Educate me about DSD

@soix 

While I think it’s cool to have access to I agree with your point here. I’ve done a few listening experiments with files purchased from Native DSD and although the artists and recordings were excellent the results weren’t appreciably better than well produced Redbook titles.

@curiousjim 

In my listening tests the differences were small but they were audible (on my equipment). But to my point above- I did not have the same title available on CD for comparison at the time nor did I bother to take the DSD 512 file and downsample down to 16-44.1 for direct comparison. I did downsample the file to 24/192 for playback from my server and the quality was still very good although the file sizes were still extremely bloated compared to a ripped CD.

@curiousjim

The possible reason you can’t tell the difference because majority of DSD512 filed are upsampled. I said it few times, the upsampling adds nothing but noise to the original file.

@soix

The good thing is, we have a choice. We can choose to be content with what we getting through Qobuz / Tidal or buy DSD downloads. I always appreciated the option to buy the music, one is philosophical and other reason being able to hear the music as intended by artist or studio engineer.

In my system, native DSD files do sound much superior to their streaming counterparts. They aren’t cheap but man, the dynamics and realism is off the charts.

In my system, native DSD files do sound much superior to their streaming counterparts. They aren’t cheap but man, the dynamics and realism is off the charts.

@lalitk Thanks for the good info. I’m now interested but need to check how my DAC handles DSD. If it handles native DSD and I have the right connections I’m definitely going to give it a try. Do you have any particular tracks you’d recommend and where did you get them from? I don’t mind paying up for some tracks if they offer superior sound.

@soix

I recommend downloading a sampler of your choice from NativeDSD.com. They have quite a few options.

@soix 

Which streamer are you currently using? I can send you files if there is a way of communicating where w/o site mods stripping the info away.