Is 16/44.1 still a decent quality in 2020?

Post of the day!
Beave

 

Another great post!
Beave

 

I will file this under "Things I've been thinking but was always to afraid to say out loud"

 

AMEN!!

 

So true. I’ll take it a step further, if you have just ONE cd that sounds incredible compared to the vinyl lp of the same title, then the cd format is not deficient, just cheap dac’s, circuitry, and poor mastering, ie the first USA pressing of Aqualung.
You can tell the tape they used sounded very poor.
Beave

 

I only drop the bigger $$$ for hi res MULTI CHANNEL music...not stereo...why when i can get a CD for $1-10 per disc....

But Multi channel not really available on CD!

 

Simplified:

This cannot be stated too often.

 

Sure it's decent, perhaps more than decent for most.

However, I believe it's listener-dependant.

I've read many in this forum that swear that 16/44 causes sound degradation they can hear. Some have written that they detect a loss of imaging or realness of audio that they get with high res and vinyl. I don't necessarily hear that but who am I to declare anyone wrong who insists they do.

 

Some people say... is the rhetoric of Trump. Let it be personal anecdotes, at least.

Does anyone have a recording where 16/44.1 came too short? Very high frequencies, and with a dynamic range beyond extreme pain? Or at least touching 90+ dB?

 

Chord M-Scaler+DAC makes from 16/44 MUSIC. Betters my EMT turntable.

 

I think that's exactly how hi-res vendors want you to feel.

Unless you personally get something out of hi-res and/or don't feel satisfied with 16bit, enjoy your CDs and don't worry about it.

 

So some people say...

 

44/16 isn't the problem.

Problems are bad DACs and album engineering /mastering.

We are too niche market for big label corps to adopt hi res and DSD in their recording and mastering chains. Also, they would have to have 2 releases: one for hifi, one for radios, cars, cheap chi-fi speakers, laptop speakers,... where everything has to be dynamically very compressed.

 

Happy with CD. Still perfectly good.

 

This!

Beave

 

Love my CD rips - haven't felt the need to pursue hi-res. Mastering-dependent of course...

 

High Res Audio does a little better with high frequencies but that is only part of what it can sometimes improve.
What it also often improves is the midrange colors as there is more data used to construct timbres, nuances and separation.
Likewise bass is clearer as timing smear is lowered due to increased data information.
Therefore old ears connected to discerning brains listening on top quality gear may not hear any huge increase in treble extension or resolution.
But they may greatly appreciate an improvement in overall sound quality in those frequencies from the midrange down.
Many on this forum will wish to debate the above statements.
That would seem foolish however.
A month spent sampling Qobuz for a few bucks will allow you to judge for yourself if you have modern digital equipment and an internet connection.
If you don't appreciate high res after hearing lots and lots of it then you can skip it.
If it improves your digital music listening enjoyment that is nice.
I enjoy best procedures as a rule and I like good sound.
Given a choice I seek out what sounds best on my own gear.
It's nice having the ability to choose from different sources.
As others have mentioned the best available is very much dependent on personal situations.
A good CD may easily trounce a poor SACD.
And my favorite internet radio station only plays 128K!
So there you go.

 

Just want to give a big thanks to everyone that chimed in and gave feedback. Not only do I feel better about my setup but I learned some things about digital audio as well. I’ll keep reading future posts on this, it’s interesting.

 

All I know, as a Rock music fan, is that I've never heard a CD rendering drums right, specially cymbals. But as a Van Halen fan, the 192/24 Chris Bellman remasters sound outstanding and even drums cymbals included sound more realistic and much how the sound on my humble Goldring GR-1 TT (with enhancements, aluminium subplatter, 2 Kg. Rega platter, Rega silicone belt and Audio Technica VM540ML cart).

 

Indeed..it works for me!

 

Good sounding rock with full kick drum, realistic cymbals and separation of vocals and instruments when playing at full tilt alludes me on quite a few CD's. Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band" is a perfect example.
This is the CD version I have...


Right now I'm A/B'ing it to several Youtube vinyl versions all having slight sound differences so it isn't the CD or the format that's at issue.

This vinyl version is just weird in how it brings out the kick drum... YouTube

The 45rm version is somewhere in between the CD and the second vinyl... Grand Funk Railroad , We're An American Band , 1973 45RPM

In Audacity I got pretty close to the vinyl editing upsampled to 32bit floating point/44kHz in Audacity, but it takes applying a hint of reverb and several EQ /Limiter/EQ go rounds to get the sound to open up through the audio card. Each time I apply an EQ to a finished limited for loudness final, I could go back bring out the vocals that harmonize with the lead singer singing the song title that is buried in the ROAR of everything playing at full tilt.

 

Just added another vocal clarity EQ to the finished limiter applied CD rez on "We're An American Band" file and I brought out even more vocal harmony clarity. INCREDIBLE! especially working on a 16/44 file reopened in Audacity and upsampled again to 32bit/44.

Parametric EQ's are the problem vs notch EQ's that Audacity employs but I can make adjustments in live playback using Apple's supplied parametric EQ. No artifacts editing these files over and over. It's like sculpting in clay.

 

I’m thinking about pulling the trigger on a vm540ml. I have the cartridge from an at440mla and need to replace the stylus.

 

Nothing wrong is 16/44.1, but (unless a source dictates) use at least 24/96. It isn't because Hi-Res audio asks for that, it is because 24/96 sounds much better and it is noticable. Personally I prefer 1/2.8 or better.