The video/film analogy is a stretch IMO. However, my impression is that the general consensus is that upsampling Redbook CD's usually does result in audible improvements, and I agree. I've been doing it for years, though in hardware rather than software.
CD's clearly improve when upsampled through my old-but-beautiful Assemblage D2D-1 upsampler/dejitterer. It feeds a Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 MK-III via I2S-e interface. This system only goes to 24b/96khz, but so what? How many of us can really hear the difference between 24/96 ans 24/192 or whatever? [And please, nobody whine about the old kit or "digital has improved dramatically," etc etc unless you've actually heard it. It's bold, but I'll say it - at the very high end this stuff hasn't actually been sonically improved on. But all that is a topic for another thread.]
What sonic improvements? Very subtle but also very real. More space and depth in the soundstage. Clearer placement of instruments, less "smeared." Just a little clearer, better defined and simply more real.
Most significant to me, is that the same improvements occur when playing upsampled 16/44, "CD quality" material from Quobuz and Tidal through the BlueSound Node 2i. In this case it's the s/pdif output of the Node 2i to the D2D-1, thereby bypassing the DAC in the Node 2i. The D2D-1/SFD-2 sounds >>vastly<< better than the Node 2i's internal DAC.
Interestingly, playing Tidal MDA material through the D2D-1/SFD-2 (which wouldn't be unfolded or decoded or whatever, I guess) sounds better than when using the Node 2i's internal DAC with full MDA unfolding. Admittedly, this probably isn't a fair comparison.
CD's clearly improve when upsampled through my old-but-beautiful Assemblage D2D-1 upsampler/dejitterer. It feeds a Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 MK-III via I2S-e interface. This system only goes to 24b/96khz, but so what? How many of us can really hear the difference between 24/96 ans 24/192 or whatever? [And please, nobody whine about the old kit or "digital has improved dramatically," etc etc unless you've actually heard it. It's bold, but I'll say it - at the very high end this stuff hasn't actually been sonically improved on. But all that is a topic for another thread.]
What sonic improvements? Very subtle but also very real. More space and depth in the soundstage. Clearer placement of instruments, less "smeared." Just a little clearer, better defined and simply more real.
Most significant to me, is that the same improvements occur when playing upsampled 16/44, "CD quality" material from Quobuz and Tidal through the BlueSound Node 2i. In this case it's the s/pdif output of the Node 2i to the D2D-1, thereby bypassing the DAC in the Node 2i. The D2D-1/SFD-2 sounds >>vastly<< better than the Node 2i's internal DAC.
Interestingly, playing Tidal MDA material through the D2D-1/SFD-2 (which wouldn't be unfolded or decoded or whatever, I guess) sounds better than when using the Node 2i's internal DAC with full MDA unfolding. Admittedly, this probably isn't a fair comparison.