For more information about what a High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) disc is, read this article.
I didn't expect the NorthQ to be able to play HDCD discs, but I had to try it
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The HDCD I tried was the digitally remastered "Van Halen" featuring Van Halen. |
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Here you can see the magnified HDCD logo on the back of the disc. |
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If you play this HDCD in Windows Media Player 9, it will recognize it as a HDCD. I have put a red arrow where this information shows up. |
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When I inserted the HDCD disc into the NorthQ, it did not identify it as a HDCD, it identified it as standard CD. |
I have no idea if the NorthQ decoded the HDCD part of the CD. It did not indicate this in any way, so I suppose it didn't.
Someone with more experience with this format may be able to actually hear if the NorthQ decodes the HDCD information, by listening to the music. But I can definitely not do that!
So as long as someone doesn't say anything else, I assume that the NorthQ is not able to decode the HDCD information from a HDCD disc. So I guess we will have to listen to HDCD's as regular CD's in the NorthQ.