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Explain to me dsd

Ok so I understand dsd was a way for sacd to be computer storage friendly...

But I have a dac (Emm Labs Dac2x) that somehow uses dsd (I'm confused as to whether it up samples to dsd)...

Can someone explain to me what this is about and whether I would benefit from a streamer like auralic Aries that is able to output dsd vs a bluesound node 2 that outputs only pcm?
joey_v

Showing 3 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,657 posts
 
Hi Joey,

DSD is a different way to try to digitally encode data than PCM. They both result in digital files, but DSD tends to be much larger than PCM.  SACD is a disk which contains DSD data. Unfortunately there is no easy way to rip  SACD, but there are many ways to rip CD's.

You can stream to several DSD capable DAC's over USB or using a hybrid approach called DoP (DSD over PCM) which allows some resolutions of DSD to be sent over a standard SPDIF connection. I'm not sure what the limits are. I think you need USB 2.0 to stream the highest resolution DSD files, like the highest resolution PCM.

Things get complicated though as some SACD players like Oppo will only send DSD over HDMI. Ugh.

For these reasons I never buy SACD disks, but will purchase music files to download.

Best,


Erik
erik_squires
15,657 posts
 

While all this tech is fun, I wouldn't say upsampling, or converstion from PCM guarantees one or the other is better. Your ears make a better arbiter than white papers. :)

Best,


Erik
erik_squires
15,657 posts
 
@kalali

I think most people use a variety of ways to get music. The biggest reason for buying in addition to subscribing, which I do, is to have the highest quality possible.

Most streaming services provide heavy compression. Tidal's best resolution is only CD quality.  So if you want better than that, you have to buy. Also, if you are a firm believer in DSD there's no streaming service I'm aware of.  MQA was going to solve this, but it's so far proven snake oil, and Tidal doesn't seem to be supporting it anymore.

By the way, I've ripped all my CD's and never play directly.

There are of course issues with what do you do if your streaming service goes belly up, or if you've "purchased" Amazon or iTunes music and that disappears or you are no longer a subscriber. And of course, there's what do you do when the Internet is down. The whole streaming industry has yet to figure itself out really, which is why Tidal is still struggling to make money.

Make yourself happy, but the highest resolution formats are not streamed.

Best,


Erik
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