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DSD vs. PCM vs. MQA - Group listening experiment

Hi everyone,

So I just re-discovered the 2L website which has free samples of high resolution music.

I thought it would be worthwhile to ask the fans about the tracks here, specifically if there are any you feel are really good exemplars of why encoding scheme X is better or different than Y.

I just downloaded a bunch of Vivaldi and will share my own observations (and lack thereof) here.

As for me, file size matters so I'm going to try to stick to relatively similar file sizes when possible.

Best,


Erik
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
15,661 posts
 
So far I've been listening to a Vivaldi Contata, about 70 Megs at 24/96 in FLAC and 44.1/24 MQA FLAC.

I hear no difference, though my DAC indicates the MQA file is playing at 24/352.8kHz.

However, though I hear no difference, the MQA recording makes my ears hot, and uncomfortable. More on this later.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Does anyone know what type of dac was used to compare these group listening experiments with??

Cheers George
ahendler
416 posts
 
Shouldn't the MQA file be 24/44 or 24/48?
Alan
erik_squires OP
15,661 posts
 
@georgelofi

Sorry, the idea was that we would all listen at home with whatever we have.  The "group" part was that we can use the same library of files.

@ahendler Nominal 44khz is really 44.1kHz, so same deal. :)

Best,


Erik
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
If that's the case, then the PCM for it to sound it's best should only be listened to via a dac that is Multibit conversion.
Not one that is a DSD dac with/or Delta Sigma, Bitstream, Single Bit, Saber, or Wolfson sd DAC convertors.

From MoJo Music: and others have said the same.
" 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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