So with my new DAC purchase I recently downloaded some DSD files. One is SRV Texas Flood. The other is Rachmaninov. I’m playing the DSD on Jriver. What confuses me is when I compare both with PCM files the PCM is always louder. The source for the PCM is TIDAL, CD, or WAV. Is this a characteristic of the Jriver player ? I can hear a huge difference between both formats. But from what I hear on the net most say they don’t. I can’t really hear differences between regular CD quality and 192/24 so I’m wondering if it’s an issue with the Jriver player? The DSD sounds very different. Less full. Softer though. Ideas if I’m doing anything wrong? Any other players I can try for the DSD ? Thanks
DSD and PCM can both sound terrific but it comes down to the mastering and to the DAC. I'm not a proponent of randomly buying downloads or physical disc. Not too hard to become informed after spending several months on the Music forum. Complete your gear profile and some members should be able to advise.
Using JRiver I can hear the differences between CD and hi-rez of the same mastering, aka a down rez'ed hi-rez. In my experience, JRiver isn't the weak spot there. Part of your differences could be from how the DSD is played. Is it pure DSD or is it translated to PCM? If translated there is supposed to be a 6db difference between the DSD and PCM versions. There is an option to boost the DSD by 6db when trans-coding to PCM however that will be a crap shoot. In my experience, the difference is never exactly 6db. Sometimes it's more. Sometimes it is less. So I add it manually when converting to PCM manually. This could be the source of your level differences. As mentioned, the mastering is the most important part. If the DSD and the PCM are from different masters they will sound different.
Kyhl has dealt with why there could be level differences between DSD and PCM. Just to be sure, in JRiver do you have: Tools>Options>Audio>Bitstreaming set to Yes (DSD) also, depending on your DAC, you may need to go to: Tools>Options>Audio>Device Settings>Output and check DSD bitstream in DoP format. These settings ensure that you are sending DSD to your DAC. You can use: Player>Audio Path to check what the output format is. In Tools>Options>DSP & Output Format ensure Output Encoding is set to None to prevent JRiver making any changes, until you are sure that you either want or need them.
I've found that JRiver doesn't do well when converting DSD to PCM, make sure that its streaming pure DSD to your DAC.
Don’t know. I listened to the same master for SRV Texas flood and it’s not the same volume. Who knows. I give up. Can’t spend too much time on this crap. Want to listen more. Mess around less. PCM sounds just fine. Enough messing around. There is nothing on DSD anyways.
lol. Trust me I like messing around and Listening to diff mixes and tweaking. But after while it’s just like **** dude I want to enjoy this piece. It’s tough to interrupt Rachmaninov piano concerto 2 all the time testing ****.
JRiver makes this so easy, so you won't be testing for long. Set it and Forget It! Basically everything that @Black Elk says, do that. Then you're done and off to the listening. PCM does sound just fine. DSD does too. Why not have both? You may find that some PCM mastering sounds better to you, and you may find that some DSD mastering sounds better. Always go for the one that's better LOL…
