Even for re-releases of remastered material, Sony's bigger projects tend to search for newer master tapes, and NOT the Sony Music DSD archives.
Here's an example. I've already introduced it before too:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ound-quality-of-dsd.14773/page-20#post-516511
From the dialogue between Eiichi Otaki and Kageji Kakizaki, pp. 170-206 in Keiji Kakizaki (Author), "All you need to know about digital audio for sound creators", Byakuya Shobo 2011.
Otaki: Generally speaking, I don't even like the stereo system itself that much. I'm overwhelmingly fond of mono. It's the feeling of being mixed together. I feel the heat in that. If it's well-separated, it's kind of cold, or it's not very hot. The other thing is that although there is certainly a lot of information in a flowing or gorgeous sound, to me it sounds like too much is too little. I feel like the unnecessary embellishments are hindering the main point. For me, the most comfortable sound is one that conveys the heart of the matter very straightforwardly and directly. So, while the 3-point principle is fine, I don't think that MP3s are the best choice. However, if you emphasize them so much like MP3, it's a little too much information, but it's not wrong to say that it's like that in terms of direction. I'm sorry to say this to Kaki-chan who is a DSD fan.
Kakizaki: No, no.
Otaki: The long journey from the 35H is now complete. I'm using DSD AD, and then dropping the digital out to PCM using SBM direct, but it doesn't feel like a downgrade to me at all. In fact, the sound is more to my liking than the raw DSD sound.
The better the audio, the more information you get, and the more dense it becomes. In movies, it's like Cinerama. The screen is too wide and your eyes get tired. Even if there is a lot of information, your eyes will get tired. When a standard screen is not enough, you need to widen it a little more.
Kakizaki Then, Vista.
Otaki: So Vista is the result of thinning out DSD with SBM direct. So this is a DSD MP3, right?
Kakizaki: That's right. It's like compressing information, isn't it?
Otaki That's right. That's interesting. So this time, you've converted a DSD MP3 to CD.
Kakizaki: If you can't go to SACD, that means there is too much information.
Otaki: The basis of my sound is rock and roll folklore, and even if you show four people in 70mm, four people are four people. But if it was just four people, a standard screen would be fine, but my sound has a lot of instruments, so I decided to use Vista. If it's classical music or opera with a lot of characters and a lot of sounds, I think it would be better to use 70mm Cinerama, or in other words, richer sound like DSD, but for my sound, Vista is good enough.
Kakizaki: So you want to reduce the amount of information?
In this book, Mr. Otaki denies the necessity of SACD, a format higher than CD.
That was the 30th Anniversary release in 2011. Before, it was in 2001 and the 80s and 90s. This year in 2021 is the 40th Anniversary release.
Naitoh Tetsuya explains the history behind the
2021 40th Anniversary release.
https://story.mora-qualitas.com/story/477
https://story.mora-qualitas.com/story/480
For the 20th anniversary, the master sound source was digital, right?
That's right. In short, the original analog master tape had fallen apart and was not in a usable condition. I used the 3/4 U-matic digital tape, converted it back to analog using the DAC-2000 (a professional DA converter developed by Sony), and then converted it back to digital and maximized it. I was able to complete the project. But that was the end result, and it took me quite a while to arrive at that method.
I see. In the end, how long did it take you to remaster the 20th anniversary?
I think it took almost a year ...... more than half a year.
Do you ever spend that much time on a single remaster?
Not a single one (laughs).
That includes the time to choose the equipment?
That's right. Then there is the master tape selection.
To begin with, (his obsession) was not about specs. Even though he was very particular about his equipment, he wasn't so particular about the specifications. It was just a matter of whether or not the sound was to his liking. In that sense, I think he was particular about 44.1khz, and I think that's the reason why he didn't go in the direction of high sampling. I tried everything, DSD, 96kHz, everything, but in the end I think 44.1kHz digital was the best for me.
So, you were satisfied with the 20th anniversary remastering at that point, right?
I think so. If I hadn't been satisfied, I wouldn't have been able to finish the work. I remember that we were working until the very last minute. I remember I was working until the very last minute, until I had to deliver the product to the factory.
I've heard that remastering generally doesn't take that much effort, but did you feel that it was a natural part of Mr. Otaki's project?
Well, there was a sense of resignation on everyone's part (laughs). They said, "It can't be helped. That included our factory as well. We would have them do a lot of test cutting, and then send it back to us and repeat the process at .......
Mr. Otaki is outstanding in that he is uncompromising.
I think he is outstanding.
Since equipment evolves over a period of ten years, it is likely that the sound will change even if it is the same master. Is it safe to assume that the sound will get better with newer equipment?
Well, "better" doesn't mean higher specs. For the 30th anniversary, I completely changed the equipment I used, but it was all about how close I could get to Otaki-san's ideal sound.
I heard that for the 30th anniversary you used an analog master (second generation) made in 1984.
