Hi, I got a new cd player. The TEAC VRDS 701.
I try switch between PCM: Multibit ( no filter ) and DSD 1bit ( with 2 filter options Fir1: 185KHz / Fir2: 90KHz ).
I now play DSD with Fir2.
Sound nice, more open, wider stage then multibit. Or am I just imagine it?
You have some thoughts / experience on Multibit vs DSD.
Frank
I try switch between PCM: Multibit ( no filter ) and DSD 1bit ( with 2 filter options Fir1: 185KHz / Fir2: 90KHz ).
I now play DSD with Fir2.
Sound nice, more open, wider stage then multibit. Or am I just imagine it?
You have some thoughts / experience on Multibit vs DSD.
Frank
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It varies with the particular implementation. However, DSD can be pretty much better in every way as compared to old-fashioned multibit. That is, except for one particular way which is the most important way to some people. R2R dacs such as TDA1541 are known for a warm, full, well rounded, low midrange sound. OTOH, some DSD dacs can seem a little recessed in that same low midrange part of the sound.
That said, modern sigma-delta dac chips work with only a few bits, maybe 5 or 6 bits but oversampled enough so that when fully processed it is equivalent to maybe 22 effective bits or somewhere around that. It is multibit in the sense that there are enough bits for non-subtractive dither theory to be applicable. But its not multibit in the same sense as TDA1541. OTOH, DSD cannot be properly dithered according to theory, although there is a type of one-bit dac that is called sigma-delta PWM which suppresses some of the known issues with DSD (although there are still some tradeoffs).
That said, modern sigma-delta dac chips work with only a few bits, maybe 5 or 6 bits but oversampled enough so that when fully processed it is equivalent to maybe 22 effective bits or somewhere around that. It is multibit in the sense that there are enough bits for non-subtractive dither theory to be applicable. But its not multibit in the same sense as TDA1541. OTOH, DSD cannot be properly dithered according to theory, although there is a type of one-bit dac that is called sigma-delta PWM which suppresses some of the known issues with DSD (although there are still some tradeoffs).
You have a Delta Sigma player there. Below, highlighted in bold, is what you should NOT do to a PCM stream.
Source: https://www.review33.com/news/news.php?news_id=20230330021737
".....TEAC (Delta Sigma) discrete element DAC circuit. The main structure is composed of discrete electronic components. Through the FPGA chip, a unique algorithm is integrated to keep the DSD signal at its native sampling rate, while the PCM signal is converted into a 1-bit output through the ΔΣ modulator..."
Why get a CD player with a Delta Sigma internal DAC to play CDs? CDs are PCM encoded, and they'll suffer the same fate as any other PCM stream fed externally to that player...
You need a DAC that can really do both PCM and DSD equally well. Only then can you start comparing, which can be a long and costly journey. Also, to be completely fair, with such DAC, you should obtain natively recorded DSD files to compare with natively recorded PCM files.
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Hi, I forgot to tell I only playing CD. No streaming. But as I understand in the user manual I can use both Multibit or DSD to play CD.
Or am I wrong? Is it only with streaming ( say with USB C from PC ) that the DSD 1bit is in "use"? Or even there must be a DSD file in the first place to get it to work. Sorry for asking so much, try to learn ( :
Frank
Or am I wrong? Is it only with streaming ( say with USB C from PC ) that the DSD 1bit is in "use"? Or even there must be a DSD file in the first place to get it to work. Sorry for asking so much, try to learn ( :
Frank
If there is a DSD modulator in FPGA then its entirely possible to play 16/44 CDs with a DSD dac. Its also quite possible for a CD rendered as DSD to sound subjectively better than some implementations of multibit. Maybe at one time that wasn't the case, but its certainly true now.
As Extreme_Boky already explained this is not what is going on. Your hardware does not contain a multibit dac, you are just comparing various implementations of delta-sigma processing. Some dacs have entirely separate signal chains for native PCM and native DSD, but this is not the case here. There are also dacs that do the opposite: convert DSD to PCM as their native processing system works with PCM.