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  3. 151521-101338

Unintended Consequences? Digital Streaming

My system has become more revealing through gear upgrades over the past year.  This is a good thing right?  Well perhaps yes and no.  I've begun noticing that even while streaming 24 or 32 bit/44khz files over Qobuz that many albums now sound compressed to me and that I don't lose that "compressed" sound until I move up into the 32 bit/96 kHz files and above.  This certainly adds to the magic I realize while playing through my vinyl front end which sounds humongous, open, and vibrant but much of my streaming digital experience has become less than satisfying. 

Am I imagining this compression while streaming supposedly lossless files?  Can anyone else relate or have similar experiences?
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mapman's avatar
mapman
22,284 posts
 
If your setup is more revealing most likely you are just hearing compression that is part of the recording.  
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments OP
2,097 posts
 
Appreciate the input.  I may simply be noticing compression in original recordings more so these days.  To make a generalization, I suspect the albums that are presented in hi-res are more likely to be of higher original recording quality than titles that aren't provided in hi-res.  Not a blanket statement but perhaps a fair generalization.
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erik_squires
16,118 posts
 
Hi 3,

I think this is going to be very DAC specific. Most DAC's I've heard go the other way.

Can you share?
Best,
E
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