Building a DSD Collection, Where Do I Start?

[witchdoctor]

I have a wonderful Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC that supports PCM 32bit/768 kHz and DSD 22.4 MHz sound formats. I am using a Zidoo media player as a streamer via USB and want to start building a library of DSD recordings. I like Jazz, Rock, and World Music, hip hop and classical not so much.

What are some good albums/collections to start purchasing and what is a good vendor to use? Thanks

 

[Kal Rubinson]

NativeDSD is the obvious one.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have a wonderful Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC that supports PCM 32bit/768 kHz and DSD 22.4 MHz sound formats. I am using a Zidoo media player as a streamer via USB and want to start building a library of DSD recordings. I like Jazz, Rock, and World Music, hip hop and classical not so much.

What are some good albums/collections to start purchasing and what is a good vendor to use? Thanks

you will be fighting upstream. agree with with Kal about NativeDSD. Blue Coast Music is another.

probably find someone who has a large dsd file collection who can make a copy of their library. lots of those dsd files are going to be vinyl rips.

most commercial dsd sourced recordings are classical, a few jazz and international and many of those non classical dsd files are PCM sourced. very little commercial dsd rock files for sale. and most you would find would be PCM sourced from tape (depends on the music era). in those cases the PCM is better as it's a step closer to the transfer.

no quarrel with the idea of dsd, but reality will make it hard. while there is a case to be made that higher rez sounds better, it still comes down to closest to native format of the recording will sound best. and there is little content out there sourced at the highest rez.

i have 8tb's of dsd files, but have not really added much to it for a decade.

 

[Macattack]

Buy releases you want. If they have been remastered and are in DSD, go for them.

Buy an OPPO 103/105, buy reissued SACDs / especially from CDJapan. Rip the discs and be Far better off.

I say, don’t buy an album just because it’s available in DSD. It could still be crap music you will never listen to. Lots of examples of crap DSD issues on HD Tracks.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Buy releases you want.

sure.

If they have been remastered and are in DSD, go for them.

kinda disagree.

buy 10 files to try, compare to the PCM, then decide. most times if you buy the dsd file, you also get the PCM file for the same dollars. and almost 100% of the time the PCM is better since the tape was transferred to PCM first. then transferred to dsd.

or just get the dsd and hear sound not quite as good....and don't worry about it. unless your dac dumbs down PCM, or is old and has an old tech PCM dac, in which case all bets are off. newer dacs have good sounding PCM. and there are matters of personal preference to dsd no matter what. knock yourself out.

your choice.

Buy an OPPO 103/105, buy reissued SACDs / especially from CDJapan. Rip the discs and be Far better off.

could be. that is 'so' a decade ago. today people just stream Quboz and Tidal with Roon with PCM and are happy, happy. and have unlimited musical choices at high rez. unlimited.

I say, don’t buy an album just because it’s available in DSD. It could still be crap music you will never listen to. Lots of examples of crap DSD issues on HD Tracks.

agree, the recording and performance are always first and foremost.

 

[Macattack]

Fine

 

[witchdoctor]

Buy releases you want. If they have been remastered and are in DSD, go for them.

Buy an OPPO 103/105, buy reissued SACDs / especially from CDJapan. Rip the discs and be Far better off.

I say, don’t buy an album just because it’s available in DSD. It could still be crap music you will never listen to. Lots of examples of crap DSD issues on HD Tracks.

Thanks, I didn't realize there are a lot of crap DSD issues but I am glad I found out before I learned the hard way. Thanks

My Sony SACD player will only play SACD through HDMI and my DAC will only read DSD files via USB. I never thought about ripping the discs instead of playing them, good tip. Thanks

 

[witchdoctor]

sure.

kinda disagree.

buy 10 files to try, compare to the PCM, then decide. most times if you buy the dsd file, you also get the PCM file for the same dollars. and almost 100% of the time the PCM is better since the tape was transferred to PCM first. then transferred to dsd.

or just get the dsd and hear sound not quite as good....and don't worry about it. unless your dac dumbs down PCM, or is old and has an old tech PCM dac, in which case all bets are off. newer dacs have good sounding PCM. and there are matters of personal preference to dsd no matter what. knock yourself out.

your choice.

could be. that is 'so' a decade ago. today people just stream Quboz and Tidal with Roon with PCM and are happy, happy. and have unlimited musical choices at high rez. unlimited.

agree, the recording and performance are always first and foremost.

people just stream Quboz and Tidal with Roon with PCM and are happy, happy. and have unlimited musical choices at high rez. unlimited.
I have been happy with Tidal and YouTube music (for the many live performances) and the Sony TAZH1ES DAC I use has a feature called a DSD Remastering Engine that does improve the SQ of streaming.
I used to stream movies a lot and that stopped once I started ripping physical media because the quality is so much better and decided to build a library of DSD. With the DAC I have the difference is noticeable.

