And how Café Blue sounds for you Simon ?
There is no Cafe blue native DSD exist only Rip is filmed using PS3.Original PS3SACDripper…not sound good
Those CDs Patricia Barber are Rip PS3.Original ripper pssacd …you can get it HD much better
I have just recently been listening to one of my favourite albums:
On my main system with a DAC that plays DSD natively it sounds quite extraordinarily alive and vivid. It’s a live recording and I’m there in the audience. On the Atom in my office, I don’t quite get that same sense of presence, but the office setup cost a fifth of the main system, so it’s hardly a fair comparison. It’s still one of the best sounding discs I have and absolutely not “dull” or “syrupy” as @frenchrooster finds. Indeed I find it hard to sit still and work when it’s playing. I guess it must come down to musical preferences.
Roger
To be honest I’m not a staunch defender of any format. The quality of the recording, the mix and the mastering are far more important factors. I just think that you’re rushing to a conclusion based on unfair comparisons.
Actually, I’ve been waiting 3 months for Chord to replace the battery in my Hugo so I’m had to listen to my NDX as my main source. DSD sounds fine on it, not as good as with the Hugo but that’s because I prefer the overall sound signature with the Hugo. The same is true of 16 bit and 24 bit FLAC.
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Absolutely! 
This discussion about PCM versus DSD sounds a bit like “fancy cable A versus fancy cable B”, it doesn’t make much sense.
And it makes even less sense without knowing what PCM or DSD actually are, and how DACs handle those formats…
Ultimately, recording and mastering is what makes the real difference.
Some (I do) would even consider recording/mastering as an art of its own.
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I’ve recently set up Roon to upsample to DSD256 on my MSB dac and I must say that the sound is definitely more vivid and slightly more detailed.
Apart from that, I do agree that the DSD recordings that I have depend very much on the quality of their mastering and original format.
Not on streaming services?
Compared the DSD SACD MoFi rip to a Tidal 16/44.1 version, and the DSD had an air of delicacy that the Tidal version didn’t have.
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DSD 128 appears like that on my App, through Nds:
Then the PCM 192 appears to be decoded the same as above.
The PCM 352 is ignored
The PCM 44 sounds very very similar to the PCM 192
Conclusion : one track is ignored ( PCM 352). The DSD 128 seems to be decoded in Wav 192. All 3 tracks sound very very similar. I can’t distinguish them.
Perhaps another day I will make a longer test , with more tracks and formats.
You write … “DSD 128 appears like that on my App, through Nds”
NDS cannot play DSD128, its limited to DSD64.
And when playing DSD the app display should show it as DSD, not as yours is showing as WAV
Also NDS cannot play PCM 352kHz, its upper limit is 192kHz
Please you need to do this properly, just get DSD64 & PCM 192kHz & only compare those
Your Melco n1zh2 server can play DSD, do you need to do anything in the set up to enable this?
Sadly not. Worth shelling out for IMHO, on musical as well as SQ grounds.
Roger
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Is there a difference?!
Ok, will try later with DSD 64. For now, with that track, Wav 192 vs 16/44 sounds the same.
As for Melco set up, there is nothing to do. If Nds can’t play DSD 128, Melco will not change it, neither 352.
However the music is not really on my taste…but will try another day.
Carmen Gomes is boring
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That’s entirely missing the point, it’s your opinion, others think otherwise.
You need to go back & read up why we are using this Sound Liaison recording.
I would suspect the Melco is transcoding, but only FR would know if it’s actually set that way.
Played via Roon to my ND5XS2, the dsd128 file shows dsd128 on the Naim app.
(Currently playing the whole album from tidal… )
Good question!
The difference matters to me. I can listen to stuff with poor SQ if the musical interest is there. Recently I was streaming Mahler’s Lied von der Erde with Kathleen Ferrier singing live in New York. It’s a pretty terrible recording with an audience determined to cough along loudly to the music. But Ferrier’s voice cuts through everything and still sends tingles down the spine. So I would buy or stream that album on musical rather than sound quality. However, I would not buy or stream an album purely for the SQ if the music did not speak to me.
Roger
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As mentioned before, DSD 128 and PCM352 are not decoded.
So the comparison is on Flac 192, Flac 16/44, and DSD 64.
Generally I can distinguish 16/44 vs 24/96, and prefer 24/96 in 80% of my albums. But for maybe 20%, the 16/44 sounds more natural, balanced and less forceful.
For this comparison, I found 16/44 the most enjoyable, as 192 .
But here I can hardly distinguish 16/44 from 192.
The Flac 16/44 sounds more dynamic and involving vs DSD 64 , even if I listen the DSD at 13h ( volume very high). The DSD is more delicate on the voice, but I prefer the more present voice of the 16/44.
So for me, as the 10 albums I have on DSD, this one confirms my preference for hirez 24/48 _96_192 and 16/44 vs DSD, through my ears, tastes, and Nds/555dr.
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