Paul McGowan/PS Audio DSD is all about FOMO
- Thread starter Andre Marc
- Start date
"How many pieces of DSD music do you actually own?"
Paul makes a good point. 95% of my files are 16/44 and most if not all of the DSD downloads that appeal to me are probably converted from pcm anyways. I had a DSD capable DAC, I thought I was alone in ditching the format as I don't use it. Mike Moffat has come to market with a budget ad-on DSD DAC, in speaking with him at the Newport show he didn't seem like he'd loose sleep if DSD went away altogether .
Paul makes a good point. 95% of my files are 16/44 and most if not all of the DSD downloads that appeal to me are probably converted from pcm anyways. I had a DSD capable DAC, I thought I was alone in ditching the format as I don't use it. Mike Moffat has come to market with a budget ad-on DSD DAC, in speaking with him at the Newport show he didn't seem like he'd loose sleep if DSD went away altogether .
Do not let people tell you what format to listen to. I have a good collection of cd,s , and yes most do not sound so good. But the music sounds great. Now the problem becomes as we acquire a better system it begins to give you shutters with that low rs music we love. For this situation I have a dsd capable dac and player . My point in this is do what you do because you wAnt not because everyone els says to. I use headphones and CIEM,S as I commute and take trains in NYC . By most standards hear I am a heritic lol. But be warned once you hear how could it can be your hooked forever.
Al k
Al k
I get it but you don't have to second guess yourself. I have generally not replaced any of the performances that I love on CD and, in fact, I have bought more. However, I have supplemented them with a couple of thousand SACDs of new performances and, while I prefer multichannel HD sound, I listen to all. It is the music, sure, but why stick your head in the sand?
On The Left: PCM:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/left-pcm
On The Right: DSD:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/right-dsd
http://www.stereophile.com/content/left-pcm
On The Right: DSD:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/right-dsd
The Berkeley is a high quality DAC. A good friend has one and it is very enjoyable. However, good analog, reel, and hirez are even better. Why miss out on all the fun?
I respect analog, but I never liked it. Even as a teenager I never did, and that was in the pre-digital days. While I loved the music on my LPs, I hated the clicks and pops (and don't tell me on high-end turntables they are less audible -- not true, I've heard quite a few of these). At some point I became obsessed with trying to clean my LPs, and that took out all the fun too.
When CD came, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even with all the initial problems of the format, I never looked back. And while I have heard high-end analog that is very impressive, I am not sure if I have heard better than what I currently enjoy on CD through my system. This is not to sound arrogant, it's the honest truth. Especially now that I have the BorderPatrol external power supplies for my tube amps (recently purchased), I am myself hugely surprised how good and resolving CD really can be (with the new power supplies electronic noise, previously coming from the internal power supplies of the amps and obscuring resolution, is absent). I had never dreamed of that. The upgrade made me realize that my Berkeley DAC is even much better on CD than I had thought it was. See:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...trol-MB-external-power-supplies-for-tube-amps
Of course analog die-hards will now want to make inquiries into what gear I have heard and find fault with it (after all, vinyl "must" be much better), but I am simply not interested in such a discussion. Again, I respect analog and can even enjoy it on others' systems, it's just not for me.
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I have a rather large LP collection (2,000+) that gets culled to keep the total sane, 12" vinyl for House and Trance (600+), plenty CDs (1,200) and about 6,000 AACs. I gave all my SACDs to my cousin. I have a steadily growing hi-rez library.
When I think about it, I hardly have any duplications across formats. Why? I'll get the music where I can get it. If the music is worth it I'll spring for the better formats. Now you know why I have 6,000 or so AACs. That's the background music library. LOL.
When I think about it, I hardly have any duplications across formats. Why? I'll get the music where I can get it. If the music is worth it I'll spring for the better formats. Now you know why I have 6,000 or so AACs. That's the background music library. LOL.
I don't get folks that intentionally shut down a particular format, be them digital (PCM, DSD) or analog (vinyl).
If you're an audiophile AND a music lover, isn't the whole idea behind your hobby to aim for the best reproduction of quality music? So why, intentionally, sabotage that and settle for lesser quality? I mean, it's been my experience that certain albums sound best on LP, some on PCM and some on DSD. There isn't a single, universal, "better" format, IMHO, so one needs them all, unfortunately.
The only conceivable reasons for me to skip an entire format would be financial and/or space issues.
