Not always. Music Direct uses DSD256 as I already stated.
Digital audio is not as perfect as SINAD numbers suggest. Its all the dynamic, signal-correlated noises that don't show up well on an FFT so you don't see them, but they are still there. AND they sure can be quite audible.
So, if you didn't drive or ride in a car for forty years, would you expect new cars to be just the same as 40-year old designs? What I am talking about are modern optical phono cartridges from DS Audio. They are remarkably transparent.
What do you think good speakers, and good dacs cost? You probably have no idea how bad your dac sounds, as compared to a better dac. Even Bruno Putzeys has to charge over $10k for what he thinks is a good dac.
I own a lot of records from the 1980s. The ones made from digital tape recorders often sound different from the ones made from analog tape - the digital recordings sound "crisp" whereas the analog ones sound "soft". Digital has much greater high-frequency headroom than analog.
Unfortunately, recording engineers often took advantage of the additional HF headroom to produce the 1980s "paint-peeler" recordings.
Ed
Unfortunately, recording engineers often took advantage of the additional HF headroom to produce the 1980s "paint-peeler" recordings.
Ed
The worst sounding records I ever heard were 45RPM singles of pop music. They were what the radio stations played and they they were way overdriven in the quest to be loud.
Pop music recordings really did go down in quality between the 1970s and 1980s, despite the equipment getting better.
Ed
Ed
It gets more "interesting" than that. The disc master is cut with a triangular stylus.
When played back we use a circular based stylus. Early on it was conical often with
a .007 radius. Later I used an elliiptical stylus with a .002x.007 geometry. Predistortion
was added to the cutting end to compensate for the "tracing distortion" from triangle
vs circular based stylus. What geometry was the compensation for? How do you fix
THAT? Now play with the laser. We're back to no wearout but the most difficult distortion
removal. Oh wait ! There IS a solution to ALL of this. Get a CD player. Problem solved.
Have you ever thought about the RC components in the RIAA network. Those also
NEVER match therefore EVERY analog playback sounds a little different. Can you tell?
Stop worrying about you dad's playback system. They don't make Oldsmobiles (your
DAD'S Oldsmobile) anymore either.
G²
As far as I remember, CD players were generally much too small to play vinyl records.
Don't say that too loud, or someone will market a new 13cm vinyl (or maybe polyester) analog format. Two-sided with a big label to look like a 45. Actually, now I want one. The heart wants what it wants.
All good fortune,
Chris
All good fortune,
Chris
On further reflection, make it single-sided with RedBookCD on the other side, backwards compatible with automobile players. Maybe room for a hit single on top.
An American cis-male haircut called the Mullet: "Short in the front for Mama, long in the back for the ladies". Not entirely gone in my strange part of the world. Currently paralyzed by an inch of snow.
Peace and love to all,
Chris
An American cis-male haircut called the Mullet: "Short in the front for Mama, long in the back for the ladies". Not entirely gone in my strange part of the world. Currently paralyzed by an inch of snow.
Peace and love to all,
Chris