My History Of Audio Sources
I bought 350 sheets of vinyl and organized alphabetically by artist between labeled cinder blocks on pine planks... I sold the lot we'd collected when CDs were released - so much more convenient. My system evolved to a huge CD changer with computer control and CDDB metadata - so much more convenient.
I ripped 1000s of CDs we owned to VBR mp3 with metadata and stored them on a home network attached Win server - so much more convenient. A media server cataloged the music and allowed computers, iDevices and other clients like my Slim Devices Squeezeboxes to stream wherever I needed - so much more convenient.
The industry accommodated and allowed me to directly buy mp3s from online stores and download directly into my music store; media servers and players added extensive metadata from "the Internet" - so much more convenient.
I returned to more critical listening via planar magnetic headphones, tube amps and better DACs and enlisted JRiver Media Center (streams any format bit perfect) and Plex (good for remote) to be my jukebox - so much more convenient.
While convenient, I became suspicious of my mp3 encodings and vendors' mp3 downloads and did a deep dive on lossy vs lossless audio formats, including experimentation.
HD Audio & Lossless vs Lossy Formats
HD Audio generally refers to playing DSD files (or high resolution and sample rate PCM or WAV files) or listening to SACDs, as opposed to playing MP3s/M4As or listening to CDs or FLAC files even, though the latter two are debatable. Super-Audio CDs didn't make the mainstream though I have a player and a dozen discs. They have both a CD layer and an SACD layer - the latter actually uses Direct Stream Digital. DSD is a simple encoding of 1 bit depth and very high sample rates (2.8224MHz) which Sony employed to digitize its masters "for all time;" it's commonly called DSD64 though now there are even higher sample rates (>11MHz) used. It was conceived in a time when the best DACs were not multi-bit.
CDs were also spawned from Sony/Phillips and employ 16 bit 44.1KHz PCM encoding. To compare, SACDs/DSD64 have roughly the resolution of 24 bit 96KHz PCM recordings. Even 24 bit 192KHz PCM recordings are available (including FLAC). FLAC is Free Lossless Audio Compression and is an excellent and popular compressed but lossless audio format. It is easy to rip a CD into 16 bit 44.1KHz FLAC songs and DSD64 songs. It's also obviously possible to rip a CD into a variety of quality levels of MP3/M4A, commonly ~92Kbps-384Kbps.
If one has master tapes that's one problem realm (which studios are struggling with separately) but I have a lot of low bit rate MP3s which are great for storage space but which I now can hear are much lower fidelity. What's lost is lost... lossy formats like all those offered from the main online vendors (save TIDAL), and as represented in the bulk of my music storage library can not be made back into original quality sources... they can be converted into larger files but not better sounding ones.
FLAC/DSD/MP3 Bakeoff Experiment
One cannot get access to the SACD layer easily to directly save DSD64 unfortunately and I did not buy better material than what a CD can muster for this experiment. I did make multiple versions of several songs from Wheatus, Dire Straits and The Killers including 128Kbps & 384Kbps MP3, FLAC and DSD64. I know I really won't be able to get "better than CD fidelity" from the DSD64 as it was ripped from a CD but I wanted to test anyway as DACs handle multi-bit PCM differently than one-bit DSD and I might perceive some differences.
So it was very close among the better formats - I could readily sense however the greater dynamic range versus the lower end MP3 in the others. Between the 384Kbps and the FLAC it was very close to my ear but I preferred the FLAC. The DSD64 felt a little rounder and nicer sounding to me than the more clinical FLAC - focusing on the cymbal crashes for that. Yet my tube amp made the audiophile "harshness" of a CD pretty darn sweet. Audiophiles will mention too the more analog-like nature of DSD vs FLAC but that could be marketing as I can't imagine there's not much difference to a human ear (but maybe a brain?) between these formats. Still, intellectually I know there is a difference as they are handled differently in the DAC.
