Hi res format on no way assures best sound. A music file can start at low res and be resampled to higher resolution format. In that case the higher res format may sound lesser. It all depends. But it can be similar to starting with a low resolution video and then presenting it on a large hi quality hdtv. Say like an mtv Video from the 80s. Putting a digital version of that poor quality video to start with on a big high res tv is not necessarily going to make it look better. If it is digitally remastered well to hi res video somewhere first then maybe. So bottom line is high res format does not necessarily = better sound.
Qobuz Hi-Rez Not Necessarily the Best Sound
Hello:
I stream Qobuz using Roon into a Bricasti M1SE DAC/Streamer into a Benchmark HPA4 headphone amp and then into various Kennerton or RAAL headphones.
Lately I have been comparing different versions of recordings on Qobuz. For instance, lately it has been Depeche Mode but also Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and Supertramp. Oftentimes there are several versions of titles, usually Hi-rez files of 24/192 or similar, versus the standard 16/44.1 resolution versions. Sometimes there are remastered versions in various resolutions.
Quite by accident I have found that the highest resolution versions are not necessarily the best-sounding versions, often preferring the remastered and/or standard resolution recordings. Today, for instance, I was listening to DM's A Broken Frame. The 24/192 sounded a little sharper with perhaps a little more detail and spaciousness but was amazingly dynamically compressed. The difference was not subtle. Going from the 24/192 to the 16/44.1 remastered version was going from a bland recording to one that came alive. I guess it goes to show that higher rez files are not necessarily superior sonically.
Anyone else found this to be the case in their streaming? Thanks.
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+1 @mapman . Very well stated. |
It was prov n over a decade ago that ripped music sounded better than the cd. IMO, digital doesn’t have the drawbacks that analog does, and hires digital can sound better than vinyl or redbook cd. |
I’ve ripped all my CDs to cd res files using dbpoweramp. Thousands in my music library now. Nothing to fear sound wise as long as the rip and playback is done right. Cd quality in and cd quality out. I use mostly Plex and Plexamp app to stream. Plexamp in particular provides a greatly enriched environment for streaming including ability to suggest similar sounding artists, albums, and tracks. So many ways to find and enjoy all that music.
It’s all good but much less problematic to stream from a file than to play a cd. Cd physical media quality varies widely. Try ripping with dbpoweramp and you can directly see how it can take much much longer to accurately rip a poor quality cd than a good quality one and the poor quality ones are way more common than one might expect. Hint: you can’t tell the good quality CDs from the poor quality ones just by looking at them. However a good quality ripping software like dbpoweramp rereads the disk as many times as needed to get the data off the disk accurately which is why poor quality CDs may take 10 minutes or more to rip whereas comparable length good quality CDs can rip in less than 5 minutes. |
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