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Redbook Keeps Surprising

I was a Best Buy to get a memory card reader for my computer. Looked at the CDs and saw a few in the bargain bin that I would like to have, only a few dollars. Came home, ripped them with DB power amp, picked the best cover art. Transferred to my Aurender through the NAS and played away. WOW, impressive sound and I really enjoyed them both. I like the High Res downloads and my SACD collection but am often really impressed by good Redbook CD. It really is the music that counts. 
davt
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,496 posts
 
Redbook Keeps Surprising....

What is more surprising is that the thread gets hijacked and becomes which "type" of DAC is better - DS or R-2R.

I love the CD playback on my simple Teac player or even the good old Oppo 970H. Yes, the Teac sounds better than the cheap old Oppo. But that happens only when you are comparing the equipment, and not listening to the music. CDs now-a-days sound damn good.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

I/V stages, too right Charles, just as I said in my first post

https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/1329734

But I/V stages are only used on current output dacs, as voltage output dacs don’t use them, I leave you now to ponder and do some homework which ones use I/V stages and which don’t.

And we are talking about Redbbook (pcm) and the best way to listen to it, there's no hijacking of the thread. 


Cheers George

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hello George, 
My only point is that multiple factors determine the overall sound quality of DACs. There're all important contributors and it's difficult to say that one is the definitive factor. Davt,  I'm sorry for straying off your topic. 
Charles, 

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
multiple factors determine the overall sound quality of DACs

Yes you are also correct there Charles, and in the conversion of Redbook (PCM) there is one glaring factor, published by MoJo sound and recognized by many in the know, that is:

"When a PCM file is played on a DSD or Bit Stream converter, the DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM."


Cheers George

jon2020's avatar
jon2020
996 posts
 
Coming back to the OP, if I understand it correctly, cd recordings today which sound good are more likely to be sourced from 192/24 masters which are then downsampled to 44/16 in the disc or as downloads.

Many recording studios seem to be doing all-digital masters nowadays, either in hires pcm or dsd. A very good sounding cd like Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue, I have been told, is mastered in hires pcm.
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