ChiDem SHM CD?

[Mr. Redman]

http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=453004&From=EIL_GNR-COL-29102008-1345.STT.-GNR-Sat-TEAIS

Kind of cool, wonder if Japan will get bonus tracks.

[troccoli]

A whole lot cheaper here:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/list_from_code_banner.html?key=57281

[Giant_Robot]

SHM-CD are for fools !

[troccoli]

SHM-CD are for fools !

And trix are for kids!

[GNRreunioneventually]

what the fuck is this?

[Mr. Redman]

what the fuck is this?

Quality music.

[Blackrose]

I've been reading up on these SHM discs on a few of the Audio forums I visit, opinions seem to be mixed, some are very impressed with certain releases on SHM other are not so enthusiastic about some others, maybe it has to do with whatever (if any) remastering is applied.
Anyway I think I may order a copy of Chi-Dem on SHM, I have Appetite, Lies and both Illusions on the Mobile Fidelity gold discs and doubt these SHM discs would even get close to the sound of those, if it provides an improvement over the standard CD I will be happy.
Does anyone know any cheaper supplier than "cdjapan" listed above? Postage is to Australia.

I will let everyone know what I think of the SHM disc once I receive it

 

[Blackrose]

I have this SHM version of Chinese Democracy, in my opinion it is a definite improvement over the standard CD.
I can definitely hear more detail and it is overall a clearer more defined sound, it is notable from the beginning, the spoken Chinese at the beginning if Chi-Dem just comes through clearer and with more definition especially when the drums kick in!
It also has much better definition between the layers on the album especially noticeable on the vocals, the different layers just stand out more!
I did a couple of A/B comparisons apart form the overall clearer and more defined sound I noticed these improvement in the SHM version, much better clarity in the spoken Chinese at the beginning and better definition between the different vocal layers on Chi-Dem, in Scrapped again much better definition in the vocal layers and better overall clarity just gives some extra impact and during the start of Sorry the effects have a more open sound that adds more depth to the song and once the song kicks in everything sounds so good especially the guitar parts they just sound like it's being played right in the room with you.
I did not do any more A/B tests as it was obvious the SHM disc sounded superior, so I just went back to the start and just enjoyed it. 

I think the SHM-CD is a significant improvement over the standard CD, and would definitely recommend it to anyone with a decent HI-Fi system, with a budget bookshelf type system you probably won't notice much of a difference.   

The SHM-CD mix seems exactly the the same, the levels are the same no louder or quieter, it just comes of the disc a lot clearer and that does give it a bit more impact.

On a side note Sony is launching their Blu-spec CD format, with Ozzy Osbourne's Tribute to the legendary Randy Rhoads as one of the first titles looks like I'll be testing that format out aswell 

For reference I am using an OPPO DV-983 DVD player as the source fed analogue into a Yamaha DSP-E492 acting as pre-amp then into a Yamaha DSP-A1000 acting as power amplifier and finally onto some JBL MRV-310 floorstanding loudspeakers.