HD FILES which is best hi Bit Rates, or Hi Word lengths?
willemj http://archimago.blogspot.nl/2015/12/musings-wisdom-of-simplicity-re-hi-res.html http://archimago.blogspot.nl/2015/02/measurements-bob-dylans-shadows-in.html @willemj > thank you for your efforts. OK. I had heard HD Tracks had published some questionable or blatant false HD cuts/albums some time back. I thought this had been resolved. Reading thru both links each one points to an incredible degree of falsification, purposely or by lack of any QA, or just careless attitudes in the majority of HD download sellers. Not all but most. I was er, am appalled. . With odds on against, and not having great refuges of disposable income for media, it seems I’ll have to keep concentrating on the DIY approach, ripping to whatever outcomes the ripping software allows. Bummer. mattmiller > None of this matters anymore (bit/word lengths, stream rates) because of MQA! Btw, practically all the major digital hardware companys have jumped on board with MQA, so....not sure why the post? @mattmiller Thanks for the input. It appears short sighted though. ‘many’ does not equal ALL. mattmiller > ... I would learn all I could about digital .... @mattmiller how better to learn than to ask questions? to hang one's hat on MQA currently, one could find their hat on the floor given its infancy. For more insights on MQA and its obstacles: http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/01/mqa-promises-something-for-everyone/ MQA is merely a fledgling enterprise. Although if one’s musical preffs are limited in scope, and is OK with just listening to whatever $20 a month buys, or whatever Tidal wishes to provide, I suppose it’s the real deal for that individual. Although the costs don’t end with Tidal alone, of course. However, Master Quality Authentication is a recent architecture, and by its nature poses several problems. 1 Licensing 2 recording lables consent 3 proliferation 4. limited access to content 5 proprietary hardware or software 6 resources If every recording label, every chip maker, and every streaming service got on board today with MQA, there would still be a severely limited assortment of available content, especially classic pop, rock RB, Country, Folk, etc., that could be acquired for discretionary use. Immediately, its all a streaming affair. Not a cut by cut, album by album download use it/them as you choose, when you wish it arrangement. The first group of titles will obviously be the present and new releases which MAY or may not garner MQA fingerprinting, see labeling, licenseing etc., above.. Until we rush right out and acquire the MQA (read it just like it was//is THX) approved hardware or remain handcuffed to the personal comfuser to receive available content via the meager amount of titles Tidal offers, it seems for a time, likely a very long time if not forever with most content, we’ll still be dealing with word lengths and bit rates, wether we go the DIY route or buy them ready rolled. With the latter appearing more and more, a perilous venture. MQA has a very long way to go and has not yet become anything but a niche process dependant upon several variables, not the least of which is wide spread public, non audiophile acceptance. Apple and Bose could do a lot of good for MQA acceptance. Without all or nearly all streaming services, mobile devices, music content resources, and all or nearly all audio DA converters from entry level up, it may never be what it should or possibly could. So, it is easy to understand the question as to which aspect of any HD file matters most is definitely worthwhile. Now it begs one more…. How do we authenticate files or QA HD files prior to their purchase, without MQ Authentication? Comparative or testing software comes to mind, but this is an ‘after’ the fact method and therefore would have quite varied results for getting one’s money returned if the product is proven false. |
@blindjim "BTW… what’s happening to those other three words from 24 to 21, if you don’t mind mentioning it?" -----> The 21 bit resolution in the analog is an analogy. It means that the noise floor on the analog circuits sits at the equivalent level of the signal level of the 22nd LSB or approx -160 dB. I think we can hear roughly 15 dB below the noise floor for musical tones especially in the mid range so even some stuff below the noise floor might be audible. The point is that 24 bits is well worth it but any higher than that (32 or 64) really only confer advantages to complex signal processing (heavy digital filtering or complex deconvolution like in room mode DSP - often described as the number of taps or coefficients in the filter - a large number being more complex and computationally intensive but more accurate such as having less pass band ripple) FWIW I have played around with room DSP and deconvolution filtering and I think it can improve things below 100Hz. However, even fairly complex 32 bit deconvolution like Audyssey XT32 creates audible artifacts in the mid range which to my ears are detrimental and degrading to two channel music - although for HT 7.1 and higher the benefits may outweigh the disadvantages (as speaker consistency and integration becomes more important as you increase the number channels) |
" ‘many’ does not equal ALL. " ARE you for real? OPPO, Meridian, Aurender, Auralic, Burmester, Cambridge the list goes on and on. I see MQA pushing to become the next popular HI-FI digital medium. Blindjim, You should be used to changes by now, thats all digital does is keep changing ( for the better of course..."wink wink") every time we think we have a catalog of great sounding music they come out with a higher rez or higher bit rate music file. Now they want us to purchase MQA...its a never ending hamster wheel imo. MQA makes the most sense though when it comes to digital music, hats off to Meridian! Having to re purchase all my favorites on MQA priceless I cant wait! (not) And you know you'll be doing it, digital junkies...LOL P.S Take what I say with a grain of salt... I listen to Vinyl to avoid all this crap anyways! Matt M |
