Are SHM-CDs Better?

 [NOTE: I write this blog as a guy who is passionate about music, but doesn’t go broke acquiring either equipment or media. I listen on a Thorens 145 turntable with a Shure M95ED cartridge, a vintage JVC amp, a Sony SACD player, and Definitive Technology Demand D11 speakers.]

 

I recently purchased my first SHM (Super High Materials) CD. SHM CDs are manufactured in Japan, and according to the “CD Japan” website, utilize “a polycarbonate material originally developed for LCD screens, and the enhanced transparency of the SHM-CD results in more clarity, depth and definition of sound, bringing the listener ever closer to the music of the original master.”

I’ve read varying opinions on whether or not these claims are valid, so I decided to buy one and judge for myself. The CD I chose was the 2-disc Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper 50^th anniversary edition. Disc 1 includes the original album, while disc 2 includes selected outtakes drawn from the 6 disc (4CD/DVD/Blu-ray) Super Deluxe Edition (SDE).

The first thing one notices is of course the packaging, which is excellent, as is the case with most Japanese CD (and vinyl) releases. In addition to the discs and the booklet, the SHM CD includes what appear to be rice paper inner sleeves for the CDs, a second booklet written in Japanese, and an OBI.

But how does it sound? The sound to me was detailed yet warm – more like the sound of vinyl than most CDs I’ve listened to (other than SACD discs). Is it better than a “regular” CD? Using the “ear” test, which is how I evaluate the sound of a particular medium and/or pressing, I’d have to say “slightly.” The music on the SHM has a subtle richness that I do not normally experience except when listening to vinyl. I can’t “prove” it through technical discussions of “zeros and ones,” or in the case of vinyl, analyses of the physics of playing a record. Not to say these issues aren’t important. I just leave them to others, and concentrate on what I hear.

Are SHM CDs worth the extra money, then? For me, that depends on several things, especially since the cost varies. I paid about $30 for the Sgt. Pepper 2-CD anniversary edition from a domestic seller that offered low-cost shipping. A brief survey of prices for the 2018 White Album 3CD SHM set shows prices from 35 to 50, but often with hefty shipping costs (understandable since most of the ones I saw were being sold by non-U.S. sellers).

Bottom line for me, is that I like the sound of my first SHM CD enough to seek out SHM pressings of my favorite albums, as well as albums I like but for which I have yet to find satisfactory pressings on CD or vinyl (such as pretty much the entire Jefferson Airplane catalog – but that’s a topic for another day).

Below is the track listing Sgt. Pepper 50^th Anniversary 2-CD SHM release, identifying the source of the tracks on disc 2  in the SDE (note that the SHM track list is identical to tracks found on the 2-CD package elsewhere).

 

Disc 1: 2017 Stereo Remix of the Original Album

Disc 2: Selected Outtakes

1.      Sgt. Pepper (Take 9) [Disc 2 Track 16 SDE]

2.      With A Little Help (Take 1 False Start and Take 2 Instrumental) [D3 T14 SDE]

3.      Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Take 1) [D3 T6 SDE]

4.      Getting Better (Take 1 Instrumental) [D3 T8 SDE][

5.      Fixing A Hole (Take 3) [D3 T1 SDE]

6.      She’s Leaving Home (Take 1 Instrumental) [D3 T12 SDE]

7.      Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite (Take 4) [D3 T3 SDE]

8.      Within You Without You (Take 1 Indian Instruments) [D3 T10 SDE]

9.      When I’m Sixty-Four (Take 2) [D2 T6 SDE]

10.   Lovely Rita (Take 9) [D3 T9 SDE]

11.   Good Morning Good Morning (Take 8) [D2 T18 SDE]

12.   Sgt. Pepper (Reprise) (Take 8) [D3 T15 SDE]

13.   A Day In The Life (Take 1 and Hummed Last Chord) [D2 T11 SDE]

14.   Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7) [D2 T3 SDE]

15.   Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26) [D2 T4 SDE]

16.   Strawberry Fields Forever (Stereo Mix – 2015] [D2 T5 SDE]

17.   Penny Lane (Take 6 Instrumental) [D2 T7 SDE]

18.   Penny Lane (Stereo Mix – 2017) [D2 T9 SDE]