Error in Upsampling Certain CDs?


Hello everyone, this thread is about upsampling CD players or D/A converter. I have noticed that on occassion my upsampling D/A does not work to upsample certain CDs, but will work just fine with others. For example, Pink Floyd, the Wall. The upsampling sounds absolutely horrible, the level is increased but there is all kinds of weird distortion and sound. Try disc 2 if you have it. When I swap with another CD there is no problem. Bought the Floyd cd in the '80's. So my question is whether you have found difficulties in upsampling certain music?

- anyone out there notice the same thing or close?
south_park

Showing 2 responses by treyhoss

FWIW: I have a copy of the Wall. It is the only disc I own that makes a light turn on my DAC (Parasound DAC1000). If I recall, that light signifies some kind of compression or something in the recording process. It is truly a reference CD. I upsample through an AA DTI-PRO32 and have not noticed a problem. I have owned the old 80's 2 disc set and have owned the remastered version for the last few years. I don't know that upsampling is what is causing your troubles but I know The Wall is the only CD I have encountered that does this. I'll pull out the owner's manual and see if I can't find the exact meaning behind the light on the DAC. BTW: the remastered version is well worth the money - a reference CD.
South Park,
Sorry for not getting back to you right away. According to the DAC1000 manual: "De-Emphasis LED - Some digital recordings are encoded with pre-emphasis contouring. Your D/AC-1000 automatically recognizes and processes them. An LED illuminates as a beacon for visual confirmation."
I'm not an engineer but that could play a role. As I said, The Wall (both old/new versions) is the only CD that activates this light. That said, it sounds great and well recorded - like most Floyd is:-)This is, however, the only Floyd disc that activates the light and uses this de-emphasis. My guess is Floyd was using some "state-of-the-art" studio electronics (It was recorded in '77/78 I think). What other titles do you have that do this?