oso Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Sound Liaison has released a handy sampler to test your DAC's preference. http://www.soundliaison.com/all-categories/6-compare-formats Test your DAC! Format Comparison sampler Which format is best for your DAC? Every DAC has it's own character, some sounds better using PCM files and some sounds better using DSD files...... Some people find the convenience of FLAC files more important. Here on this page is a list containing 2 minutes of a song in 11 different formats. The song is called 'A Fool For You' and is performed by Carmen Gomes Inc. It’s taken from the album 'Carmen Sings The Blues'. http://www.soundliaison.com/studio-showcase-series/276-carmen-gomes-sings-the-blues All the different formats have the same source file, DXD 352kHz (Studio Master). We used the AUL ConverteR 48x44 for the conversion to DSD and Wavelab for the conversion to the other PCM formats and FLAC. When you compare different sample rates always start with the lowest resolution. During listening don't focus too much, hearing is as individual as taste but hearing is also something which can be acquired, like the taste of good wine. You can choose from the following formats: 1. DXD 352kHz 2. PCM 192kHz 3. PCM 176kHz 4. PCM 96kHz 5. PCM 44kHz 6. DSD 256 7. DSD 128 8. DSD 64 9 . FLAC 352kHz 10. FLAC 192kHz 11. FLAC 96kHz Link to comment
oso Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 and Native DSD has a very handy DSD/DAC player Database; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rHcXP7PExksxZfkif3Rv2CT1Y_ESpNSv2b0nkKlBySk/edit#gid=0 Link to comment
Popular Post bmoura Posted July 4, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 4, 2017 NativeDSD also has Free Test Tracks from various albums in Stereo and Surround DSD (up to DSD 256) and DXD in their "Members Only" section. Available to download at no charge to compare formats and bit rates. You need to create an account with your email address to access them. 13 DSD Test Tracks (DSD 64, DSD 128, DSD 256 & DXD Stereo & Surround Sound) https://members.nativedsd.com/albums/just-listen-1-compilation Mendelssohn Session (DSD 64 & DSD 128 Stereo) https://members.nativedsd.com/albums/mendelssohn-session Mahler Symphony No. 3 Outtake (DSD 64, DSD 128, DSD 256 & DXD Stereo & Surround Sound) https://justlisten.nativedsd.com/albums/JLBFOMahler3-mahler-symphony-no-3-in-d-minor Nikhil and oso 2 Link to comment
oso Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 as I just answered on your similar post on another thread; ''That's a good combo those 2 free test files from Sound Liaison and Native; intimate vocal Jazz/Blues and Symphonic orchestral.'' Link to comment
bmoura Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 2 minutes ago, oso said: as I just answered on your similar post on another thread; ''That's a good combo those 2 free test files from Sound Liaison and Native; intimate vocal Jazz/Blues and Symphonic orchestral.'' Agreed. The Sound Liaison test files plus the 15 test files from NativeDSD = plenty of listening adventures! Link to comment
mansr Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 The Sound Liaison recording is interesting. Look at the spectrum of the DXD version: That's a lot of ultrasonic noise coinciding with the duration of the vocals. Presumably the spot mike or something related to it created or picked up that noise. Ultrasonic noise at these levels can even cause problems with some DACs. Indeed, filtering out everything below 24 kHz and playing the result on an iFi Nano, there are bursts of audible noise, probably as a result of intermodulation distortion. The actual audio frequency content obviously drowns it out during normal playing, but it's still wrong. Link to comment
christian u Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Could that be why some people prefer the DSD version above the DXD? Link to comment
mansr Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 39 minutes ago, christian u said: Could that be why some people prefer the DSD version above the DXD? The DSD conversion has a sharp filter applied at 24 kHz, so the only ultrasonic noise there is from the sigma-delta modulator. Link to comment
Milan Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 I like the sound of the 256 DSD, At first I believe it sounds a bit warmer....but with repeated switching between the DXD and the DSD I can't really tell them apart. Link to comment
Milan Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 On 5/7/2017 at 4:20 PM, bmoura said: Agreed. The Sound Liaison test files plus the 15 test files from NativeDSD = plenty of listening adventures! +2 Link to comment