As for Paul, well, he just wants to sell his fish.
alexandre
If you're an audiophile AND a music lover, isn't the whole idea behind your hobby to aim for the best reproduction of quality music? So why, intentionally, sabotage that and settle for lesser quality? I mean, it's been my experience that certain albums sound best on LP, some on PCM and some on DSD. There isn't a single, universal, "better" format, IMHO, so one needs them all, unfortunately.
The only conceivable reasons for me to skip an entire format would be financial and/or space issues.
As for Paul, well, he just wants to sell his fish.
alexandre
First, as I pointed out, even specifying percentages, hardly any of the music or interpretations of it that I favor (and no, I am not interested in having yet another interpretation of Beethoven's Seventh or of Mahler's Third just because they are in a better format) are available in hi-rez. The few that would interest me are not worth the trouble adding another format.
Second, as I also made clear, I don't even think anymore that I settle for lesser quality, or substantially lesser quality.
Third, analog is not an option for me given the reason stated.
Alexandre,
It is not so easy as your post suggests. Equipment performance is always limited by compromises, and unless you buy a complete DCS Vivaldi or similar (each of us should write here his favorite top digital system) you will need to make choices on the formats. And yes, I think that for 99% of the cases it will be a financial issue.
Considering the part of your post I quoted in bold - do you find any systematic correlation with the recording technique, digital original format, type of music, etc, and your preferred format, or is it a random preference? BTW, what is your current digital system?
Thanks
Oh, good to know he's a vegetarian! I don't trust people that only eat the food that MY food eats...
alexandre
And you have no financial or space issues?? I suspect there aren't too many of us for whom that is true. And as I've posted before, I think there are sonic benefits to streamlining one's system, although I can't prove it and it may be all in my head. Still, it makes philosophical and aesthetic sense to have as few components as possible hooked electrically to each other and/or be in physcial proximity; it is also empirically true (in my case at least).
microstrip,
I found out that the quality of a recording/pressing is intrinsic, and doesn't depend on the gear that it's played on. So, an album that sounds better on vinyl will do so no matter how good your digital is, and a badly pressed LP will always sound worse than the CD, even on an AF1 with Vertere arm.
Of course, going up the equipment ladder will ameliorate the issues with the bad/worse pressings, but they will still sound worse than other formats, IMHO.
I currently have an MSB Diamond IV with UMT Plus, as well as a Kuzma Reference + 4Point + Benz LP-S. Both are pretty solid
What is not easy is having to procure all different formats, in order to determine which one sounds best. As a rule, I buy new recordings on LP, even if it's a digital recording, and if I like it, I procure the digital (lossless) as well, either on physical CD or download. Most of the time, they're equivalent, and in some cases, the LP sounds a bit more opaque.
But I consider it part of the game. The gear are the tools I use to do all these comparisons, in order to establish which format/version I get the most pleasure from a certain recording.
To answer your question, I found out that major label reissues sound worse on CD 90% of the time, since they feel they need to "tweak" what's on the original tape, and more often than not, it sounds worse than the original. Small label releases or reissues tend to sound best in digital, since they just don't have the budget to tweak and "remaster", so they mostly do straight transfers, and when they DO have budget (like in lasercd's case), they tend to use proper guys like Bob Katz.
An example of major label stuff that, in 2014, still sounds worse in digital than analog, is Led Zeppelin. Take any crappy reissue LP, from the 80s even, and it will sounds better than the best CD, even on a Vivaldi.
alexandre
I do, that's why I didn't get into tape
As for streamlining, I'm all for it, when it makes sense. You can have a lean system, with an integrated+DAC (like the new darTZeel) plus a phono stage and a TT. That's just 3 pieces, and you'll be able to play all digital plus analog.
alexandre
I think we are a little off topic here. We cannot expect
To have a 100k system as the rule here. But we can expect
To have dacs give us the options to play directly our choice of
Format. As for me I have a MyTek. It does dad.
I also own a ps audio pwd mkii it does not.
In this changing audio format situation
I would expect most dacs in the future to accommodate the DSD sacd format
As I also own an msb stack as well I understand better quality
Equipment. And as such choices are made. But this is not the topic at hand.
Al
To have a 100k system as the rule here. But we can expect
To have dacs give us the options to play directly our choice of
Format. As for me I have a MyTek. It does dad.
I also own a ps audio pwd mkii it does not.
In this changing audio format situation
I would expect most dacs in the future to accommodate the DSD sacd format
As I also own an msb stack as well I understand better quality
Equipment. And as such choices are made. But this is not the topic at hand.
Al
