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DSD Remastering Software Experience

My Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC has a feature called DSD Remastering that works with any type of file you send it. The effect is it noticeably smooths out the music making it sound closer to analog. Last night I did a comparison with an actual SACD (Bob James-Feel Like Making Live) with DSD Remastering turned off and a streamed version of the same tracks from Tidal with DSD Remastering turned on. The differences were so minute I had to listen very carefully to tell the difference. The SACD was about 10% closer to sounding like a live performance in that you could notice the acoustics of the studio they used and the decay of piano notes, bass strings, cymbal brushes hung in the air just a tiny bit longer. I was using a Paradigm Link as a streamer in this comparison. With a different streamer the differences might even be closer to the actual SACD.
DSD sounds better than any other digital format I have listened to. Has anyone else used a DSD Remastering/upmixer and care to share their experience? I know both Marantz and Onkyo have their own proprietary products that do something similar.

I was not expecting the comparison to be this close and am a bit surprised that streaming can sound almost as good as an actual SACD (which are limited in availability and expensive).

 

kota1
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,428 posts
 

For me, the best way to enjoy music; leave the mastering to pro studios and steer clear of any upsampling for obvious reasons.

oldrooney's avatar
oldrooney
200 posts
 

@lalitk I fail to see ‘obvious reasons’ to avoid upsampling.’ My DAC (Schiit Yggdrasil) upscales automatically, and my Internet Radio AAC, and 320 kps data streams sound better than many of my CDs or albums. I am highly satisfied with the quality of the upscaled audio for most casual listening. I don’t listen to streams quite so critically as I do sources in my possession, and I forgive the occasional long pause as the price of music for free over the Internet. 

Jeremiah
 

 

soix
9,456 posts
 

@lalitk +1 — I’m now using an R2R DAC that can upsample or I can use in NOS mode and I prefer the latter.  The differences aren’t huge, but they’re there so to my ears less is sometimes more.  I do recognize that in audio there’s almost always more than one way to effectively do things, so if a delta-sigma DAC upsamples and works for you, more power to ya.  Just enjoy the music however it sounds good to you is what I say. 

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,582 posts
 

You can't legally buy copywritten programming bypassing the rights holder.  There is that. At least ripping them yourself involves no other parties.My view on upsampling is whatever sounds better.  I'm going to 376.4 on one player but maybe the big number just LOOKS better on the DAC. 
YRMV.

kota1 OP
2,706 posts
 

@lalitk 

As for leaving mastering to the pro studios, Sony Music IS a pro studio and they have tons of masters to base their studies and algorithms on. At the end of the day it is still a preference and you can always leave the remastering of if you don't like it. 

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