Yes, for the 20th anniversary, the theme was to go loud, but for the 30th anniversary, I had a policy of going as natural as possible and not applying any makeup.
Originally, Mr. Otaki said that the 30th anniversary remastering "feels similar to the atmosphere when listening to a lacquer disc.
Even if you say it's a good analog version, it won't be like that even if you print it as it is, unless you put some effort into it, so it needs some kind of direction or correction. In that sense, for the 30th anniversary edition, I used the ADA-7000R (professional AD/DA converter with rubidium clock) to convert the analog signal to DSD signal, and then converted it back to PCM signal using the SBM direct method.
Was that the first time you used DSD?
No, I had used DSD before that, but he wasn't satisfied with the sound of DSD alone, so I converted it back to PCM, and he was hooked. It's a lot of work, though, because I have to use almost every piece of equipment to try it all out (laughs).
While making the best use of the original analog sound, you also think about how to make it up so that it sounds the best on today's media.
That's right. I was only thinking about CDs for a long time.
So you are returning to the theme of how to reproduce analog sound naturally on CDs.
I think I was always thinking about how to improve the sound of CDs. The sound of a lacquer disc is ideal.
If you look at Mr. Otaki's words at the 30th anniversary, he said, "There's nothing more to do.
That's how thorough we were. I switched masters back and forth, and tried out all kinds of combinations of equipment. It took me more than half a year to do that.
At the same time, he also said that we don't need SACD because it has too much information.
Did he say that?
Yes, he did. So, does that mean we don't need high-resolution either?
I can't say that. It's not a matter of specs. It's a matter of whether the sound quality is right.
I see. At that time, Mr. Otaki said that he had done everything he could do and there was nothing more to do. ......
Hahaha!
I'd decided to do the 40th anniversary remaster. I participated in the 20th and 30th anniversaries, so I had a base to work from, which made things a little easier, but the biggest problem this time was the absence of Mr. Otaki (laughs). I was working on it, and I don't know if this is good or bad .......
There is no one to make the final judgment.
That was the most uncomfortable part of the project. However, when it comes to the theme, I still have some regrets about the 20th anniversary and the 30th anniversary. ......
What do you mean by "regrets"?
When I listen to the 20th anniversary album now, I feel like I'm forcing the level of the music into some parts. Also, because of the equipment used at the time, the sound was a bit harsh.
It has a loud sound, doesn't it?
Yes, the 30th anniversary album was a little too plain (laughs). It was well received by professionals, but at first listen, the 20th anniversary album was more popular. So, when commercial producers listen to the sound source used in commercials, they 100% choose the 20th anniversary version. I was wondering if it would be possible to integrate these two. I was wondering if I could make it a little brighter with the silky feeling that I think is unique to Niagara. That was the theme of this project. I mean, that's all I could think of.
We had always talked about releasing the 40th anniversary album in all the media we could.
The only problem was that if we used the same system (via DSD) as the 30th anniversary album, we could only do 44.1 kHz. That's why we decided to go PCM-only without DSD this time. In other words, we went back to the 20th anniversary album.
I see. What kind of innovations did you make from there?
The next step was to choose a converter to convert from analog to PCM. But nowadays, in the DAW environment, there are very few professional AD converters. I digitally converted the data with several models and had Niagara's producers listen to them, and finally decided on the current model for AD conversion.
I was thinking about the kind of sound that Mr. Otaki would like. Of course, it's always in the back of my mind, thinking about whether he's angry or not (laughs)!
This means that the dCS DSD to 96kHz converter was excluded, so
DSD was a pox for this project.
Do you change the mastering for high-resolution and CD?
No, we don't really change it much. I didn't change anything numerically, but I wanted high-resolution to sound like high-resolution. It's not a pinch of salt, but when I digitized at 96 kHz, I lowered the level by about 0.5 dB, not so much that I changed it, but I changed it a little.
What happens when you lower the level?
I thought that if I lowered the level, it would make the sound a little less "choked" and give it a wider feel. I wanted it to sound like high-resolution.
To be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference in my home playback environment, but I had the impression that the high-resolution version had a little more depth and breadth.
Yes, I think that's the extent of the difference. I hope you enjoy the subtle differences.
Hires is just no good value...
They went full blast and released every fan material, every studio tape, promotion recordings, a cassette tape, vinyl records cut by 2 studios, 4 CDs, 1 Blu-Ray, streaming etc. And ORICON rankings gave it a No 1 place.
Although Otaki certainly preferred vinyl sound, DSD didn't suit his music, and SBMD CD was the best they could do. For this project, the emphasis has been on CD, but with vinyl, the original purpose may have been achieved.
In terms of a project that really characterises Sony Music Studios, Otaki's Long Vacation is the signature album of Sony Music JP. From the 80s onwards this album has continuously been selling well. It's inconceivable why. And now in 360 Reality Audio as well.