"some CDs, particularly in full Orchestral passages, tend to harden, particularly the strings. My SACDs don't do that, and I tend to attribute this to the DSD used in SACDs."
1. are you certain that the SACDs were mastered the same way as the redbook Cds?
2. have you compared redbook CDs and SACDs of the SAME concerts?
- and are you doing double-blind tests A/Bing the 2 discs with a slight time lag between them and switching back & forth?
The redbook spec. is known to have more than adequate sample rate for human hearing of sinusoidal waves...
OTOH, it is always possible that humans can hear the difference in bit rate on impulses (which make up a lot of music). Most sensory channels are very good at near simultaneous comparisons, poor at remembering one thing vs. another and the impulse effect would fit the former. But I have never seen any tests of that.
Because of the above, I never accorded much emphasis to the purported "need" for higher bit rates... not until I recently discovered that Meridian was involved. That is a very serious company and their interest should not be taken lightly.
Of course, there is the real issue here of what could you do about it, if it was in fact a bit rate issue?
I think you should try to eliminate other possible reasons for what you are hearing and do test #2 above.
1. are you certain that the SACDs were mastered the same way as the redbook Cds?
2. have you compared redbook CDs and SACDs of the SAME concerts?
- and are you doing double-blind tests A/Bing the 2 discs with a slight time lag between them and switching back & forth?
The redbook spec. is known to have more than adequate sample rate for human hearing of sinusoidal waves...
OTOH, it is always possible that humans can hear the difference in bit rate on impulses (which make up a lot of music). Most sensory channels are very good at near simultaneous comparisons, poor at remembering one thing vs. another and the impulse effect would fit the former. But I have never seen any tests of that.
Because of the above, I never accorded much emphasis to the purported "need" for higher bit rates... not until I recently discovered that Meridian was involved. That is a very serious company and their interest should not be taken lightly.
Of course, there is the real issue here of what could you do about it, if it was in fact a bit rate issue?
I think you should try to eliminate other possible reasons for what you are hearing and do test #2 above.