If you ever attended some HiFi Show or visited an audiophile-oriented dealer you may have noticed that, for evaluation purposes, some strange recordings are very popular there. Audiophile recordings, that\'s the name of the game: records (CDs or LPs) containing excellently recorded musical tracks (Music, not noise) that can be successfully used to test and evaluate HiFi components and systems. This is one of those recordings!

Dynamics and sheer energy at their best! The drums solos are a severe test for any HiFi system if played - as they should always be - extremely loud (a live drum kit sounds very loud...). A realistic 3D image is included too. Musically, you have to love this Toto-style kind of Music.

About the Process: Instead of improving the software technology like other formats do, JVC has chosen to do some serious homework on the hardware side. Developed from its well-known K2 20-bit proprietary digital processor, engineers at JVC Mastering Center spared no effort in refining and extending the K2 system into a K2 24-bit configuration. The most remarkable breakthrough is the application of a unique timing system called "Rubidium RF Distribution" technology. Instead of using crystal as the medium for laser clocking, they implemented a timing system based on rubidium, a rare material that is used for space applications. This device is 10,000 times more accurate than conventional crystal clocks. (Detailed information of this system will be found elsewhere in the liner notes.) In a nutshell, XRCD24 produces the finest analog sound: warm, musical and dynamic, but in a normal 16-bit PCM digital format, meaning the disc is playable by any CD player without any additional equipment or different player!

Selections:

1. Drum Improvisation - Jim Keltner
2. Drum Improvisation - Ron Tutt
3. Amuseum - James Newton Howard, Wendy Smith Howard
4. The Higher You Rise - J. Gruska, P. Gordon
5. Wise to the Lines - Buchanan C. Dore
6. Le Ballade - R. Buchanan