Billy Joel/52nd Street US SBM CD Master Sound

Billy Joel’s famous album “52ND STREET” has been reborn through the evolution of technology. Introducing a title that is a reprint of the high quality disc “CK 64412” using the high quality sound technology “SBM CD”. [SBM technology that suppresses digital deterioration due to 16-bit conversion] DSD, Among these, SBM (Super Bit Mapping) CD was introduced in 1991 and was a pioneering new technology. At that time, the release of classic analog records into CDs was at its peak, and listeners’ ears were beginning to become more discerning. The blind belief that CDs = high quality in the late 1980s has faded, and we have gone beyond the stage of superstitions such as “Putting it in the freezer will give you high quality sound” and “If you cut a straight line with a cutter, it will become clearer”. People began to talk about the good and bad of transformation itself. Therefore, Sony introduced SBM technology. Although it is a basic CD standard, it achieves a natural sound that is on a different level from conventional CD production. Its success became the beginning of a new technology CD competition among various companies. To avoid any misunderstanding, “SBM CD” is not a remaster using so-called equalizing processing. To begin with, “SBM” is a technology that reduces loss when converting to CD. Even if you digitize from analog at a high rate of 20 bits or more, the CD standard is still 16 bits. You cannot record unless you drop the audio data. Normally, when converting to a CD, it is digitized in 16 bits from the beginning, or high data is reduced to 16 bits, but this is where “SBM” comes into play. Rather than randomly cutting off data when converting to 16 bits, this technology adjusts the waveform curve to match the characteristics of human hearing. In other words, if analog’s smooth waveform is a “mountain”, digital’s is a “staircase”. With 20 bits or more, each step of the staircase is detailed, so the sound quality is high, but normally with CDs, the steps are uniformly large, creating a coarse sound. On the other hand, “SBM” selects a waveform that is omitted in line with the human ear, making it sound like a more detailed staircase. This may sound a little obvious, but let’s compare this to animation. Let’s say that analog’s smooth waveforms are a so-called natural sight, and digital’s are like a flip book. 20-bit has a large number of pictures, but 16-bit eliminates pictures, resulting in jerky motion. Normally, the number of CDs is uniformly reduced, but with “SBM”, the speed of movement and colors that tend to leave afterimages on the human eye are selected and omitted, so that it does not feel like there are fewer pictures… ( (This is just a metaphor.) Moreover, this “SBM” is not a relic of the outdated past. Although it was first put into practical use as a CD in 1991, it became common after that. It has also been applied to video technology and is now included in Blu-ray. The question that arises here is, “So, is it the same as modern CDs?” The key point here is the deterioration of analog over time. Even if the master tape is precisely preserved, it is inevitable that the magnetism will disappear as time passes, and the earlier the tape was recorded, the more the audio from when it was recorded will remain. In other words, CDs digitized using SBM, which was developed early on, still retain their brilliant sound even today. [“52ND STREET”, a master sound that has been passed down to the present day with the preservation power of gold] The great masterpiece revived with such new technology is truly a master sound. Compared to later remastered CDs, the sound pressure is lower and it feels a little plain, but the important thing is subtlety. The percussion instruments are especially beautiful. The peak of the drum hitting sound, which tends to be crushed by equalization, is extended without distortion, drawing a rich curve and disappearing into the void. This moment of silence tends to disappear quickly due to the effect of increasing sound pressure, but in this work it is so realistic that you can feel the vibrations of the skin subside. And the piano. Since this is a percussed string instrument, the sharpness of the attack and the delicacy of the long notes are essential, but even in fortissimo, the peak does not exceed the range that can be reproduced beautifully, so it is fresh, and even at the end of the muted sound, there is a super weak vibe. It has been left in good condition. These characteristics can be said of the non-remastered initial CD, but this work is glossy and smooth because it is SBM. The beauty of the notes that fill the space between the beginning and the end of the sound is exquisite, and you can feel the rich imagination of the historical masterpieces. And because it’s a gold CD, even that sound has been preserved to this day. Since this work is normally transferred to a CD, the reflectance of the Omoto Gold CD cannot be expected to be very effective, but the preservation of gold is important. Normally, CDs are recorded on a thin aluminum film, but the polycarbonate sandwiching it has water-retaining properties and absorbs water vapor from the air. Therefore, if stored for a long time, the aluminum corrodes (in other words, rusts), which can cause reading errors. However, gold is the most stable metal and does not rust in nature. Of course, this preservation power cannot be reproduced with CDR, but the master sound has been faithfully transferred to this work because there are few reading errors on the source gold CD. After this CD was released, Digilima, which processes the sound itself, took the world by storm, and even an outrageous loudness war broke out. In modern times, we have passed the era of such processing and have begun to seek the “original sound”, but it is precisely in these times that the true value of the early SBM CDs shines. Early SBM should be reevaluated because it has returned to a natural orientation. “52ND STREET” is a famous album created with its natural sound. Taken from the original US SBM/Super Bit Mapping (CK 64412), Master Sound Series released 1. Big Shot 2. Honesty 3. My Life 4. Zanzibar 5. Stiletto 6. Rosalinda’s Eyes 7. Half A Mile Away 8. Until The Night 9. 52nd Street