In my ongoing quest to get the most out of my Axioms (especially the M80v2's) I ordered an XRCD from Acoustic Sounds called "Best Audiophile Voices Vol. 1." It's a compilation of some top female vocalists including Eva Cassidy, Allyson Kraus, Cheryl Wheeler, etc., put together and manufactured onto an XRCD by JVC. It may be the best thing I have ever heard out of my system. Crystal clear vocals and stunning strings. Absolutely beautiful! It wasn't cheap, $34.99, but man does it sound nice.

I don't think I've seen anything from anyone here about the XRCD technology? Has anyone else had a listen to any of these? From what I gather this is something that JVC developed and has to do with the manfacturing process rather than the recording process. From their liner notes they talk about music that is well engineered in the studio but that is then sent out to be processed onto discs, and that process often leaves a lot to be desired. So they have directed their efforts at producing pristine discs from the master recordings. I'm sure that the original recordings from these artists are exceptional as the title of the XRCD indicates, but I have not heard anything as clear and detailed before. Like I said, they ain't cheap but wow!

Has anyone else had a listen to these? Any thoughts?

Honestly, I never even heard of them!

What is this? Is a special player required? This isn't another gimmick by Machina Dynamica is it ?

It plays on regular CD plaers it looks like. I never heard of them but a quick google search found this

web page

No need for a new player. That's a relief.

Nope but there is a need to shell out a few more bucks per CD

I see there's an XRCD version of that Yim Hok-Man album people were recommending, but yeah, very expensive. I also find a multichannel SACD version of it on eBay. It's an import. I wonder how well it's done in multichannel. I don't suppose anyone out there has one of these versions?

Korky, a couple of years ago I splurged a bit(Tower sale for about $23)on one of the JVC XRCDs. These are of course just regular CD format, but extra care in mastering, etc. is said to be taken. The sound was fine, but didn't really wow me, and very well mastered CDs at lower prices that I have can match what I heard. From the lack of popularity they achieved it doesn't seem that most listeners thought that the premium price brought enough benefit.

John,

Sorry, I've been away from the computer all day.

Your right, I'm sure that the original recordings were stellar as well as the title "Best Audiophile Voices" would indicate. Acoustic Sounds offers three more volumes of this title but they are only on CD, not XRCD. I think I will probably get hold of one of them and compare it against what I have. I'm guessing they'll probably be pretty similar, but I was just very impressed with the XRCD. They are expensive though, and if I buy more it will be a select few over time. I was just curious if anyone else had any experience with this technology.