Hi-res streaming on Qobuz

I have a Topping E30 DAC that shows the bit rate of the stream being played. It reliably matches what Qobuz says it is sending. That said, just because a recording has been done in high-rez doesn't mean it will always sound better or even be noticeable.

For example, what microphones were used by the recording studio? What about their mic preamps and mixing console? A standard CD runs up to 22KHz, while a 96KHz recording goes to 48KHz, and 192KHz double that. What if the original studio recording contains no information about 20KHz due to their equipment choices?

Then there is our own hearing. I'm in my later 60s and have long since lost high frequency hearing above 12KHz or 13KHz. That said, some recordings sound much better than others, but I usually attribute that to the effort put forth in the recording and mixing process far more than the format used for file storage.

@ rvpiano

recently you had started a thread about possibly getting new speakers and that didnt work out due to the dealer......but were you doing that because you wanted to change the current ones OR you were hoping that this would solve the solve this issue where you dont hear a difference between the hi res and not hi res ?

Always.

how long have you noticed that there is no difference ?

Benchmark AHB2 Amplifier, Modified Conrad-Johnson PV11 preamp.
I do hear high resolution from my Oppo 105 Blu-ray player..

rvpiano

... I’m quite happy with the quality of the RPlay sound ... I would just like to hear a difference between hi-res and CD quality files.

What else is in your system? Perhaps that's why you're not hearing the benefits of hi-res files.

Actually, I’m quite happy with the quality of the RPlay sound. The reason I got it was that a.review in What-Hifi compared the sound favorably to the very popular here Blue-sound Node 2.  Arcam regularly transmits upgrades to the streamer. I would just like to hear a difference between hi-res and CD quality files.

I briefly owned the Rplay and wound up sending it back to the dealer.  Everything sounded the same, I couldn’t tell much difference between mp3 and Red Book and High Resolution, and the player doesn’t indicate what is actually being sent to the DAC.  I had other issues with the player that prompted the return so I never even got to explore the issue on discussion here.  Arcam support was non existent, no response at all to the email address that was given for product support.
  Returning the player probably isn’t an option for you so I would go into their settings menus and make sure that everything is enabled, but you probably have done that.  My Bryston streamer tells what data rate is being transmitted, and where I have been able to compare high resolution vs Red book, the difference is audible.  Case in point are the Andris Nelsons/Boston SO Shostakovich Symphony Cycle.  I have a red book CD of the Tenth, and a high resolution download of the same recording, and the difference is not subtle