I really appreciate the advice here, if anyone has any albums to suggest that would be helpful too.

 

[witchdoctor]

Just bought my first album from nativedsd:

Now You Has Jazz (Remastered)

Now You Has Jazz (Remastered) from 2xHD and Storyville Records features Jazz standards performed by the legendary Louis Armstrong. Taken from sessions recorded in 1961-62, Armstrong […]

www.nativedsd.com

 

[Macattack]

people just stream Quboz and Tidal with Roon with PCM and are happy, happy. and have unlimited musical choices at high rez. unlimited.
I have been happy with Tidal and YouTube music (for the many live performances) and the Sony TAZH1ES DAC I use has a feature called a DSD Remastering Engine that does improve the SQ of streaming.
I used to stream movies a lot and that stopped once I started ripping physical media because the quality is so much better and decided to build a library of DSD. With the DAC I have the difference is noticeable.

I really appreciate the advice here, if anyone has any albums to suggest that would be helpful too.

Some - IMHO - great SACD releases. Others will likely disagree - that makes the world go around. Here are a few of mine: All discs have been ripped and played exclusively as files.

CDJapan : Japanese Anime, Jpop, Japanese music, Game music, Japanese movie, CD, DVD

CDJapan is the best place to order your Japanese CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and collectibles. We offer the widest variety of major and independent JPop, japanese anime, music, movies, and game music releases at great prices straight from Japan.

www.cdjapan.co.jp

Most SHM SACD releases from CDJapan, but especially:
— All Dire Straits Releases. (Even the SHM CDs are great)
— Any of the Esoteric releases (mostly only Jazz and Classical)
— 2024 Box set of Bruckner symphonies by Celeibidache and the Munchner Philharmonic (really good!)
—

MoFI
- Latest Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Waters
- Van Halen - Van Halen
- Aimee Mann - Bachelor No. 2
- Alan Parsons Project - The turn of a friendly card

Lots of others to explore.

 

[witchdoctor]

Some - IMHO - great SACD releases. Others will likely disagree - that makes the world go around. Here are a few of mine: All discs have been ripped and played exclusively as files.

CDJapan : Japanese Anime, Jpop, Japanese music, Game music, Japanese movie, CD, DVD

CDJapan is the best place to order your Japanese CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and collectibles. We offer the widest variety of major and independent JPop, japanese anime, music, movies, and game music releases at great prices straight from Japan.

www.cdjapan.co.jp

Most SHM SACD releases from CDJapan, but especially:
— All Dire Straits Releases. (Even the SHM CDs are great)
— Any of the Esoteric releases (mostly only Jazz and Classical)
— 2024 Box set of Bruckner symphonies by Celeibidache and the Munchner Philharmonic (really good!)
—

MoFI
- Latest Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Waters
- Van Halen - Van Halen
- Aimee Mann - Bachelor No. 2
- Alan Parsons Project - The turn of a friendly card

Lots of others to explore.

Thanks so much, I will be picking these up one at a time. I have never ripped SACD's but have gotten quite good at ripping movies. I have a handful of SACD's to start with beginning with Bob James, "Feel Like Making Live".

 

[ssfas]

I have a wonderful Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC that supports PCM 32bit/768 kHz and DSD 22.4 MHz sound formats. I am using a Zidoo media player as a streamer via USB and want to start building a library of DSD recordings. I like Jazz, Rock, and World Music, hip hop and classical not so much.

What are some good albums/collections to start purchasing and what is a good vendor to use? Thanks

Because you can't edit or mix a DSD source recording without converting to DXD (high Tate PCM), most pure DSD files are either analogue tape transfers or "one take" (in effect live) acoustic performances, invariably classical or jazz. There are also a few live orchestral recordings. Basically material that does not need to be edited or mixed.

Basically DSD is useless for recordings. Linn Records, which is mostly classical and some jazz, did a lot of DSD about 20 years ago and then decided it was pointless. Really it became redundant because the delivery medium was SACD, which failed commercially very quickly, and no one has streamed it.

 

[Bruce B]

Fair warning.... I ripped over 5k SACD's and can tell you about 25% are sourced from CD's!

FWIW.. I just transferred the Jerry Garcia tapes to DSD256fs

 

[witchdoctor]

So, I have been shopping some of the resources everyone has shared, thank you. I have noticed that nearly all the titles available in download format are classical and jazz. I like jazz but it sure seems like a big hole in the available catalog. I will continue to dig because my DAC makes these DSD files sound exquisite to my ears.

 

[Macattack]

Because you can't edit or mix a DSD source recording without converting to DXD (high Tate PCM), most pure DSD files are either analogue tape transfers or "one take" (in effect live) acoustic performances, invariably classical or jazz. There are also a few live orchestral recordings. Basically material that does not need to be edited or mixed.