christian u Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 On 29-8-2017 at 1:43 AM, Milan said: +2 On 5-7-2017 at 4:20 PM, bmoura said: Agreed. The Sound Liaison test files plus the 15 test files from NativeDSD = plenty of listening adventures! +3 Link to comment
PAP Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 I actually hear my DACs having a preference....my korg prefers DSD but my ifi goes for DXD/Pcm! Link to comment
PAP Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I received this letter from Blue Coast which leaves me a bit puzzled, I thought that editing in DSD was not possible. Anyway it is an interesting challenge. Part Four, editing and fixing in the mixes -- the challenges of working in DSD are different than PCM. Hi friends, our last session of recording in DSD talked about the multiple tracks we record to and decisions that are made in mixing to create the stereo you hear in your home. What you may not know is that most performances of concert recordings are not live at all - even well known recordings of famous performers in concert... yes that includes your favorite pop or classical album. Rarely is a piece of music performed once with such perfection that the producer says "That's it! We're done!" In stage performances of rock and pop stars, the basic tracks from a live concert are often taken into the studio and parts redone (including the lead vocal) for more isolation of the instrument (better sound), correcting mistakes and fixing stray microphone distortion or feedback. The same is true in classical music. From a string quartet to a large symphony orchestra, it is common to record the same pieces over several evenings of performances to get the best takes possible. Many times, an additional night is added (without an audience) to "grab" (record) small sections where an adequate performances was not captured. The job of the producer is to keep track of which take on which night is the best performance. The take is notated on the musical score and on the last day the producer records the sections that may still be questionable. The producer will have to make sure the tempos from various recordings match... and in some cases, the pitch must also be considered. A slight difference in loudness from any instrument can negate the best choice for editing. In the studio, all the best takes (and a few alternates) are "cut and pasted" together to make the final piece of music you hear at home. That's a very simple explanation of what can be daunting tasks. It takes extreme musicality from a producer to make sure the edits are not audible.... and often takes longer than the performances themselves. The Contest.. Find the Edit In Jenna's version of Wicked Game, Rolf has a guitar snap that was VERY loud. Jenna's performance was stunning and we didn't want to use another take. After auditioning several other takes, we found the one note on the guitar we could replace. If you can find the edit, we'll give you a free album of your choice. Send in your guesses to [email protected] http://store.bluecoastmusic.com/jenna-mammina/close-your-eyes Next week, we'll tell you where the edit is.... if I can remember. And more on editing Part Five. Now's the time to ask questions! Link to comment
bmoura Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 7 minutes ago, PAP said: I received this letter from Blue Coast which leaves me a bit puzzled, I thought that editing in DSD was not possible. Anyway it is an interesting challenge. 2 Cookie Marenco has an Analog Mixing Console at OTR/Blue Coast Recording. So she can mix recordings in Analog before printing to DSD. That also how recording engineers like Jared Sacks at Channel Classics work - recording with an Analog mixing console. She also has a Sony Sonoma Workstation which features editing in the DSD-Wide (8x DSD) format. So there are some choices she has when it comes to mixing and mastering a DSD project. She is probably the best person to comment on how this album was recorded and mixed, etc. Link to comment
PAP Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Ok thanks. That clarifies things. Link to comment
tailspn Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Hi PAP, Cookie supplied the answer to your editing question in her piece; "In the studio, all the best takes (and a few alternates) are "cut and pasted" together to make the final piece of music you hear at home." Unlike a stream of PCM samples, DSD bit streams contain no values, so can not be computed (altered) in their native form. That means their levels changed, mixed with other bit streams, EQ'd etc without being first converted to PCM. But DSD cutting and pasting is supported. Furthermore, the Pyramix software Cookie uses supports crossfades which make edits difficult or impossible to perceive, with the benefit of only the crossfade interval being converted to PCM. Link to comment
