|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Mar 9, 2023 13:05:19 GMT -5
Well, THAT changes things! “A few more features” are WELL worth waiting for. I’ve already supplied MY list of desired features. I hope enough others agreed with me to catch Big Dan’s attention.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutiarti on Mar 9, 2023 13:40:35 GMT -5
Will it be ready for Axpona?
|
|
Lsc
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 3,434
|
Post by Lsc on Mar 9, 2023 17:34:42 GMT -5
I ended up buying the SMSL su-9 pro with the Sabre ES9039Mpro chip.
If was $499 and sounds very good. Much better than the xmc2. Music was almost unlistenable after I returned the other dac.
High value and great sound quality.
|
|
KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,261
|
Post by KeithL on Mar 16, 2023 13:28:22 GMT -5
OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon.  |
|
|
|
Post by Cogito on Mar 16, 2023 20:03:47 GMT -5
OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon. <YAWN> |
|
|
|
Post by fbczar on Mar 16, 2023 20:28:45 GMT -5
OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon. <YAWN> Totally 😳 shocked! |
|
|
|
Post by vcautokid on Mar 16, 2023 21:17:28 GMT -5
DSD, now the 1% is happy. Okay, maybe 2%.
|
|
|
|
Post by novisnick on Mar 16, 2023 22:29:38 GMT -5
DSD, isn’t that older then MQA? Granted, it is a step in the right direction. 🙂
Give us a little more to be excited about please! 🙏
|
|
|
|
Post by geebo on Mar 16, 2023 22:40:22 GMT -5
DSD, isn’t that older then MQA? Granted, it is a step in the right direction. 🙂 Give us a little more to be excited about please! 🙏 Older but better. |
|
|
|
Post by novisnick on Mar 16, 2023 22:45:09 GMT -5
DSD, isn’t that older then MQA? Granted, it is a step in the right direction. 🙂 Give us a little more to be excited about please! 🙏 Older but better. Its great to have options. I’ve been enjoying both for years. Allows for different flavors. I am staying tuned though! 👍 |
|
KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 10,261
|
Post by KeithL on Mar 17, 2023 8:35:53 GMT -5
MQA is not old... but, yes, DSD is a bit older... although a lot newer than audio CDs (SACDs were introduced in 1999.) DSD is the format of the audio on SACD discs. And, while there are still a few dedicated souls who still own and play SACDs, they're getting rare these days. However, to quote one of my favorite Jack Nicholson lines, "It's baaaaack". More specifically, there are still a few people who are convinced that SACD discs sound better... And, as a result, quite a few companies who sell audio download files are now offering one or more variants of DSD files as an option... Unlike SACD discs you don't need special hardware to play DSD files... Well... sort of... and no... it's still not quite that simple... A lot of the current audio player programs and boxes can play DSD files... But, if whatever they're connected to doesn't support DSD, or the connection between them doesn't support it, when they play DSD files they convert them to PCM. (And, of course, for people who are convinced that "it's not just the mastering... the DSD files themselves sound better", this isn't good enough.) And, because of this, many newer DACs support one or more variations of something called DoP. Which literally means "DSD-over-PCM" but, in practice, usually means that they can accept DSD audio encapsulated in a USB audio signal. It's not converted... the actual DSD audio signal is encapsulated in the USB packets and extracted by the DAC. Once you extract it what you get back is the exact same original DSD audio you started with. (But, in order to do that, everything involved has to support that option.) DSD, isn’t that older then MQA? Granted, it is a step in the right direction. 🙂 Give us a little more to be excited about please! 🙏 |
|
|
|
Post by brutiarti on Mar 17, 2023 8:46:13 GMT -5
OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon. Keith, would I able to play DSD over coaxial or AES/EBU?? |
|
|
|
Post by marcl on Mar 17, 2023 9:30:39 GMT -5
OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon. I can't wait! I have a bunch of these HUGE files that are mostly noise shape-shifted into hypersonic space. I could run them right through a USB, cable (assuming I stick it in the right way) right to the DAC, pure as the driven snow, as nature intended. No room correction either ... let those resonance modes BOOM! What would really sell though is DoV ... DSD over Vinyl. After all, it's just a bunch of 1's right? How hard would it be to scrape a bunch of 1's onto lacquer and then just let them flow ~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
