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HDCD is a codec for CD audio.

Like albums and Dolby noise reduction cassettes, there are complementary filters for encoding or decoding; it's just more complex than an equalization.

HDCD, while developed by a high-end audio company whose name currently escapes me, is now 100% owned by (you guessed it!) Microsoft along with the aforementioned original developer.

It is also patented.

You can find an overview of how things work during the encoding process here, but don't expect anyone to tell you how to do any of those things without you first handing them vast fistfulls of cash.

You might be able to glean some useful information from the patent text, but probably the only sane way to go about this effort would be to read the bitstream coming from the CD. And while you should able to discern what the bitstream looks like without too much effort, it would probably be a fairly involved task to learn what it means.

So. My only suggestion would be to give up now before you've wasted any effort on trying. But if you insist on putting real time into this project, here's a couple of nice encapsulated postscript HDCD logos you can illegitimately use to adorn any illegitimate HDCD products you produce.

HDCD, while developed by a high-end audio company whose name currently escapes me, is now 100% owned by (you guessed it!) Microsoft along with the aforementioned original developer.

It is also patented.

You can find an overview of how things work during the encoding process here, but don't expect anyone to tell you how to do any of those things without you first handing them vast fistfulls of cash.

You might be able to glean some useful information from the patent text, but probably the only sane way to go about this effort would be to read the bitstream coming from the CD. And while you should able to discern what the bitstream looks like without too much effort, it would probably be a fairly involved task to learn what it means.

So. My only suggestion would be to give up now before you've wasted any effort on trying. But if you insist on putting real time into this project, here's a couple of nice encapsulated postscript HDCD logos you can illegitimately use to adorn any illegitimate HDCD products you produce.

this is microsoft technology here .. certainly, it will NEVER be broken!

Interestingly enough, I everyone's favorite company, Microsoft, purchased the company who owns the patents for HDCD, Pacific Microsonics. So now if you purchse an HDCD disc or HDCD capable equipment, some royalty is going to MS.

Check out Microsoft HDCD

-Spyky

"HDCD-encoded CDs sound better because they are encoded with 20 bits of real musical information, as compared with 16 bits for all other CDs. HDCD overcomes the limitation of the 16-bit CD format by using a sophisticated system to encode the additional 4 bits onto the CD while remaining completely compatible with the existing CD format. HDCD provides more dynamic range, a more focused 3-D soundstage, and extremely natural vocal and musical timbre. With HDCD, you get the body, depth, and emotion of the original performance not a flat, digital imitation."

So, you still need a special player to take advantage of the format, it is better that oridinary CDs, but inferior to Super Audio CDs, but at at least there doesn't seem to be anything to stop you from making your MP3s.

"HDCD-encoded CDs sound better because they are encoded with 20 bits of real musical information, as compared with 16 bits for all other CDs. HDCD overcomes the limitation of the 16-bit CD format by using a sophisticated system to encode the additional 4 bits onto the CD while remaining completely compatible with the existing CD format. HDCD provides more dynamic range, a more focused 3-D soundstage, and extremely natural vocal and musical timbre. With HDCD, you get the body, depth, and emotion of the original performance not a flat, digital imitation."

So, you still need a special player to take advantage of the format, it is better that oridinary CDs, but inferior to Super Audio CDs, but at at least there doesn't seem to be anything to stop you from making your MP3s.

I found it really unfortunate that most people used Napster simply to leech and steal.
I was in the honest minority that used it largely to try music before buying it. I was a poor college student, but I bought a lot of the music I kept, and I had a number of albums on the "to buy" list.
I would not have ever used Napster for "backups" - it would've been good in extreme circumstances, like having all of your CDs get microwaved by your roommate, but there was no quality assurance to Napster files.
[If there were quality assurance, like guaranteed usage of the standards suggested at r3mix, then I might use it as a backup... (however, with the advent of HDCD, there are still advantages to the raw CD format that MP3 can't capture...) but that's just an aside.]

So, if the Napster decision was based on majority usage, the next generation of Napster-esque programs could achieve eBay-like immunity by having a reasonable security mechanisms (plausible deniability?) in place - keeping the downloaded file for a limited time period, or allowing a limited number of plays.
Of course, it will be cracked - but that would be beyond the control of the program, and that behavior would hopefully stay to a small enough minority to allow it to get through any litigation.

Overall, though, one of the things that needs to happen in this discussion is for the ranting against the recording conglomerates to be seperated from the commune-istic (not a bad thing, in an ideal world [p.s.: the world isn't ideal {yet?}]) view of information. Different fights for different times. It only muddies the waters.