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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
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
993 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.
mesch
3,530 posts
 
My entire collection consists of redbook CDs (some vinyl) and I am very impressed with the sound I am getting from most.  Running a Audiophilleo USB/SPDUF converter (for computer) or Arcam DV-137 disc player (CDs and DVDs) into a Bryston DAC. Have not purchased hirez or DSD files. I buy CDs and rip to computer. Unlike mapman, I keep the CDs.
ejr1953
922 posts
 
I own a lot of CDs, rip them into 44.1/16 AIFF files, transfer them to my music server from iTunes.  I also have a few SACDs and have purchased some 192/24 AIFF files from HD Tracks.

I must say, the music I have on both SACD & 192/24 sometimes does sound slightly better, the performers seem to have a little more "distinctness" with the sounds they make and they are more precisely positioned in the sound stage, but 1) the difference is not consistent and 2) those hi-res versions are the results of being remastered, so I'm not sure I'm comparing "apples to apples".

For nearly two years I've had the pleasure of enjoying a PS Audio DirectStream DAC, and that unit really impresses me, its ability to extract all sorts of detail from CD quality AIFF & FLAC files.

I'm guessing that the higher resolution of the distribution files might have some effect on the sound quality, but that most of the good sound quality might come from excellent engineering and mastering.

Sometimes I am just astounded by how good even 44.1/16 sounds on my system.
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