Hi res

[MoonDrifter]

I have about 50 Pure Audio BluRay discs nearly all are 24/96 and good (well mastered) ones sound better (a more warm, smooth and articulate presentaion, more analogue sounding if you like) than the CD versions I have of the same albums, however, there are some CD versions that I prefer over the 24/96 versions so its not always that so called HiRes is better than CD.
I do have a few discs with 24/192 and cant really tell if they are any better than the 24/96 versions, but are better than the CD versions similar in presentation to what Ive found wifh the 24/96 over CD versions.
Of course Tidal MQA tracks range anything from 16/44 to 24/192 but i do prefer the sound quality of them over the CD quality FLAC versions, for similar sound preference reasons as the discs experience.

[Pete_the_painter]

I only rip and buy WAV files. I’m getting a new cd transport this weekend and looking forward to doing some side by side testing with the CDs v ripped CDs v hi res.

[Suedkiez]

Of course, if you were to buy a FLAC file and decode it with a decoder of your choice, the result is the exact same WAV file (provided that the FLAC was originally created from the same source WAV file as the purchased one and wasn’t from a different master).

For files that you ripped yourself and know it’s from the same source, this is of course always true even if you convert between WAV and FLAC and back for as many times as you want

[Pete_the_painter]

You’re not the first to tell me that, guess it’s just habit.

[Suedkiez]

In the end it doesn’t really matter and it’s up to you what you prefer. It’s just when discussing differences, I thought it’s good to focus on the things where there actually are differences

[Pete_the_painter]

I’ve always thought the only real difference is the size of the files. I’ve got one or two Flac hi res albums that sounds great but haven’t got anything to compare them with.

[Suedkiez]

Sure, is just that we just went into yet another WAV vs FLAC SQ debate again further up in the thread, before your post.

You are of course correct, for the same source PCM data the only difference is that the FLAC is smaller and has to be decoded before playing. As we all know, this additional processing probably made a difference on underpowered older streamers, while apparently nearly nobody could replicate it on new streamers as far as forum posts document.

Just trying to stay precise in the interest of a healthy debate