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HD Audio...anybody listening?


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Hi all

Is anybody downloading & listening to HD audio files? If so what are you using for hardware and software and where are you downloading from?

I have just started playing around with it and just like the introduction of the CD has pricked my ears up! I l also must say what a game for Horns to be at their best, with further increases in detail and dynamic range, it again places horns in a place that many speakers could not compete!

Thoughts?

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Ik have several 24bit/96kHz and 24bit/192kHz recordings that sound pristine through the Squeezebox Touch (with EDO to enable the 24/192 native mode) hooked to my mighty Onkyo NR5010.

BUT I was very surprised to see that a track the sounded so good through my setup (RF7-II) was actually MP3 at 160kbps VBR .... So go figure!! Bits don't tell the whole story....

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For the me the difference is clarity, better positioning of instruments/voices, hearing more of them and the tone/timbre/decay and the dynamic range which is the most surprising. I have normal CD tracks played on some very expensive kit but when I play the same track off a file from my laptop (recorded in 96/24 from original tape) the difference means that I just don't play the CD anymore! I have downloaded some live recordings, some very average and others fantastic, feels as though you are in the room with the crowd! Just can't get that from a CD. I am told that purchasing a dedicated media player (beefed up computer) takes it to another level but really how good can it get? I am impressed already.

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Oh and yes some larger algorithms in play. So a 44.1 sample becomes 88.2 or 96 times per second and up to 192 which should mean (if taken from an original recording) that the digital signal becomes more like the original as the sample size increases. Just a way of expressing closeness/accuracy to the original analog signal be it a tape or digital device. Often a recording is done at 96/24 and mixed down to CD format of 16 bit. Sometimes not a good thing as the engineer of the recording may not be any good thus recording no good! The bits is the signal-to-noise/dynamic range max - 16 bit is about 96db and 24 bit 144db which provides for greater extension of the signal which I believe a really good horn can provide that speed in dynamic range like no other speaker...Khorn comes to mind! I am no expert but I let my ears judge.

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Ik have several 24bit/96kHz and 24bit/192kHz recordings that sound pristine through the Squeezebox Touch (with EDO to enable the 24/192 native mode) hooked to my mighty Onkyo NR5010.

BUT I was very surprised to see that a track the sounded so good through my setup (RF7-II) was actually MP3 at 160kbps VBR .... So go figure!! Bits don't tell the whole story....

320 VBR with the Lame (best) encoder had been found to be indistinguishable from the original CD. The reason Apple and the other download service don't do it is it takes 2-4 times the data, and would slow down their $1.29 purchases times millions of downloads.

It's all about the money, not the fidelity.

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For the me the difference is clarity, better positioning of instruments/voices, hearing more of them and the tone/timbre/decay and the dynamic range which is the most surprising. I have normal CD tracks played on some very expensive kit but when I play the same track off a file from my laptop (recorded in 96/24 from original tape) the difference means that I just don't play the CD anymore! I have downloaded some live recordings, some very average and others fantastic, feels as though you are in the room with the crowd! Just can't get that from a CD. I am told that purchasing a dedicated media player (beefed up computer) takes it to another level but really how good can it get? I am impressed already.

you are in the 99.99th percentile of the world.

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Ik have several 24bit/96kHz and 24bit/192kHz recordings that sound pristine through the Squeezebox Touch (with EDO to enable the 24/192 native mode) hooked to my mighty Onkyo NR5010.

BUT I was very surprised to see that a track the sounded so good through my setup (RF7-II) was actually MP3 at 160kbps VBR .... So go figure!! Bits don't tell the whole story....

320 VBR with the Lame (best) encoder had been found to be indistinguishable from the original CD. The reason Apple and the other download service don't do it is it takes 2-4 times the data, and would slow down their $1.29 purchases times millions of downloads.

It's all about the money, not the fidelity.

Always used the 320 VBR with lame. I just don't rip that much to need the smaller sizes, and it still sounds great to my ears.

Bruce

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I am told that purchasing a dedicated media player (beefed up computer) takes it to another level but really how good can it get? I am impressed already.

I felt the same, but because digital music files are digital data, I took the computer plunge only to be better able to manage the data. Then I discovered Pure Music for critical listening. It uses Itunes is the database for music files it plays. As an added benefit Itunes plays well with my Iphone for portability and when not critically listening it sends output to my whole house audio system or any other Apple TV device in the home. Great source and output flexibility.

HD for me is anything that is not an MP3. MP3s generally have a reproduction flaw that can irritate my listening enjoyment on a critical listening sound system. Although I have and enjoy MP3s away from critical listening, the added clarity and dynamics of well mastered flac, dsd and Apple lossless music files is noticeable with critical listening. So much so I had to find a quieter amp attached to my tweeter horns for quieter jazz, vocal and classical HD music.

For me the computer and sound card became my pre amp so on balance it is even money for me. BTW Pure Vinyl, a companion product to Pure Music, allows me to use the inputs of my sound card to easily play LPs or use any other analogue source.

For me a computer front end for my critical listening system gives me great enjoyment at a reasonable price with great flexibility at a reasonable cost.

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Even a 44.1 sample through my laptop sounds as good as being played through my expensive CD set-up. With electronic files you lose the artefacts that all CD players carry no matter what the cost and yes files are much easier to play, sort, categorise, rip with greater flex. Just like vinyl took a dive (I still like listening to vinyl) the CD is at the edge of the cliff!

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My library is all file based and is comprised of 16/44.1, 24/96, and a handful of 24/192 files. Quality is great, regardless of the bit depth and sample rate. I use JRiver media center for mac with JPlay on my ipad for remote control of everything. I think the only downfall is that it's too easy to keep browsing albums while you're listening and there's no effort required to change tracks. It's very hard to sit through a whole album. I find myself having to just put the iPad down or keep it out of arm's reach.

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Indeed. But random shuffle is a wonderful thing.

Yikes. Random shuffle on my system might yield the 3rd movement of Beethoven's 3rd, Talking Heads, a pipa piece, bagpipes, a Scarlatti sonata. Pink Floyd.

Until we get legalized here in Texas I think I'll pass.

Dave

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