That would be awesome
DSD coming to Qobuz streaming?
It looks like DSD files will soon stream on Qobuz - this may take some of the wind out of the sails of HDTracks and MQA. Some DSD recordings are already available for download, such as this classic from Boston.
I checked with Qobuz directly and was told there will be "an official announcement soon."
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In any event the DSD library at one time was mentioned would be in the 100k+ region of classic music of all types ,I was have been patiently waiting for something I now seriously doubt will ever happen if you got even 500 ,mainly orchestral is just more hype, Sort of like MQA the New game changer now just a different style lightbulb that failed to live up to its own hype !! |
MQA is dead. It's dead, Jim. Hallelujah. DSD files would be awesome but I doubt streaming it would be so easy. Not impossible but unlikely. DSD downloads however sounds like a great match for Qobuz and I guess we're all sorry we didn't get that Boston download in DSD. That would been awesome. Just shows you that even if Qobuz is performing an internal test (for purposes we can't conclude) users are likely to discover it. Bring on the DSD! |
Given the file sizes, I wonder if DSD CAN be streamed via the Internet effectively? I mean, it can't be larger than 4K video can it? Then again many Americans and others worldwide don't have access to 300Mbps Internet either. Maybe DSD downloads would be a better fit. And I wonder exactly what catalog of DSD music is out there given that very few studios use it as a recording medium? Classical maybe? I mean if something is recorded in 24bit/192Khz and you convert it to DSD you aren't really gaining anything. So unless the files are native DSD I don't see the point. And like others have said, you have to have a DAC that supports it. Many don't. |
Just a naive question. Is there an advantage to DSD over high res PCM? I can see the advantage of DSD if the original recording is in DSD (there are very few recording masters done in DSD … Boston included). However, if the original recording (the master) was in red book or high res PCM what does DSD bring to the party? DSD can not add musical information to what is not already there in the original recording. Finally, does your DAC not covert your music files to PCM before doing analog conversion? I love the idea of DSD recordings but taking old PCM masters and converting them to DSD does not seem to offer much. What am I missing? |
My perception has been that DSD has a slightly different character from PCM. Much of this could be expectation bias. And I don't mean to say it is necessarily better. It would just be fun to have access to more DSD-originated and streamed recordings to understand if there is a difference. |
Part of this depends on how "deep" one wants to get into DSD. Correct that the number of native DSD is small in comparison (still a lot available though) even more so with the style/genre you like. However, the vast majority of users? at least in what I see/experience, is upsampling PCM > DSD (128-512+) AND using HQPlayer with its fantastic modulaters/sampling. So this workflow is where things get either a bit more involved, but not crazy complicated, to fairly in-depth / involved chain - but with great results. Using HQP along with some of the well known players (mainly used for library mgmt) and an HQP NAA endpoint > DAC (USB or I2s). There are many threads on HQP + NAA that going beyond the scope here, but offer a lot of info. The advantages are solely personal preference and the ones doing PCM > DSD obviously prefer that "method" and SQ. One has to experience it with the right setup/DAC. It is very good, but again a little more "techy" involved. Streaming DSD or more DSD downloads made available to many in the DSD camp would be a very welcome addition |
@redlenses03I steam but is what you describe above a newer (to me) upscaling way? 128-512 is bit depth? Truly a bit confused. Wsrrsw
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Nope, my reference was pointing to a upsampling range that is most "popular", either 128 to 512 upsampling rates (higher is possible, but again getting into the weeds on this). Much of this depends on the HQP modulators used which is very dependent on your dedicated hardware (e.g.processor) that is running only HQP (the embedded image is best IMHO). |
PS Audio has a small but interesting downloadable library of DSD albums on their Octave Records label. All these titles were mastered in DSD so you get the full benefit of what DSD has to offer. If you choose to pay and download, be sure the DSD file is one that your DAC can process … for example the max my DAC can handle is 256 DSD files. |
I have a few DSD downloads but primarily I listen to DSD from SACD, outputting the DSD layer over HDMI from my Oppo 105 into the Bryston DAC3 HDMI input. Obviously it will depend on the recording but particularly with chamber ensembles on a label such as BIS it’s the closest I get to feeling that the performers are in the room. I will never go back to Qobuz after fighting with them for a year to cancel a subscription, but I applaud the move and hope that subscribers will be able to experience what I get to experience currently |
It is mostly smoke and mirrors. Your statement can’t be correct because it is impossible to master in DSD, so if it is recorded as DSD, and very little is, then it has to be converted to PCM for mastering, then back to DSD. Almost everything released as DSD was recorded as analog or PCM then converted to DSD. Even if recorded as DSD it was almost certainly DSD64 so anything released at a higher rate was converted. Most DACs then take these DSD files and convert them even further either to high rate PCM (Mola Tambaqui) or upsample them to higher DSD rates (EMM, PS Audio, DCS, and others) notice the pattern? These DSD files which so many covet are almost always converted from something else when produced and often multiple times, and then converted even further when you play them back, So the idea that DSD is somehow inherently superior is mostly smoke and mirrors since you are very rarely listening to something that hasn’t been processed and converted multiple times. And of course, the Boston DSD referenced by the OP, like most DSD available, had to be converted to DSD because DSD didn't exist back then. |
@herman I read that NativeDSD found a way without conversion in DSD 256. |
interesting.... read where? I suppose you mean mastering in DSD 256? If so, where do they get the DSD 256 files? My educated guess is that they are converted from some other format. I just looked at their new release page and out of the 8 DSD that I checked only one was recorded as DSD and it was DSD 64, the rest were analog, PCM 96, or DXD 384 , which is a also PCM. I think my point is still valid.... it is extremely rare for us to get a DSD file that has not been converted from something else. That said, most everything we get in any format (analog or digital) has been manipulated in some way so not saying there is something evil or devious about it, just that DSD is not the holy grail some think it is. I see no reason to pay a premium for a DSD file when it was converted from something else since the software to do the conversions yourself is readily available, like HQplayer and others. Or the player does it, like DCS, EMM, etc. IMHO how the player handles the file, how it does the digital to analog conversion, and the analog stages that follow are much more important than the format of the file. |
Well I just stumbled across something I haven’t seen before: a Qobuz album (via Roon or LMS squeezelite) where each track states "DSD Mastering". I am not saying it is better or worse, I don’t have a clue, but just pointing out it is the first time I have seen it. I have seen other descriptions in brackets, like "album version" or "digitally remastered" Maybe more will be processed this way? Maybe many have but they just didn’t specify that in the brackets? Maybe they are just adding this information to make some feel better? Unlike many albums I don’t see another version option for this one so can’t compare its sound quality to another. They are 16/44 files, so someone will go and DSD remaster it but not convert it to a hi-res file? Sounds decent enough regardless. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto: Life album Universal 0044007961728 |
