2. digital
  3. 124972-539

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
ejr1953
921 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.
Post removed 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Hi ejr, are you making this sacd/dsd v pcm/cd comparison judgment using the same dac?

Cheers George

"When a PCM (cd) file is played on a DSD (sacd) 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 (sacd) sounds better than PCM (cd), when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM (cd)."

oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
For those of you who are ripping your CD's to hard drives, and then either donating the CD's to thrift stores, or selling them cheap at garage sales or to used record stores, my friends and I would like to say THANK YOU.  
hifijones
118 posts
 
+1 to oregonpapa.

I haunt the local thrift stores and have added about 60 CDs’ to the collection in the past year at prices ranging from 50-cents to $2.00 per disc. Many of those CDs’ feature artists and titles that I’m not familiar with and my curiosity has been richly rewarded many times over. It’s allowed me to explore new genres and expand my musical tastes and preferences.

So I say ’Thank you’ as well...and keep ’em coming guys’.
More to discover