Hi-Rez Downloads/Systems - don't understand *

Haha. I'm one of those. I listen about 50% vinyl and 50% streamed from my server. I also needle drop my records at 24/96 so they are available on my server, or in my car, or on my boat, or at work, or someone elses house, boat, car, etc...

So yeah, I flip records and use a server. It's the best of both worlds. Records are for when I want to listen to an album. Server is for when I want to listen on random or build a play list on the fly. I almost never use the server to listen to an album in order though.

 

Hopefully they have brought on staff to help out. Otherwise I can't imagine.

 

Groovy can it reach into the fridge and get me a beer while it's at it

 

nope, but you can order Chinese delivery from it

 

It took sometime to rip my CD collection, but I stuck a CD in the computer, XLD ripped it into FLAC and ALAC and AIF and then the computer ejected the CD. When I came back by the computer, I took out the old disc and put in a new one and did it over again. I still have my CDs, they are in boxes in storage.

I also have my DVD-As ripped. I really like this because when I put a disc in my player it always seems to default to the surround sound layer. Using DVD Audio Extractor I was able to only rip the stereo layer.

Chad

 

Yep, I solved the problem by hiring assistants. They work in two shifts.



And when the rough physical work makes them exhausted, they can have a breather, in private, if they want.



U need an assistant! as they say.

 

Assistants. Hmmm, like the concept.

 

It looks like you are in good hands so to speak.

 

Agree with the no right/wrong answer.

I ripped my cd collection in 2005 after buying a USB DAC & Macbook and several DAC's & PC's later, I couldn't be happier.

I also play vinyl. Having instantaneous access to 38,000 tracks in my 2-channel audio room and in my home theater room just simply can't be beat. Being able to listen to vinyl & going through the ritual of doing so, is also quite satisfying. For my purposes, the best of both worlds.

In general, Redbook PCM files are good, HD PCM files are better and DSD files are wonderful. Obviously, the original mastering makes the biggest difference in recordings, which is obviously why we're frequenting this forum!

HD PCM compared to their standard counterparts, sound more organic, vinyl-like, if you will. DSD files present the hall/studio ambience better than I've ever heard. Thus, for me, it presents a better sonic picture of the performance, which, after one gets the frequence response as correct as possible, is the trait that moves simple music playing into the realm of the true 2-channel highend!

Unfortunately, after the instruments and voices sound like they should, the law of diminishing returns kicks-in. It becomes very costly and difficult to increase the soundstage and instrument & vocal separation. Recreating orchestral crescendos to the highest degree possible in ones home, is the result of getting things as close to right as possible.

So, acquiring equipment that allows one to hear the differences between standard def, hi-def, & DSD, is not easy, nor for the faint of heart or pocketbook. Are there differences between formats, yes indeed. Does one care enough to seek and pay for the software and hardware that will allow one to capture those differences, is the question that each of us must answer for ourselves.

 

Ahh .. the old "This format is definitely better but you can't hear it because your equipment sucks" argument. A classic.

 

I was listening to the CD rip and 24/88.2 high res versions of "Random Access Memories" last night. And I'll be darned. I was hearing a difference between the CD and the high-res. That was not what I was expecting. And no, I did not do a blind ABX test. I was just playing around and exploring the sound of my new headphone amp. I do know that the difference I was hearing was not evident when using my other headphone amp (Schiit Lyr). Further exploration will be conducted.

I still consider my equipment to be in the "kinda sucks" category. I'm using a $99 DAC. My version of the LCD-2 is more veiled than the current version. It would be better to have an HD800 instead for this sort of listening. But I do have a good headphone amp now. The equipment side is getting better. But it's also still headphone based. If there are aspects to the potential differences in high-res that are more evident on speakers I'm SOL. In that category my equipment will always suck. "Suck" is also relative. I'm taking a rather humorous jab at my gear. But also pragmatic as I have heard better gear and know that better gear is better and can be helpful and/or necessary in listening tests and comparisons.

 

The desire or utility of having your library on the computer rather than as discs on shelves will also depend on the styles of music you like, how you like to listen, and how good your memory is. For example, I like classical music. My memory is not always so good. There are pieces like "The Russian Easter Overture" that are used as filler on CDs. I have a couple versions of The Russian Easter Overture. All of them are on discs that have works by several composers. If I want to listen to it I have to remember which CDs it is on and under which composer it is filed. On the computer all I have to do is type "Russian Easter Overture" and I'll find all of them. I also like jazz. I've been filling in tag info for which musicians are playing on albums. I'll be able to type in the name of a musician and find the albums they've been involved in. Or I can type in a jazz genre style like "avant-garde" and get all of my avant-garde jazz. I find the computer as source way of organizing and managing my library easier than the discs on shelves method.

