Done properly, the CD format has all the sampling rate and bit depth(44.1/16)needed for human ears and the available music. This was demonstrated about five years ago in a report I read in my AES Journal. SACDs and DVD-As of particularly good sound quality were "downgraded" to CD standards by passing them through 44.1/16 ADC/DAC conversion. In extensive double blind testing the sound remained equally excellent and could not be distinguished from the original.
John, I agree with your stance 100% that it's the recording, mixing and mastering that matters.
I admit that I just woke 10 minutes ago and am still fuzzy-brained, but I don't understand the above statement.
Simplistically, you're saying that higher-sampled discs and lower-sampled discs sound the same because in a listening test, they crippled the variable that existed in the higher-sampled music?
I enjoy the 20 or so SACDs and DVD-A discs I have. Not because of the higher sampling rates, but because they are true discrete multi-channel recordings AND they have been remastered with care.
