Weiss Saracon

[jtwrace]

Yeah, mostly all about DSD > PCM.

 

[Bruce B]

The same goes for PCM > DSD. Same results. Don't waste your time. You'll be better results from Audiogate.

 

[jtwrace]

The same goes for PCM > DSD. Same results. Don't waste your time. You'll be better results from Audiogate.

Thanks. Is it worth it at all even with Audiogate?

 

[jtwrace]

Thanks. Is it worth it at all even with Audiogate?

I don't own the required dac any so the Lite version wouldn't work anyway. Of course unless someone wants to convert ~1.7 TB for me.

 

[Bruce B]

I don't own the required dac any so the Lite version wouldn't work anyway. Of course unless someone wants to convert ~1.7 TB for me.

You can buy a cheap MR1 or 2 off eBay and get into Audiogate that way. Still would be cheaper than Saracon.... Hell, even an MR2000s would be cheaper than Saracon! (or my labor costs!)

 

[bmoura]

You can buy a cheap MR1 or 2 off eBay and get into Audiogate that way. Still would be cheaper than Saracon.... Hell, even an MR2000s would be cheaper than Saracon! (or my labor costs!)

There's a Korg MR-1 on eBay going for $100. That's pretty cheap alright!

 

[o0o]

Bruce B

I'm wondering if you'll take an analog output of your very best sounding DSD device and record it in 96kHz or 192kHz PCM to see what kind of filtering actually happens on hardware end, how will it stand against Saracon in terms of frequency graphs?

I do understand that it's sort of comparing apples to oranges, but it's still a very interesting comparison to make.

Regards,
Dmitry

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce B

I'm wondering if you'll take an analog output of your very best sounding DSD device and record it in 96kHz or 192kHz PCM to see what kind of filtering actually happens on hardware end, how will it stand against Saracon in terms of frequency graphs?

I do understand that it's sort of comparing apples to oranges, but it's still a very interesting comparison to make.

Regards,
Dmitry

Most of the hardware pieces I use pass a signal all the way up to 100k.

 

[o0o]

Wow, nice gear, Bruce!

Btw did you ever try Super Audio CD Decoder for foobar2000? It's a very convenient way to listen to PS3-ripped ISOs & regular DSD files on a Windows machine. It provides PCM stream along with direct DSD playback. Also happens to be an extremely convenient tool to convert DSD to AAC (or any other format), in case one needs.

Quality wise I find it on par with AudioGate app.

 

[Mr TAD]

I love Saracon for strictly PCM work, but there are other, more efficient and better sounding SRC out there for DSD.

[...]

We worked for months with HDtracks in choosing the best DSD->PCM conversions for all the SACD rips we were doing. We tried AudioGate, Saracon, SBM, Pyramix and even DiscWelder. In every case, the Saracon converters just seemed to take the life out of every file.

Hi guys

I'm late to the party, but still want to post my findings.

Bruce, you are right about Saracon, it's a great SRC for PCM, but as you have pointed out, Pyramix better preserve the benefits of DSD-recordings when resampling to 192kHz.

When comparing Saracon and Pyramix I find the latter to have:

- Better phantom center stability - it's actually quite audible

- More dynamic and 'DSD like' low-end dynamics and presentation - I never thought it was possible to retain that going to PCM, but Pyramix does a great job

- Slightly more vivid and dynamic mid-range - Saracon make vocals a tad flatter and enhance the upper-mid just a tiny bit

- The stereo panorama has better integrity - both in terms of depth and width


If I let myself use two HiFi-terms, I would say that the Pyramix SRC retains more of the playfulness and vividness of DSD-recordings.

Interesting indeed.

Thanks for pointing out the difference in DSD to PCM SRCs. Appreciated!


Cheers
Fred

 

[Bruce B]

Hi guys

I'm late to the party, but still want to post my findings.

Bruce, you are right about Saracon, it's a great SRC for PCM, but as you have pointed out, Pyramix better preserve the benefits of DSD-recordings when resampling to 192kHz.


Cheers
Fred

Much appreciated Fred. You're preaching the gospel!!
The other sample rate converter I've used in the past is the Korg Audiogate. I mostly used it for metadata tagging, but the conversions were decent. Now, Pyramix has stepped up their game of late and the metadata tagging is much better.
Thanks for sharing your findings!