ttocs
Global Moderator
I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whomever I'm with. (Elwood P Dowd)
Posts: 8,155
|
Post by ttocs on Mar 17, 2023 9:55:27 GMT -5
|
|
KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 10,261
|
Post by KeithL on Mar 17, 2023 10:28:31 GMT -5
In order to get DSD to a DAC you use something called DoP. (There is also something usually referred to as "native DSD" - which is really just a minor variation of DoP.) This technically means that you're encapsulating the DSD audio into PCM packets and sending it to the DAC that way. (You get a bit-perfect copy of the original DSD data stream back at the other end when the packets are reassembled by the DAC.) In theory DoP can be used via any PCM transport - including USB, Coax, Optical, or AES/EBU. However, in practice, the VAST majority of folks who use it do so via USB... And our new DAC will have excellent support for DSD via DoP via USB. I can also tell you at this point that, although our new DAC has several quite useful types of inputs, it does not have an AES/EBU input. However, whether it will support DoP via other types of inputs, like Coax, is still up in the air at this point. But, for other folks who are curious about this sort of thing, I can tell you that, unless your source device specifically says it supports DoP over something other than USB, then it probably does not. (Although some newer devices do support DoP via other interface options, most older player programs, and drivers, and interface hardware, specifically supports DoP via USB.) OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon. Keith, would I able to play DSD over coaxial or AES/EBU?? |
|
KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 10,261
|
Post by KeithL on Mar 17, 2023 10:51:36 GMT -5
Gee.... DSD is wonderful... The ones and zeros it uses are so much more like analog than the ones and zeros used in other digital formats... Just ask Sony...  I'm not a big fan either... And I'm more inclined to credit the audible differences to different mastering than to the technology... (I have nothing against it but, to me, it's just another format... and, as you've noted, it does have a few significant drawbacks.) But a lot of people keep asking for it... (or a few people just ask a lot)... And I do see the benefit of "being able to play whatever someone hands you"... I like that idea though... DSD-over-Vinyl... And then we could think of putting it on VHS cassettes too... The possibilities are........ endless.  OK... just to keep everyone from falling asleep... just one word... DSD. More to come soon. I can't wait! I have a bunch of these HUGE files that are mostly noise shape-shifted into hypersonic space. I could run them right through a USB, cable (assuming I stick it in the right way) right to the DAC, pure as the driven snow, as nature intended. No room correction either ... let those resonance modes BOOM! What would really sell though is DoV ... DSD over Vinyl. After all, it's just a bunch of 1's right? How hard would it be to scrape a bunch of 1's onto lacquer and then just let them flow ~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
|
Post by geebo on Mar 17, 2023 11:35:13 GMT -5
Whether it's the technology or the mastering doesn't much matter to me. The fact is that some of the best sounding material I have is DSD/SACD. Now I do have 5.1 versions of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Wish you Were Here in both SACD and Blu-Ray Audio. I'll say they both sound excellent and far better than any version I've ever heard and I cannot decide which is better. I'm inclined to agree it's more the mastering than the technology but if DSD is what I have to buy for that better mastering then that's what I'll do. I'd also add that CD's (or 44.1/16 files) are capable of far better sound than what we usually get but sadly that technology's capabilities are not often realized. In the end, if a given release on SACD (or DSD) sounds appreciably better than a CD (or PCM) then I'll need something to play that SACD/DSD even if it's the mastering that accounts for the difference in sound quality. And I'll also add that converting the DSD in my Oppo to PCM does not degrade the sound quality to any degree that I can detect so that says PCM is certainly capable of equal sound quality.
