Is DSD download already an extinct format?

Pkoegz, It's great that you've found a solution that works for you. I was never judging your decision or saying it was wrong.

For now I'm sticking with CD's but I must add, my new CDP has various digital inputs, DSD capability can be added later and the built in DAC has high rez capability so I'm not closing the door entirely. So I can still do DSD if it doesn't whither on the vine. Plus, and I hate to even mention this because I may have been obsessive, I have around 6,000 CD's (possibly more).

All of this may be a moot point with the advent of DACs like the PS Audio DS DAC that play PCM like DSD. Which means Redbook CD is very much alive and well.

Hey Rja,

You've got a long way to go before you can be considered obsessive by these guys standards:

The Obsessive Lp Collector

The World's Number One Audiophile

So enjoy those cds and don't feel guilty!

Sabai, I have a ModWright Sony HAPZ1, which like the PS audio DS converts everything to DSD. I have roughly 850 albums loaded to the hard drive, including some that are old recordings, some that are early digital, and many that were originally recoded in DSD. They are all of course, transferred to the HAPZ1 hard drive as redbook PCM files, mostly in AIFF format.
Everything I have played back with conversion to DSD has been very high quality. With the HAPZ1, one can turn off the DSD conversion and listen to the native PCM. Where I have A/B'ed the DSD against the redbook PCM, the DSD has been better by a wide margin. So what you say has some merit.

The HAPZ1 comes shipped with a few DSD tracks. One of those tracks is from Yo Yo Ma's Appalachian Journey, and is a particularly beautiful recording of fairly recent vintage. I have ordered the CD so that I can compare a native DSD file to a redbook PCM file that goes through the real time PCM to DSD conversion process. If I cannot discern a difference between the two, then for me, purchase of native DSD master files does indeed become moot.

I expect there will be a difference, but I am uncertain what the magnitude of the difference will be. However, in any case, I agree completely that redbook is alive and well. I have no desire to replace 1500 cds with HiRez files, no matter what. I am very much open to purchase of new music as HiRez downloads, especially native DSD, for new music, but the value proposition has to be more favorable than it is currently. $25 a title isn't going to happen on a regular basis, and as more equipment like the sony and the PS audio becomes available, the window of opportunity for the record companies to make HiRez download more than a niche may close.

Brownsfan,

I think this is the death knell for HiRes. Between their outta sight pricing and the advent of new DAC technology their days are numbered. IMO, it is only a matter of time.