HDCD , 24/96--mutually exclusive

Sure, hdcd has been around longer. But it sure ain't better. And yes, there is lots of software. And that don't make it better. Hdcd is just a chip. So is 24/96.Sure the dac it's in ,makes plenty of difference.Go with the best 24/96 dac you can afford. It will be better than the comparable hdcd dac. (used vs used---new vs new)

Just curious. Isn't HDCD 18/44 or 20/44 encoding on the disc which requires HDCD hardware to decode?

While there are plenty of guys here, who can explain hdcd better than I can,the improvment of 24/96, is much greater; as I describe above .I have a Theata 5a w/both. (Having such a dac /having added 24/96 latter)

I did notice in the Sterephile review of the MSB link dac III with upsampling that you have to flip a toggle on the back of the unit to engage either HDCD or the upsampling mode but not both. I have many HDCD discs but not a HDCD player. I have been looking at maybe upgrading by way of the MSB unit mentioned above. I will have to find a dealer who has a unit with both options installed so that I can compare the difference. The upsampling in the MSB is 133khz. Can anyone comment on 133khz vs HDCD? If the upsampling option is better then the engineers must have wasted their time with the time and expense of mastering those discs with HDCD. Seems odd to me.

If I had 3 theta gen 5s one 'plane', one with hdcd, and one with the 24/96 mod, The best BY FAR would be the 24/96 one. It improves all your cds;and to a further degree than hdcd does.They are now pressing some cds using 24/96 equipment,but they are playable on any cd player,and yes they sound better.

I agree with George that the 24/96 is the best, but unless you are upsampling, the 24/96 dacs are only reading 16/44...

The key is to add an upsampler (i.e. I use DCS Purcell), which will upsample 16/44 to 24/96 (or even higher, like 24/192 if you have a dac that can read it- i.e. DCS Elgar). Once upsampler is in the mix, THEN the 24/96 dacs WILL read the upsampled version, providing the superior sound.

And back to the original question, yes, HDCD and 24/96 can be mutually exclusive. The HDCD is a chip (in absolute terms, it really just provides a filtering function)- I believe the HDCD chip in my Sim Audio Eclipse CD player is a Pacific Microsonics PMD-100. Whether or not your dacs can read 24/96 is a separate issue. Hope this helps!

With the older PMD 100, HDCD and 24/96 are mutually exclusive I think. However, the new generation PMD 200 is supposedly a 24/192 cabalbe chip so it will accomplich both HDCD and 24/96. I know the new Assemblage DAC 2.7 uses this chip and I am expectign mine to arrive any day now. Check out the Parts Connection web page.

happy listening

Craig