dprimary
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Is anyone aware of a record company that sells both DSD and PCM versions of the same recording? I want to do a test and need some source material.
Is anyone aware of a record company that sells both DSD and PCM versions of the same recording? I want to do a test and need some source material.
Hi Music Alchemist,
When we oversample audio file, it doesn't improve sound quality of audio file as itself.
However DAC do oversampling inside to own "native" (without further oversampling) sample rate.
Oversampling need for applying more (than analog filter) qualitative PCM DAC's digital filter.
I suppose DSD DAC use digital filtration too. Digital filtration help improve sound.
DAC as any hardware decission is limited in computing resources.
Computer based inline oversampler almost don't limited in computing power - available memory, CPU speed, big CPU cache, multi-core. But time conversion of music fragment must be less its time duration.
Computer based offline oversampler we can consider as not limited in using computer power. Of course practically we don't ready wait infinite time while files will converted However offline converter able work long time in background, applying "heaviest" algorithms.
Of course, impossibly guarantee sound improving via oversampling. And oversampling must be performed on pro level.
It depend on full system "audio file - audio player - driver - operation system - DAC - analog part".
Resume:
High resolution don't improve containing in file information, however allow DAC work in more optimal mode.
Best regards,
Yuri Korzunov
Hi Dprimary,
For comparing need know where original and where converted.
Here we can comparing audio file converter's quality.
Sometime possibly meet simultaneous records in PCM and DSD.
However there the will comparing mastering art.
Different audio resolution format possibly can give improvement of sound if it match to DAC's "native resolution" (without changing resolution and format DSD/PCM).
There two ways: buy matched resolution or convert resolution at home.
Me seems, fully correct comparing of DSD and PCM versions of the same recording is impossible by technical reasons.
Best regards,
Yuri Korzunov
(AuI ConverteR 48x44 developer)
That is my plan, I have DAC's of the same model. Through those I will play the two files and listen to them through a switch box.
Since I have not messed with DSD in the past I was hoping to find recordings that have been released in both formats already. If I can hear any difference then I will start looking into converting them myself.
Playing through two DAC's is not ideal, hopefully any production variations are inaudible. It does add more variables though. Then there is the question of software and what processing it may do to the two formats.
That is my plan, I have DAC's of the same model. Through those I will play the two files and listen to them through a switch box.
Since I have not messed with DSD in the past I was hoping to find recordings that have been released in both formats already. If I can hear any difference then I will start looking into converting them myself.
Playing through two DAC's is not ideal, hopefully any production variations are inaudible. It does add more variables though. Then there is the question of software and what processing it may do to the two formats.
It's a little tricky to convert DSD to PCM, but when you do it right, the differences are measurably inaudible.
Converting DSD to PCM is not really much trickier than any other sample rate conversion, it is just computationally more expensive because of the unusually high input sample rate. PCM to DSD is more difficult because of the noise shaping.
Sample rate conversion is enought complicate processing As example my alphaC sample rate conversion algorithm I began in 2009 and permanently improves today. Also I have many unresrearced area there. Including by suggestions of users of my software.
Of course with well known scheme of sigma delta modulator, as said one manufacturer in discussion about DSD, there "devil in details".
However DSD decoder also important part of processing. It can give enought sound advantages.
In the articles we can see what for different combinations of encoders/decoders we can get different results (more 20 dB - see results both articles together)
http://archimago.blogspot.ru/2014/04/analysis-comparison-of-dsd-encoders.html
http://archimago.blogspot.ru/2015/04/analysis-dsd-to-pcm-2015-foobar-sacd.html?showComment=1428926408403#c6196240508548468877