mansr Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 15 minutes ago, tailspn said: DSD cutting and pasting is supported. Not easily. If you're not very careful, there will be a tick at the splice point. With PCM this is avoided with a short cross-fade, which impossible with DSD. Link to comment
tailspn Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Which is why professional studios and mastering engineers use Digital Audio Workstations (DAW's) like Pyramix to automatically insert a imperceivable PCM crossfade (the default being 10 milliseconds) at the DSD edit points, making DSD cutting and pasting very easy, and without the degrading effects of converting the entire DSD file to PCM. But your point is correct in that any DSD butt splice will exhibit a shift from the previous or leaving DC offset to the new or joining DC offset at the DSD edit point. These ticks can be audible in low level periods such as between track silence or roomtone, but are usually swamped by music content when edits are performed within a piece. Link to comment
GUTB Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Uh....why would a site that calls itself "NativeDSD" release sample tracks that aren't native DSD? Isn't that being disingenuous? Link to comment
audiventory Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 On 04.07.2017 at 8:47 PM, oso said: Which format is best for your DAC? It's fully technically correct phrase. AuI ConverteR 48x44 - HD audio converter/optimizer for DAC of high resolution files ISO, DSF, DFF (1-bit/D64/128/256/512/1024), wav, flac, aiff, alac, safe CD ripper to PCM/DSF, Seamless Album Conversion, AIFF, WAV, FLAC, DSF metadata editor, Mac & WindowsOffline conversion save energy and nature Link to comment
bmoura Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 3 minutes ago, audiventory said: Which format is best for you? That's where the sample files come in handy. Letting you test the same recording in different formats and bit rates on your DAC. A fine - and no-cost way - to determine which is the best sounding to you. Link to comment
audiventory Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 23 hours ago, bmoura said: Letting you test the same recording in different formats and bit rates on your DAC. It is one of ways to improve current audio equipment - looking or the best DAC mode: http://samplerateconverter.com/content/how-improve-sound-quality AuI ConverteR 48x44 - HD audio converter/optimizer for DAC of high resolution files ISO, DSF, DFF (1-bit/D64/128/256/512/1024), wav, flac, aiff, alac, safe CD ripper to PCM/DSF, Seamless Album Conversion, AIFF, WAV, FLAC, DSF metadata editor, Mac & WindowsOffline conversion save energy and nature Link to comment
Popular Post cookiemarenco Posted October 16, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted October 16, 2017 This is a great topic. Testing your DAC for optimum performance is a good idea. Not all DAC perform the same so it's best to know what your equipment prefers. It's interesting to hear your opinions for us as well. Important to know for testing is how the song was recorded, processed and if there were alterations made in mastering to accommodate a particular format. As a hired gun producer, I can tell you that some artists and labels master differently for CD, vinyl and high resolution downloads. You want to make sure what you're comparing is coming from the same source file and not altered for various formats. For that reason, we created a test page for a free download converted to 4 different formats. We used a song composed by one of our artists, Meghan Andrews, for Blue Coast Records. It was recorded live to DSD 256 with no overdubs, then mixed through an analog console back to the Pyramix to DSD256. From the DSD256 we created the 3 other formats for download... DSD128, FLAC 96/24 and WAV 44.1/16. If there is enough demand, we'll create the 192 files and DXD. You'll need to register to get the free downloads at our new beta webstore at bluecoastmusic.com. Here's the link. https://bluecoastmusic.com/meghan-andrews/free-downloads Let us know what you think. We may continue the free download test if the response is good. Enjoy your listening! Cookie Marenco Blue Coast Records Blue Coast Music Nikhil, lucretius, audiventory and 1 other 3 1 Cookie Marenco[br]founder and producer[br]Blue Coast Records[br]http://www.bluecoastrecords.com/ Link to comment
bmoura Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 36 minutes ago, cookiemarenco said: If there is enough demand, we'll create the 192 files and DXD. 1 Any plans for a DSD 64 sample for listeners without higher bit rate DSD? Link to comment
GUTB Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 I guess Pyramix uses DSD-Wide? Link to comment
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