DSD and aliasing?


I gave up on SACD a long time ago, mostly because the multi-format players I owned (Esoteric X5, Sony 9000 & 5400) didn’t do that well with redbook imo. The proponents of SACD and high rez seem to all say the same thing - that high rez has more “air” and I was wondering if this was actually due to aliasing. Audio science review and I believe Goldensound both measured high rez and the measurements showed a large amount of ultrasonic energy in the music, well above what appears to be the audible range. I was very involved in synthesizer and drum sampling and programming in the early 80s.  I recall that I, as well as the people I was working for, often preferred the sample sounds without the anti-aliasing filters because of the shimmer it seemed to put on the samples. Much like tape hiss. When we would mix the 24 track down to 15 ips 2 track, the subtle layer of hiss actually improved the sound in some ways. It seems people like some noise mixed in with their music. So I wonder if the alleged “air” in SACD is actually a small amount of ultrasonic aliasing reaching down into the audible range, if that’s even possible.

chayro

Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

Sorry, my reply was that I wonder if modern DACs aren't a lot better than you are describing. 

It's interesting you point out the players you were listening to were bad at Redbook.

I've heard DAC's go through a marked change before/after about 2005 in their PCM performance.  Older DAC's just really sucked at low res playback while new DAC's play Redbook almost as well as high resolution files.  The slight difference in playback quality now between 44/16 and 96/24 can be found IMHO just by looking at the frequency response, without adding extra shimmer.  

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