2. digital
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why dsd

Until a few days ago, i had never heard of dsd. Apparently it was developed thru sony/philips and used as the foundation for super audio. Why is everyone so hyped on this. I have had a sony 9100es for several years and have a handful of discs. Big deal. I am selling the damn thing and will toss in the discs if anyone is interested. I get the waive stuff bla bla bla. Yes- digital can sometimes sound bad, but have you ever listened to a poorly engineered record. Ugh. Less to do with the medium and more to do with the recording

My MAc mini into my C2 sounds good and upgraded spotify is great.

We are so caught up in hype. We split hairs over everything and talk about stuff that only an electrical engineer gets. We call 4k budget gear! Are you kidding me???

Music is something that touches your soul, and we don't listen in a perfect room with a lab coat on. If my foot taps then I'm happy.

I am trying to buy a dac with pre and HT pass, not because I am going to squeeze an additional drop of shimmer out of my system, but because I need something easier for my family to use.

Stop buying into hype! Records sound great but digital is more convenient and has opened the door to a world of music that should blow you away. If you are more concerned with being sold than just enjoying the music then you are missing the point.

Any thoughts on a dac/pre combo with bypass :-)
famoej

Showing 4 responses by kijanki

kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,453 posts
 
Famoej, Absolutely - if you're satisfied then don't spend money. On the other hand 16/44.1 processing has its own problems and that's why engineers introduced new schemes. SACD is DSD and carries more info. Whole thing started with new types of DACs that perform Delta-Sigma modulation. Today a lot of DACs use Delta-Sigma D/A converter. It is converting digital data into stream of pulses with varying duty cycle. It is followed by lowpass filter that returns average value of the stream. DSD/SACD is this stream recorded and CDP adds only lowpass filter. Delta-Sigma converter allows to get better resolution by means of dithering and lower noise by pushing quantization noise above audible range. A/D converters that produce DSD stream, have most likely single pole low pass filters set high above audio band, resulting in better pulse response.

As for DSD being only for engineers and "more concerned with being sold than just enjoying the music then you are missing the point" - this is an audio forum concerned with achieving the best possible sound. Music is just only one area of discussion here.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,453 posts
 
Bifwynne, many people believe that high bit rate MP3 or AAC can sound even better than Redbook CD. If 16/44.1 satisfies you that's great. It is funny that many reviewers who praised SACD playback claim at the same time that CD layer playback performance of these players was substandard - just the opposite to Audioengr experience. I rejected SACD for other reasons. They have very limited selection, cost more, cannot be used in server and cannot be backed-up.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,453 posts
 
Thanks Bifwynne.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,453 posts
 
Steve, do you think that recording music in pure DSD and mixing for SACD in mind could make a difference?

I wish they would stop compressing music. It might be necessary to allow playback on small speakers or boomboxes but when you select audiophile intended media like SACD it should allow full 120dB dynamic range of SACD to be utilized.
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