NOS DAC's without any digital filtering?

I can't help but think that, back when NOS dacs were current production, audiophiles were not too happy with CD's sound quality. It just seemed like everyone wanted a new format. By comparison, it seems like audiophiles are much happier with Redbook today than they used to be.

"Is an upsampled 16/44.1 file just as good as as "hi-res" file of the same sample rate when using a NOS DAC? No advantage at using a "hi-res" track at all???"

There's a difference. You can't get more than what you started with. When you start with 16/44 and upsample, its a matter of processing. Thats what changes the sound. Its just like using an eq or tone control. With a hi res file, you start with more information in the file itself. That's why the file sizes are bigger for hi res music.(assuming the same format and compression, if any). Think of hi res as going from 720 to 1080 in video.

Bcgator,
Agree with your post, and it's funny as well.

09-26-15: Robertsong
Bombaywalla, your explanations have been super helpful for me.

thanks for your kind words. Glad i could be of assistance.
yeah I know what you mean about trolling the internet for all this info. And, there is a LOT of bad & incorrect info which would confuse & misguide a layman very quickly.

Is an upsampled 16/44.1 file just as good as as "hi-res" file of the same sample rate when using a NOS DAC? No advantage at using a "hi-res" track at all???
Robertsong

this is a difficult question for me to answer as it is so subjective. You & I could be listening to the same hi rez file on your system as one of us could like it & the other not. What then??

I personally think that redbook done well these days in HDCD, XCRD, XRCD2, SHM-CD, etc are really superb & leave very little to be desired.
Many others dont agree & think that hi-rez is the way to go. Each to their own.

As Zd542 pointed out a 16/44.1 when upsampled to a higher rate does not improve in fidelity. You have what you have at 16/44.1 & you can only degrade if you go to a higher rate & at best keep the fidelity the same as what is was at 16/44.1.
With a hi-rez file, like Zd542 wrote, you start off with a higher number of bits (20 or 24 or 32) & so you have a lot more information encoded in those bits. The sonics of the hi-res file will be different from that of the 16/44.1 file & it's really up to you whether you like it or not.
I would say that you should try it esp. if you have hi rez files on-hand &/or have a subscription to a hi-rez msuic website. Try the same track in 2 different formats & see which you like better.
It's really up to the individual...
Sorry for this non-commital reply - it's so subjective.

love your post Bcgator! :-D

Like Bombaywalla, I'm just glad to be part of the team.

Zd542, your post resonates with something that I've been thinking about as well, about people being unhappy back then and all of a sudden unhappy now. It's always been my personal experience that the biggest differences in sound, and shaping a system, happen at the speakers, and that differences between DACs are more subtle. That's just my experience, YMMV. But I've read the threads on Head-fi, and people talk about Delta-Sigma dacs as if having to suffer through them is like dropping your pants, covering your backside with honey, and sitting naked on an ant hill. It goes beyond personal preferences, it's a borderline lynching campaign against almost everything Delta-Sigma. It's been years since I listened to a Theta Dac, and I've not listened to an Yggdrasil, or Red Wine Audio Bellina (just for example), so it's possible I'm missing the boat on new-retro Dac technology, but I just don't hear the misery and torture that so many describe when I myself listen to D-S dacs. So on the one hand, I'm curious about the Yggdrasil, but on the other the levels of hyperbole and vitriol against D-S leave me with an uneasy skepticism. Sorta like when a movie studio blatantly over-promotes a comedy film - you can't help but wonder if you should save the $10 and stay home (which isn't to say that I think Schiit is over-promoting - I think all of the over-promoting is coming from unaffiliated parties).