It has been awhile since this album has been in my collection and its nice to have it back in such an amazing format,and this review is for MQA [although the Free album is very fine as well]...echoing everything said in the other review posted here,MQA is the new heavy weight champion when it comes to hi resolution playback,I too run the Oppo 205 (modded) into a pair of Adam S3H powered studio monitors resulting in a very highly detailed system and until now have considered the SHM SACDs to be the best versions of albums available,(I also have a large collection of hi res 44-192k/24 bit files which also sound excellent especially if recently remastered)...however the MQA format is absolutely blowing everything out of the water...wide open sound stage with vocals and instruments sitting 'naturally' in the mix with a definable acoustic space between them even when the mix gets'busy'...gone is a lot of the digital 'harshness'(caused by time smearing that is corrected with the MQA algorithm) low frequencies are tighter and more focused ,highs are far more natural sounding,I have both the MQA and standard version of some albums that use the same master .eg Bowies 'Lets Dance' 2018 remaster and the difference is night and day...and with most of these MQA CDs having 352k sample rates the sound system disappears and you are left with the music clear and natural...there is only one downside...I now wish that my entire collection was MQA.!!!!
Product Details
| Catalog No. | UICY-40179 |
|---|---|
| JAN/ISBN | 4988031277232 |
| Product Type | CD HQCD |
| Number of Discs | 1 |
| Label/Distributor | UNIVERSAL MUSIC |
HQCD(HiQualityCD) discs are fully compatible with standard CD players
Credits
Description
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Description in Japanese
ファイアー・アンド・ウォーター [MQA/UHQCD] [生産限定盤] / フリー
Related Offer & Feature
Tracklisting
| 1 |
FIRE AND WATER / Free
ファイアー・アンド・ウォーター / フリー
|
| 2 |
OH I WEPT / Free
オウ・アイ・ウェプト / フリー
|
| 3 |
REMEMBER / Free
リメンバー / フリー
|
| 4 |
HEAVY LOAD / Free
へヴィ・ロード / フリー
|
| 5 |
MR BIG / Free
ミスター・ビッグ / フリー
|
| 6 |
DON'T SAY YOU LOVE ME / Free
ドント・セイ・ユー・ラヴ・ミー / フリー
|
| 7 |
ALL RIGHT NOW / Free
オール・ライト・ナウ / フリー
|
Customer Reviews
I first bought this album in the 1970s as a college student and played both sides endlessly. Through the years, I've purchased the album many times including SHM and SHM-Platinum versions as well as SACD. The UHQCD version delivers the best soundstage yet. The first track didn't really come across all that differently, but by the second, I actually looked up at the speakers as I was somewhat startled by the bass, drums, and lead guitar. I'm not sure if this is a chicken or egg thing as I have a top of the line OPPO player and new speaker cables that cost more than some people's speakers. But when I played my old SHM CD copy, my listening experience was confirmed. This is an audiophile's format for sure.
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