I concluded I don't need DSD since there's little improvement (when ripping from a CD) and it takes 4X the storage space of FLAC. I concluded that I need to re-rip my CD library to FLAC. Fortunately JRiver is bit-perfect and can spin out any format to my DAC/AMP setups. I concluded that I need to stop buying from Amazon & Apple unless I get at least the CD too. I concluded that I need to do another comparison experiment with digital material of even higher fidelity and resolution. I'd include the 24 bit 192MHz PCMs in there along with real DSD128 and MQA (see below) and compare these against the CD-quality FLAC files. I concluded I should look at multi-bit DACs and compare to delta signal DACs, as all my stuff right now is delta signal based.
Master Quality Authenticated ~ MQA Format
A new encoding/decoding scheme called MQA may hold promise. I've seen the videos and read the reports but I personally haven't listened to the "natural sounding difference." I understand some of the technical aspects - primary among the claims are that current 16bit / 44.1KHz systems suffer "time smearing" and recent neuroscience suggests humans are more sensitive to time in sounds than even frequency of sound. Imagine a twig snapping in the woods - if recorded using most current techniques when digitization and filtering is applied it makes the snap "smear out over time" ~ have more pre- and post- sound than in reality/naturally. Higher sampling rates MUST be used to reduce these artifacts. Other inventions of the new MQA format include a file size just a bit larger than CDs (from unique folded encoding below the noise floor) rather than 6x their size in 24 bit / 192KHz PCM files - this makes streaming high resolution viable. Finally there is an "authentication" aspect that indicates to a consumer that the file is unadulterated MQA (a normal CD quality sound will play in its place). Meridian owns the tech and is licensing - there's quite a bit of industry support, but only 350 recordings thus far, and I hope it is as touted and sounds as good as claimed. I will add it to future high rez testing it possible. I doubt the format will take off if it remains completely closed - Meridian should release software which allows encoding to MQA from high rez source material. Here are some good background videos on MQA.
Hans Beekhuyzen on MQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_wxRGiBoJg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5o6XHVK2HA
Master Quality Authenticated - Bob Stuart - Meridian
MQA – First Time Reactions https://youtu.be/qsQ4KYELek0
MQA Ringing & Filters https://youtu.be/drv9ESli5yI
MQA Music Origami https://youtu.be/BrgjycGhoSM
MQA – An Introduction https://youtu.be/3i69U69pqu0
MQA – A Sound Engineering Perspective https://youtu.be/qLlpekBg1Fw
MQA – Bob's Vision https://youtu.be/gzgyIcsN-a8
To The Cloud, Or Not
Amazon is offering unlimited storage for $60/year. I thought this perfect to attempt to stream my own high rez audio to anywhere I wanted and not be responsible for keeping hardware up and content backed up, etc. I did not get to the experiment because I read an excellent article on the state of implementing such a scheme and it's practicality. Despite it being two years old, the environment in which he tested mimics mine today and the similarity of our objectives/desires was solid. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/574-cloud-storage-high-resolution-streaming-possible-practical-pricey/ His conclusion and I followed it is that it's not practical to operate a personal HD audio server in the cloud, so I'll have to use my own drives and I'll have to settle for lower resolution when listening remote from my own drives.
CDs were also spawned from Sony/Phillips and employ 16 bit 44.1KHz PCM encoding. To compare, SACDs/DSD64 have roughly the resolution of 24 bit 96KHz PCM recordings. Even 24 bit 192KHz PCM recordings are available (including FLAC). FLAC is Free Lossless Audio Compression and is an excellent and popular compressed but lossless audio format. It is easy to rip a CD into 16 bit 44.1KHz FLAC songs and DSD64 songs. It's also obviously possible to rip a CD into a variety of quality levels of MP3/M4A, commonly ~92Kbps-384Kbps.
If one has master tapes that's one problem realm (which studios are struggling with separately) but I have a lot of low bit rate MP3s which are great for storage space but which I now can hear are much lower fidelity. What's lost is lost... lossy formats like all those offered from the main online vendors (save TIDAL), and as represented in the bulk of my music storage library can not be made back into original quality sources... they can be converted into larger files but not better sounding ones.
