Hi Cookie, for the life of mei canny figure out how to filter for the SEA recordings on the Blue Coast website. Would you mention how? Thank you
This recent recording in Pure DSD256 from Eudora recording engineer Gonzalo Noqué may well be the most utterly transparent and timbrally accurate recording in my music library. I am simply blown away. Recorded in January, 2022, and released this past week.
A delightful recital of Baroque works by the international ensemble Infermi dâAmore on period instruments. Includes 4 world premiere recordings. Download here.
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I agree. This is a remarkable recording.
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Giving DSD256 a try using the USB input of my recently acquired Marantz SACD 30n. The SACD 30n can handle DSD 64, 128 and 256 through its USB-DAC input, but only DSD 64 and 128 through its other digital inputs. Purchased from HDTT, played through Roon. I can see more DSD256 files in my future.
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Thanks for sharing the Roon signal path info. I like to do the same when I post what I am listening to via Roon. I find it interesting and hope others do too.
Is this DSD recording sourced from the cloud via Roon or is it one of your downloads or rips?
Curiously yours.
@DavidF, so good to see that youâve got your lossless connection to DSD256 working through your DAC! Glad you are hearing some you like and thanks for posting about them.
Thanks. Yes it seems to be working really good through the Marantz SACD 30n USB-DAC. I just pre-ordered the new Peachtree Catrina integrated amp which claims to be able to handle DSD512 through its USB-DAC and i2s port. Should be interesting.
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@DavidF, I agree about this being a very nice album! Good lyrics, good music, well recorded.
Have you listened/compared this remastered DSD256 file to the original DSD64 file? If so, Iâd be very interested in your comments on what you hear comparing the two on your system.
Octave Records here. A very nice singer songwriter album recorded originally in DSD64 and available in DSD remodulations to DSD256.
I have the physical disk SACD and DVD data disk and I do prefer the DSD256 over the DSD64 on the DVD data disk. Much more open than the DSD64 and a bit wider.
Thanks, @DavidF â very interesting!
I have the download DSD64 files. When I compare here, I find the DSD64 to have more impact and clarity. It is more transparent and alive than the DSD256. After comparing a half dozen of the Octave remasters to DSD256, I keep hearing these same differences consistently across them all on my system with my DAC. And thatâs the key. I believe we are hearing real differences but that the difference is a function from how our respective DACs process the DSD64 file. On our second system with a different DAC, the DSD256 sounds superior, but on our primary system, the DSD64 sounds superior.
So, good to do the comparative listening! And thanks for sharing your experience. From what Iâm learning in comparing on two different systems here and from talking with other folks, there clearly are differences in processing DSD that seem to be highly DAC-dependent.
Has Octave yet released an album that was originally recorded in DSD256?
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Interesting!
As far as I understood youâre hearing analog vs. PCM mixing/mastering, ATC vs. FR30 monitoring and probably different mastering choices generally.
As you probably have one of the best DACâs of the folks here and get a quite detailled impression by headphones, your findings pro the old process are âŠinteresting. Would love to do the comparison, too, but will probably just buy the Mervine DSD256 and then can only compare to the LP.
Analog - yes, indeed. In the case of the Octave DSD256 remasters, my understanding is that the DSD64 file is played back through a DAC into analog and then re-recorded directly to DSD256 (or 128) using an ADC that I havenât seen identified (but possibly the Horus ADC built into their Pyramix workstation, which is quite a good ADC).
NativeDSD does this differently when starting with a DSD64 original file. They use HQPlayer Pro to directly remodulate the DSD64 signal to higher DSD rates. Presumably, Octave has determined they gets better results with this process of transferring to analog and then recording that analog signal to DSD256 (or 128).
I understood, the old DSD64 releases were mixed analog and converted back to DSD64. For he new DSD256 releases, the old DSD64 recordings were mixed at DXD level in Pyramix and stored as DSD256.
Interesting. If thatâs the case, then the DXD intervention is what Iâm hearing as problematic. DXD invariably messes up (destroys?) the fine ambient details; there is a fairly high cost versus straight DSD, even when remodulated.
But, I donât think there is a DXD/PCM intervention here. I think they have done a remodulation in Pyramix given their description on the album page for Shelter:
- DSDDirect Mastered DSD download: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 (originally recorded in DSD64 and real-time remodulated to higher DSD versions)