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A good taste of DSD--what is your experience?

Over the last year or so I've pushed to get my digital front end to sound better.  I loosely define better to mean just that and "a touch more analog sounding."

My tube DAC is DSD 256 ready.  I had to use third party software to stream DSD to the DAC from my Mac Air.  I bought 6 DSD albums from Acoustic Sounds. 

While I generally think Redbook sounds great on this DAC and 96kHz files don't sound that much better and Redbook.  With DSD, the margin is greater for the better.  Everything still depends on how good the original recording is though.  

Some older recordings I tried, such as John Lee Hooker and Elvis, sound superb in DSD.  And through a 300B amp the vocals are scary real in the listening space.  The downside to me is cost of the albums, limited DSD library available, and the age-old problem for me of not having an album to hold and read.  I'm not fond of doing the ritual exclusively on a laptop.  

I'm curious as to the experiences of others.  If you have embraced this format, how do you run it and what changes to your system or listening habits have you made ,if any, to accommodate it?

128x128jbhiller
erik_squires
16,552 posts
 
Due to streamer limitations (really Linux kernel versions vs. DAC) I've downsampled a lot of DSD to 96/24 and honestly I cannot tell the difference. So my belief is that differences in DSD may be due to mastering differences.

There was a study done very early in the DSD era showing that the EQ was significantly different for DSD vs. Redbook. I do not know how much applies today.
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
This is the third time I’ve asked this question, I have some Rolling Stones DSD CDs produced by ABKCO in 2002. They sound great but are they really DSD or is it a marketing gimmick? Am I hallucinating? 😳
canibefrank
407 posts
 
@geoffkait I have those same ABKO Stones files. They display as DSD 1 bit format in Audirvana.... strangley enough, they do not display as DSD 128,256, whatever when they play on my SMSL SU8. That may be due to a display or actual functional limitation on the DAC although it is supposed to be DSD capable. Or it may actually be an Audio setting... I upsample everyting to SoX max bitrate- 756...I feel the redbok playbook sounds better.
i love those ABKO Stones DSD recordings.. the originals is recorded great and the DSD makes them sound smoother, more alive and present
canibefrank
407 posts
 
i did a bit of reading and unfortunately, Apple does not support native DSD playback
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