titles from Universal HK, and Sony HK, I would have something to say about them after my next batch of orders arrives.

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