As I recall HDCD conversion was licensed by Pacific Microsonics without whose chipset HDCD decoding is impossible. Part of the contract specified that redbook CD's play back at a lower level than HDCD's or something like that. As an offshoot, HDCD's played back over non-HDCD equipped players sound louder which, in addition to their inherent quality, make them sound more impressive. Sorry that's not much help. I suppose the question is: does Pacific Microsonics do upsampling?
upsampling HDCD?
I just bought my first upsampling DAC and like the sound. I'm wondering whether it upsamples my HDCDs as well. Since HDCD is patented, would the DAC (MF A324) have to show the HDCD logo (it doesn't) to legally process HDCDs? Can one simply read the 20bits of the HDCD and upsample that without violating the patent? Has anyone seen an upsampling DAC that specifically mentions whether/how it upsamples HDCDs?
I still notice that my HDCDs sound better than my redbooks, as was the case with my old DAC.
Thanks,
TJ
I still notice that my HDCDs sound better than my redbooks, as was the case with my old DAC.
Thanks,
TJ