Basically DSD is useless for recordings. Linn Records, which is mostly classical and some jazz, did a lot of DSD about 20 years ago and then decided it was pointless. Really it became redundant because the delivery medium was SACD, which failed commercially very quickly, and no one has streamed it.

No doubt you are correct on the technical angles. However, I do not necessarily agree with your conclusion that DSD is useless.

Generally, I am agnostic to digital format. I want the best release of an album.

I do however, gravitate to new releases which start with the original tapes. Often that is what the Japanese releases use.

I am also not so sure SACDs are dead.

 

[ssfas]

No doubt you are correct on the technical angles. However, I do not necessarily agree with your conclusion that DSD is useless.

Generally, I am agnostic to digital format. I want the best release of an album.

I do however, gravitate to new releases which start with the original tapes. Often that is what the Japanese releases use.

I am also not so sure SACDs are dead.

I was in Japan in May. It’s a uniquely different market with one third of music sales still on silver disc.

In the USA, SACD doesn’t even register on RIAA sales data. I don’t even think there is a plant that makes them in the USA.

I accept that there may be merit in analogue transfers to DSD, which is pretty much why DSD was developed, as an archiving format.

I play back everything upscaled to DSD256. So I like for playback, not for source.

I have not spun a silver disc since 2010. I tried a DSD DAC for DSD source files in 2015, but sold it 6 weeks later. I was happy with NOS PCM until a year ago, when I started upsampling.

 

[Macattack]

I was in Japan in May. It’s a uniquely different market with one third of music sales still on silver disc.

In the USA, SACD doesn’t even register on RIAA sales data. I don’t even think there is a plant that makes them in the USA.

I accept that there may be merit in analogue transfers to DSD, which is pretty much why DSD was developed, as an archiving format.

I play back everything upscaled to DSD256. So I like for playback, not for source.

I have not spun a silver disc since 2010. I tried a DSD DAC for DSD source files in 2015, but sold it 6 weeks later. I was happy with NOS PCM until a year ago, when I started upsampling.

Purely a mental exercise but - Wouldn’t a better release of an album still be better once upsampled?

I am curious. Does upsampling to DSD 256 (wow) make crappy recordings sound great?

I have an opinion / guess. But glad it’s working for you.

 

[Davidny]

Witchdoctor

I’ve been collecting hi-res music files for the past 8 years after discovering locally stored files could sound better than my then state of the art Soulution CD/SACD player and at a much lower cost. Note I would not limit your search to DSD. It’s all about the best performance, recording engineering and best transfer to a high resolution format. A few suggestions:

High Definition Tape Transfers is an excellent source of jazz and classical downloads of vintage recordings taken from master tapes
https://www.highdeftapetransfers.ca/

Paul Ruston has written many articles on Positive Feedback on the virtues of hi-res music, the subtleties between DSD and PCM, and music reviews
https://positive-feedback.com/?s=Rushton

HRAudio.net is the best source for information on physical SACD’s if you’re willing to learn how to rip SACD’s. This might be important if the music you’re looking for is only available on physical SACD’s
https://www.hraudio.net/home.php#menu

HDTracks also has a more diverse music selection but most of their music is 96/24
https://www.hdtracks.com/

Hope this helps and good luck in your search!

 

[witchdoctor]

I was in Japan in May. It’s a uniquely different market with one third of music sales still on silver disc.

In the USA, SACD doesn’t even register on RIAA sales data. I don’t even think there is a plant that makes them in the USA.

I accept that there may be merit in analogue transfers to DSD, which is pretty much why DSD was developed, as an archiving format.

I play back everything upscaled to DSD256. So I like for playback, not for source.

I have not spun a silver disc since 2010. I tried a DSD DAC for DSD source files in 2015, but sold it 6 weeks later. I was happy with NOS PCM until a year ago, when I started upsampling.

There are two plants, one in US and the other in Germany.

 

[witchdoctor]

I was in Japan in May. It’s a uniquely different market with one third of music sales still on silver disc.

In the USA, SACD doesn’t even register on RIAA sales data. I don’t even think there is a plant that makes them in the USA.

I accept that there may be merit in analogue transfers to DSD, which is pretty much why DSD was developed, as an archiving format.

I play back everything upscaled to DSD256. So I like for playback, not for source.

I have not spun a silver disc since 2010. I tried a DSD DAC for DSD source files in 2015, but sold it 6 weeks later. I was happy with NOS PCM until a year ago, when I started upsampling.

This is what I am currently doing, using my Sony TAZH1ES to upsample everything to DSD, including streamed music. I also have an Onkyo DAP that can convert files and output them in DSD to my DAC which is even better. Now I am moving on to native DSD. Some specs on the TAZH1ES:

DSD Remastering Engine​

Yes (Convert to DSD 11.2 MHz)

DSEE HX​

Yes (Upscale to PCM 384 kHz/32 bit)