|
|
|
|
Post by fbczar on Mar 17, 2023 12:12:10 GMT -5
Whether it's the technology or the mastering doesn't much matter to me. The fact is that some of the best sounding material I have is DSD/SACD. Now I do have 5.1 versions of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Wish you Were Here in both SACD and Blu-Ray Audio. I'll say they both sound excellent and far better than any version I've ever heard and I cannot decide which is better. I'm inclined to agree it's more the mastering than the technology but if DSD is what I have to buy for that better mastering then that's what I'll do. I'd also add that CD's (or 44.1/16 files) are capable of far better sound than what we usually get but sadly that technology's capabilities are not often realized. In the end, if a given release on SACD (or DSD) sounds appreciably better than a CD (or PCM) then I'll need something to play that SACD/DSD even if it's the mastering that accounts for the difference in sound quality. And I'll also add that converting the DSD in my Oppo to PCM does not degrade the sound quality to any degree that I can detect so that says PCM is certainly capable of equal sound quality. Well said. The concept of maximum versatility in a music system, in my case, enhances the value of the components that can provide that versatility. Why many of my DSD recordings sound better than their PCM counterparts can be debated, but the value of not being limited in choice of formats seems obvious. |
|
|
|
Post by marcl on Mar 17, 2023 12:39:09 GMT -5
Gee.... DSD is wonderful... The ones and zeros it uses are so much more like analog than the ones and zeros used in other digital formats... Just ask Sony... View AttachmentI'm not a big fan either... And I'm more inclined to credit the audible differences to different mastering than to the technology... (I have nothing against it but, to me, it's just another format... and, as you've noted, it does have a few significant drawbacks.) But a lot of people keep asking for it... (or a few people just ask a lot)... And I do see the benefit of "being able to play whatever someone hands you"... I like that idea though... DSD-over-Vinyl... And then we could think of putting it on VHS cassettes too... The possibilities are........ endless. I can't wait! I have a bunch of these HUGE files that are mostly noise shape-shifted into hypersonic space. I could run them right through a USB, cable (assuming I stick it in the right way) right to the DAC, pure as the driven snow, as nature intended. No room correction either ... let those resonance modes BOOM! What would really sell though is DoV ... DSD over Vinyl. After all, it's just a bunch of 1's right? How hard would it be to scrape a bunch of 1's onto lacquer and then just let them flow ~~~~~~~~~~~~ That Sony thing is funny propaganda ... like the opposite of this picture that some moron drew and made everybody think digital is harsh square waves.  Yes people want "pure". And I wonder how many people listen to DSD files that were either recorded PCM to begin with, or converted to PCM for mixing and mastering and converted back. Like ... most vinyl records are made from a CD or PCM file. |
|
|
|
Post by brutiarti on Mar 17, 2023 13:09:40 GMT -5
Gee.... DSD is wonderful... The ones and zeros it uses are so much more like analog than the ones and zeros used in other digital formats... Just ask Sony... View AttachmentI'm not a big fan either... And I'm more inclined to credit the audible differences to different mastering than to the technology... (I have nothing against it but, to me, it's just another format... and, as you've noted, it does have a few significant drawbacks.) But a lot of people keep asking for it... (or a few people just ask a lot)... And I do see the benefit of "being able to play whatever someone hands you"... I like that idea though... DSD-over-Vinyl... And then we could think of putting it on VHS cassettes too... The possibilities are........ endless. That Sony thing is funny propaganda ... like the opposite of this picture that some moron drew and made everybody thing digital is harsh square waves. View AttachmentYes people want "pure". And I wonder how many people listen to DSD files that were either recorded PCM to begin with, or converted to PCM for mixing and mastering and converted back. Like ... most vinyl records are made from a CD or PCM file. Are you calling Esoteric Engineers morons??  |
|