FLAC/DSD/MP3 Bakeoff Experiment
One cannot get access to the SACD layer easily to directly save DSD64 unfortunately and I did not buy better material than what a CD can muster for this experiment. I did make multiple versions of several songs from Wheatus, Dire Straits and The Killers including 128Kbps & 384Kbps MP3, FLAC and DSD64. I know I really won't be able to get "better than CD fidelity" from the DSD64 as it was ripped from a CD but I wanted to test anyway as DACs handle multi-bit PCM differently than one-bit DSD and I might perceive some differences.
So it was very close among the better formats - I could readily sense however the greater dynamic range versus the lower end MP3 in the others. Between the 384Kbps and the FLAC it was very close to my ear but I preferred the FLAC. The DSD64 felt a little rounder and nicer sounding to me than the more clinical FLAC - focusing on the cymbal crashes for that. Yet my tube amp made the audiophile "harshness" of a CD pretty darn sweet. Audiophiles will mention too the more analog-like nature of DSD vs FLAC but that could be marketing as I can't imagine there's not much difference to a human ear (but maybe a brain?) between these formats. Still, intellectually I know there is a difference as they are handled differently in the DAC.
I concluded I don't need DSD since there's little improvement (when ripping from a CD) and it takes 4X the storage space of FLAC. I concluded that I need to re-rip my CD library to FLAC. Fortunately JRiver is bit-perfect and can spin out any format to my DAC/AMP setups. I concluded that I need to stop buying from Amazon & Apple unless I get at least the CD too. I concluded that I need to do another comparison experiment with digital material of even higher fidelity and resolution. I'd include the 24 bit 192MHz PCMs in there along with real DSD128 and MQA (see below) and compare these against the CD-quality FLAC files. I concluded I should look at multi-bit DACs and compare to delta signal DACs, as all my stuff right now is delta signal based.
Master Quality Authenticated ~ MQA Format
A new encoding/decoding scheme called MQA may hold promise. I've seen the videos and read the reports but I personally haven't listened to the "natural sounding difference." I understand some of the technical aspects - primary among the claims are that current 16bit / 44.1KHz systems suffer "time smearing" and recent neuroscience suggests humans are more sensitive to time in sounds than even frequency of sound. Imagine a twig snapping in the woods - if recorded using most current techniques when digitization and filtering is applied it makes the snap "smear out over time" ~ have more pre- and post- sound than in reality/naturally. Higher sampling rates MUST be used to reduce these artifacts. Other inventions of the new MQA format include a file size just a bit larger than CDs (from unique folded encoding below the noise floor) rather than 6x their size in 24 bit / 192KHz PCM files - this makes streaming high resolution viable. Finally there is an "authentication" aspect that indicates to a consumer that the file is unadulterated MQA (a normal CD quality sound will play in its place). Meridian owns the tech and is licensing - there's quite a bit of industry support, but only 350 recordings thus far, and I hope it is as touted and sounds as good as claimed. I will add it to future high rez testing it possible. I doubt the format will take off if it remains completely closed - Meridian should release software which allows encoding to MQA from high rez source material. Here are some good background videos on MQA.
Hans Beekhuyzen on MQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_wxRGiBoJg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5o6XHVK2HA
Master Quality Authenticated - Bob Stuart - Meridian
MQA – First Time Reactions https://youtu.be/qsQ4KYELek0
MQA Ringing & Filters https://youtu.be/drv9ESli5yI
MQA Music Origami https://youtu.be/BrgjycGhoSM
MQA – An Introduction https://youtu.be/3i69U69pqu0
MQA – A Sound Engineering Perspective https://youtu.be/qLlpekBg1Fw
MQA – Bob's Vision https://youtu.be/gzgyIcsN-a8
To The Cloud, Or Not
Amazon is offering unlimited storage for $60/year. I thought this perfect to attempt to stream my own high rez audio to anywhere I wanted and not be responsible for keeping hardware up and content backed up, etc. I did not get to the experiment because I read an excellent article on the state of implementing such a scheme and it's practicality. Despite it being two years old, the environment in which he tested mimics mine today and the similarity of our objectives/desires was solid. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/574-cloud-storage-high-resolution-streaming-possible-practical-pricey/ His conclusion and I followed it is that it's not practical to operate a personal HD audio server in the cloud, so I'll have to use my own drives and I'll have to settle for lower resolution when listening remote from my own drives.
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