Mega song singer Jacky Cheung has released his new records “Private Corner” The concept of the records is excellent, and it is my favorite Jazz music genre. The preface is absolutely wonderful. “There is a place in the sun, it doesn’t belong to anyone; just friends and drinks, quality music and me. Yes, this is my private corner, come join me and you’ll see. ” Very mood feeling.

The production is handled by people from US and mastering is done by the giant Bernie Grundman, no doubt one of the best mastering engineers in the whole universe. This records is marketed on audiophile market however I personally think it is more towards Pop genre rather than REAL audiophile records. If you have joined my digital audio seminar you know that I am one engineer very much want to preserve the natural dynamic range of acoustic materials. To me this is the most important aspect of any “AUDIOPHILE” recording. The high quality playback system can reproduce the lowest volume in details while the loudest volume sounds huge.

I think most audiophile does not know how to describe this effect but they can easily feel that while listening to this records, the low level music is much better until the loud section comes in, the loud section will sound compressed, limited and boxy. This is the side effect when using excessive compressors and limiters. I have done a DR (Dynamic Range) test and the records gets DR7 rating, which is not near “audiophile” level.

The following screenshot is the whole album zoom out. You can easily see the loud section is overall packed square.

Jacky Cheung – Private Corner DR7 Rating.

Conclusion: I like the music and it is a big thing that Jacky Cheung is releasing album again. I purchased my copy but personally as an audiophile I just wish it can be a good one. I hope the album will be re-engineered for higher quality version. MY intention to write this article is hope sharing the elements of good recording and hope the industry can be improved.

Dynamic Range 動態範圍評級:

由全球音響界所組成的世界性組織，為錄音的動態範圍訂立標準，The DR Value 代表此錄音的動態範圍壓縮度，並展示原錄音的動態達到那一級標準。 動態於音樂表達和享受上是不可或缺的。 數值越大表示動態範圍越大及壓縮較少。 詳情可參巧 www.PleasurizeMusic.com.

註 : 市面一般錄音經過大量壓縮，動態範圍於 DR8-6 以下
由於動態範圍大，電平相對較一般流行曲錄音低。