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Redbook Keeps Surprising

I was a Best Buy to get a memory card reader for my computer. Looked at the CDs and saw a few in the bargain bin that I would like to have, only a few dollars. Came home, ripped them with DB power amp, picked the best cover art. Transferred to my Aurender through the NAS and played away. WOW, impressive sound and I really enjoyed them both. I like the High Res downloads and my SACD collection but am often really impressed by good Redbook CD. It really is the music that counts. 
davt
dbtom2
382 posts
 
@davt
I agree. A good Redbook cd can sound like it couldnt be improved upon. I find myself buying new or used from Amazon and saving $$. For my old ears, it takes a special artist and recording to get me to go for the hi-res version.

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

You would be really impressed with Redbook (PCM) using with todays ideas of I/V (current to voltage) conversion with proper R2R Multibit dacs, as they are "bit perfect" for PCM conversion.

Instead of using Delta Sigma based convertors in most of todays dacs that are used for dsd, then try to do Redbook replay which can only give an approximation, and is not "bit perfect" .


Cheers George

gshepardbuster's avatar
gshepardbuster
620 posts
 
IMO it seems that this old outdated format is finally starting to reach its full potential.  
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


PCM still rules, maybe the format it's carried on can be updated (CD) but re-played with a dac with R2R Mulitbit converter, there is still no equal.

http://www.mojo-audio.com/blog/dsd-vs-pcm-myth-vs-truth/

Make sure you read at the bottom:

"When a PCM file is played on a DSD or Bit Stream converter, the DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM."

Cheers George



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