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Dire Straits brothers in arms Bob Ludwig + SBM

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Liberal Democracy

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hi, bought the 1994 Ludwig remaster of this album. It sounds good and I noticed it's got SBM ( super bit mapping) written on it.. ,

Any thoughts on this version and the SBM technology, it's new to me.
 
Humm, I think I have the 1985 version, my ripped file measures a DR16 and that coincides with uploads of the original release on the DR database.
The database also shows the 1995 remaster as having been compressed down to a DR12 but I'm not 100% sure on the users uploaded info.
Have/can you run a DR check, if so what numbers do you have?

Edit, Interestingly I find the 1985 CD the most dynamic album I ever remember measuring in my collection. If only they made em like this today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Brothers In Arms / Artist: Dire Straits
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Title [codec]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR20 -0.00 dB -22.32 dB 5:12 01 - So Far Away [flac]
DR19 -0.00 dB -22.10 dB 8:25 02 - Money For Nothing [flac]
DR13 -5.95 dB -22.26 dB 4:12 03 - Walk Of Life [flac]
DR14 -7.78 dB -25.43 dB 6:33 04 - Your Latest Trick [flac]
DR13 -12.70 dB -29.28 dB 8:31 05 - Why Worry [flac]
DR17 -2.43 dB -24.16 dB 6:58 06 - Ride Across The River [flac]
DR14 -2.18 dB -22.97 dB 4:40 07 - The Man's Too Strong [flac]
DR18 -0.00 dB -20.96 dB 3:39 08 - One World [flac]
DR15 -4.00 dB -24.67 dB 6:54 09 - Brothers In Arms [flac]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of files: 9
Official DR value: DR16

Sampling rate: 44100 Hz
Average bitrate: 691kbs
Bits per sample: 16 bit

Dr14 T.meter 1.0.16
==============================================================================================
 
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If you are asking what super bit mapping is, it is a process of properly converting 20 bit masters to 16 bit with dither and noise shaping. These technicals allow performance of 16-bit CD to be extended beyond what can be done by just truncating the bits. Since we are talking about Bob Stuart, let's use a great graph in his AES paper that came out years ago on merits of different bit depths:

i-5fKMQmd.png


The blue line is threshold of hearing. If we want our format to be audibly noiseless, it needs to be below that line for all frequencies. We see that straight 16 bits in green can't do that in mid frequencies where our hearing is ultrasensitive (it crosses above blue line). By using noise-shaping methods in purple and red curves, we can, while still using 16 bits, stay below threshold of hearing. This is what SBM attempts to do, and so does everyone else who produces music from high-res (that knows what they are doing :)).

In a nutshell, the noise of digital system is "shaped" to have less noise where it matters (in mid frequencies) and more when it doesn't (high frequencies).
 
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I haven't seen many SBM CDs released by non Sony music labels (it was quite popular with the Mastersound gold discs). And I don't think I've seen it on any CD released after the 90s. Did Sony create something that surpassed it?

Sal1950 said:
Humm, I think I have the 1985 version, my ripped file measures a DR16 and that coincides with uploads of the original release on the DR database.
The database also shows the 1995 remaster as having been compressed down to a DR12 but I'm not 100% sure on the users uploaded info.
Have/can you run a DR check, if so what numbers do you have?

Edit, Interestingly I find the 1985 CD the most dynamic album I ever remember measuring in my collection. If only they made em like this today.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Brothers In Arms / Artist: Dire Straits
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Title [codec]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR20 -0.00 dB -22.32 dB 5:12 01 - So Far Away [flac]
DR19 -0.00 dB -22.10 dB 8:25 02 - Money For Nothing [flac]
DR13 -5.95 dB -22.26 dB 4:12 03 - Walk Of Life [flac]
DR14 -7.78 dB -25.43 dB 6:33 04 - Your Latest Trick [flac]
DR13 -12.70 dB -29.28 dB 8:31 05 - Why Worry [flac]
DR17 -2.43 dB -24.16 dB 6:58 06 - Ride Across The River [flac]
DR14 -2.18 dB -22.97 dB 4:40 07 - The Man's Too Strong [flac]
DR18 -0.00 dB -20.96 dB 3:39 08 - One World [flac]
DR15 -4.00 dB -24.67 dB 6:54 09 - Brothers In Arms [flac]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of files: 9
Official DR value: DR16

Sampling rate: 44100 Hz
Average bitrate: 691kbs
Bits per sample: 16 bit

Dr14 T.meter 1.0.16
==============================================================================================
Click to expand...

Mofi reissued it in the last couple of years and their mastering engineer said they didn't use any compression: http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/70186

So I am guessing the original 80s disc (like many) have slightly inflated DR numbers due to bass roll off or tape hiss.
 
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SBM was a big deal with 20 bit ADC was a big deal. They were touting that they would master "at higher than CD resolution." For a long time now people have had 24 bit ADCs and conversion to 16 with dither and noise shaping has been commonplace. So what was at one time a marketing and technical feature, stopped being so. It is like a car manufacturer advertising that they have fuel injection in their cars. :)
 
hvbias said:
Mofi reissued it in the last couple of years and their mastering engineer said they didn't use any compression: http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/70186
So I am guessing the original 80s disc (like many) have slightly inflated DR numbers due to bass roll off or tape hiss.
Click to expand...
Could be, who knows. A 1 point difference could have occurred in any number of ways. ;)
 
Last edited:
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