HDCD FLAC FOOBAR SPDIF Cary 303/200 HDCD


Im trying to play HDCD encoded files to My Cary 303/200 but they dont seem to be recognised bythe Cary as such. Im Using the HDCD plug in for foobar. When i put in an HDCD CD the HDCD light comes on on the Cary. However when i run the ripped file hrough the spdif into it the light doesnt come on.
Not sure if its just not passing the hdcd signal(set at 24bits/96khz default in HD Audio manger, at 16/44 doesnt help get hdcd) or if the Cary will only recognise HDCD from a disk.

Comments?
bozzy
Here is some more explanation of the HDCD encoders in foobar (and other software implementatons) and why it is not as good as the original hardware implementation. The 16 to 20 bit extensions are done, but the digital filters are not implemented in the software versions. The Cary 303/200 has the original Pacific Microsonics chip, so should be better than the software implementations.

From the person who wrote the HDCD decoder in foobar "only gain and peak extension are applied. Transient filter is not supported, as there is no reference software to base the filter on. Besides which, the transient filter is really only useful if you're also upsampling the output to 88200Hz, or at least so I've heard." Quote from hyrogenaudio thread, post 97 of this thread

foobar HDCD discussion on hydrogenaudio

From Goodwins High End website

"Every CD player has a digital filter that is an integral part of its sound reproduction electronics. In addition to decoding HDCD recordings, the HDCD decoder chip used in consumer products also contains the HDCD high-precision digital filter that improves the sound quality of all types of digital audio recordings."
I think that cary 303 and the 306 doesn't decode HDCD via it's digital input. But to be sure, please check the user manual or contact the manufacturer.
dbpoweramp has an add on DSP that allows you to rip HDCD to 20 bit format file. Use that for ripping and you don't need HDCD decoding in the DAC. Its what I do with all of my Reference Recording CD's.
David256 - read my comments above. dBpoweramp uses the same code as foobar. It does part of the job of the old Pacific Microsonics chip, but not all of it. A DAC with the old chip will do a better job of reproducing the original HCDC sound than the software solutions.

Helian's point is important and needs to be checked out.
I have ripped all of my CDs in FLAC or APE. All of my HDCD's play on my 306/200 and 302/200 with the HDCD light on through coax, toslink or AES. Windows tends to mess up the outgoing bit stream. Use ASIO or Direct Sound in your sound card. Get a good sound card - it make a difference. I have found several USB sound cards that upscale to 48 kHz and will not work. You can hear it!

The older Cary players are very susceptible to jitter. I use an RME sound card with great results. I notice a huge improvement over my old M-Audio 2492 card.