 

My home equipment sucks - more or less, but my job puts me in audio production and mixing rooms on a daily basis. It's pretty common to spend around mid-six figures building these rooms, so I think it's safe to say they definitely do not suck. From my experience, the biggest difference between the studios I build and maintain, and the one I put together in my home studio from hand-me-downs, is the room acoustics. That's the most expensive part of a proper listening environment.

I lost count of how many times I've read the "of course you can't hear it, you never heard a high-end system so you can't tell the difference" argument. It never gets old.

 

Hey, let's not forget the golden ears that only seem to be possessed by some members of online forums rather than the real world! (because in real life tests, almost no one ever consistently passes them by correctly identifying the hi end stuff from the middling stuff)

 

This is such BS.

 

Easy there, pardner. I'd hate to see you get banned from this forum.

 

In that case, the format doesn't matter for that person at all, eh?

 

As an acoustics and speaker guy, I think I would concur. Of course, if the speakers aren't accurate, the room can't improve most aspects of that. But everyone does forget-or conveniently ignore?-not just room acoustics flaws but asymmetries as well.

 

Everyone forgets room acoustics? Really? There are plenty of products available and plenty of info and threads about room acoustics. Someone must being paying attention. Most people that spend a lot of time and money on building a system do address room acoustics.

 

Headphones don't require any room acoustics (other than a quiet room if you're using open headphones).

I'm on the side that believes high-res differences can be audible. I've heard it.

 

Whether or not Hi Res has audible differences over redbook is not the main issue, at least for me . What matters is that more often than not Hi Res (especially DSD) is going to have a great mastering as opposed to redbook. Thus I'm a fan.

 

I switched to all file-based* music about 1.5 years ago and have never looked back. For me there are two dimensions to this question: 1) sourcing the best sounding music and 2) enjoying all of my music without any barriers — having all of it at my fingertips

I've found (Hi-Res) downloads hit-or-miss having purchased plenty from both HD Tracks and Qobuz. The way I see it: I'm interested in owning certain albums and I use fora such as this one to find out what the best sounding format is. As a result, I end up buying a lot of CDs from the 80s (online or in 2nd hand stores), but sometimes a (hi-res) download actually sounds good. Price is a factor too: sometimes there's a good deal on a "cd quality" or hi res download and I'll get that instead of the CD.

*) while technically, there are computers (NAS) and network cables etc involved in my setup, when I sit down to listed to music, I have a tablet in my hand with a bunch of album covers that I can browse through and my stereo in front of me. I love that I can pull up the lineup of a particular album and go, "no kidding, this guy plays bass on this album?" and then find other albums with the same bass player.

 

OK, not literally everyone, but I would indeed wager that the percentage of rooms in which you would find room treatment is quite small, due to aesthetics and also money. You'll also find a lot of un-ideal rooms, like mine for instance: a wall bulges in at the back, there is a door at the front and two at the side, etc. Even on this forum, my guess is the percentage of really "great" rooms is small.

I was listening to the remixed 5.1 tracks for Fleetwood Mac's Rumours in the studio where it was mixed: M & K powered monitors up on poles, well out from the walls in a large large room with acoustic treatment. Sounded great, but even wealthy people I know don't have a setup like that. Or like the small, symmetric, acoustically hard room where Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery was mixed.

 

When I bought my house one of the priorities was a suitable listening room. A dedicated listen room with dedicated AC lines. Everything is grounded so there is virtually no hum. I added room treatment in specified places and set up shelving and furnishings that enhance room acoustics. Sure, my room isn't perfect, but it functions very well with my system.

People are making compromises with their systems all of the time and I suppose room treatment is one of them.

 

Concerning accessing your digital files, and yes this is a very newbie-ish question, what and how does one do this? People refer to a pad, I assume similar to an I-Pad, that they scroll with to view their album covers / files or perform advanced searches and then selections. Does this come with the DAC the way a remote comes with some preamplifiers or receivers? I get I will need to bring a cat five connection so I can hardwire the DAC to my PC, but if my PC, where my files reside, is located upstairs how does one sit on the sofa and perform complex searches and create playlists without having the PC or a laptop right there? I hope someone isn't going to say you use a laptop and connect to your main system wirelessly because then I will not only have to buy the DAC, inner connects, wire a cat-5 outlet to behind my equipment but also buy a laptop. Maybe this is why I am slow at jumping in?