2. digital
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Sound Quality

First off, I am pleading ignorance here, so my apologies up front, but I need some help on figuring out what this digital stuff is all about. It was simple, just to pull out a CD and play it, but with streaming and such, it seems to be a whole different ball of wax.

After finally finishing the remodel on my home, I've have had a bit of time to sit down and listen to my system. My Aurender N200 came with an SD card loaded with music. Most of it is ripped from hybrid SACDs or at 16bit- 44.1kHz "Original Mastering Recording" CDs, (some are DSF files some WAV files, but all sound the same to me). The music sounds flat and dull but when I play the equivalent song on Tidal in 16bit-44.1 kHz it sounds much better.

I have a second SD card  with some HD Tracks CDs at 24 bit-96 kHz that I which sound really good through the N200. Maybe understandable being hi-res, but some say they can't hear a big difference between the two, but I sure can in this instance.

I understand that up sampling, DSD and HQ Player can even bring better sound to the table, but I'm having enough trouble with just the basics here, that stuff is way over my head. 

I'd like to rip a couple of my own CDs to a new SD card and try it to compare with the SD card that came with the N200. What is the best method to do this?

As always, your thought & comments are much appreciated!

navyachts
navyachts's avatar
navyachts OP
654 posts
 

@mclinnguy Cool, thanks for checking that for me! I have a few 192 & 96 kHz - 24 bit files that I purchased from HD Tracks but no DSD files, so I will have to source some out and give them a try. Where did you buy your Patricia Barber's Clique DSD 512 from?

mclinnguy's avatar
mclinnguy
750 posts
 

@navyachts Native DSD

20% off until May 17 😃

 

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,637 posts
 

“I need to experiment with all this myself first!”

@navyachts
That’s the mantra I believe in and it has paid huge dividends. As far buying media, I selectively buy CD’s, DSD downloads and Vinyl. The primary reason to buy is to enjoy exemplary sound quality that is simply unmatched by any of the streaming platforms including Qobuz. For most folks, Qobuz is good enough. It really comes down to your system whether it’s good enough to appreciate the nuances between DSD downloads and CD rips vs files being streamed from Qobuz / Tidal.

One good source to buy DSD is NativeDSD.com. BTW, I am digging the view from your man cave! 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,443 posts
 

@navyachts Bricasti had two modes to play DSD - NDSD (native dsd) and PCM. Use NDSD and feed it Native DSD from N200. 
Whether DSD sounds better than hi-res it’s for you to decide. It will sound different. To me DSD typically sounds softer than the redbook or hi-res files. The sound is more analog like but to me it lacks bite with usually smoothed over transients. It totally depends on your preference and the master you’re listening to. Don’t assume by default that DSD is better sounding. My experience with 4 different DACs is that it sounds different. You will hear it. 

navyachts's avatar
navyachts OP
654 posts
 

@mapman @ghdprentice fer’ sure, I’m sure this was the case. I downloaded the contents of the N200 SD card to an old laptop (for reference ) formatted the drive and have added my HD Tracks hi-res files that I have purchased in the past.

I’ll use Tidal/Quboz/whatever to discover music the use the SD card to add new purchases on in the future. 
 

Thanks all!

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