Thanks all, some good suggestions that I will look into. Mahler123, you nailed it. I was wondering if others found that happening to them and it wasn’t just me - or if there was, perhaps a magic bullet.
A DAC to help overcome compressed music?
I have found after upgrading my system, to a much higher level then I ever had before, that with some of the music I enjoy I can now really hear how compressed the music is. I could always tell, but now it’s really obvious to the point of wondering what I can do about it - from a digital source perspective. Would perhaps a certain type of DAC or DAC’s that have various different settings as some do, help “improve” the compression in some way? Or do I simply need to live with it? I am sure there are many others that have had this happen to them. I use a Bluesound or Qobuz currently.
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Totally agree with @mahler123. You might consider trying a tube DAC as they can sometimes inject some life into lesser recordings without ruining good recordings and also be a big improvement over the Node’s DAC. I’d try an MHDT Orchid DAC that you can order from the company and I think they offer a return period so you can try at home. I think that’d be well worth a try, and if it helps you’d also have the flexibility to try different tubes to custom tailor your sound even further. Anyway, just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck. |
As others have noted, once a recording has been mixed, processed and released to the public, it is what it is. What you are talking about is unscrambling scrambled eggs. Good luck. The other problem is that if you do stumble across a piece of equipment that, to your taste, improves the sound quality of bad recordings, it is also going to mess with what you hear on good recordings. Pick your poison |
You’re discovering an unintended consequence of having an upgraded, and revealing, audio system. The higher up the audio food chain you go, the more likely you are to notice that some recordings just sound bad. If you were to upgrade your DAC you could expect the good recordings to sound better, and the poor recordings to sound potentially worse. |
I don't know what DBX product you used in the past that you didn't care for, but these units seem to address your concerns: dbx CD player with built-in compression and expansion (technofileonline.com) DBX DX5 Compact Disc Player Manual | HiFi Engine |
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