I will get back to you with a more detailed answer. However,the first step is to have a player that can play SACD(some stereo only,some multichannel). Some players,especially blu-ray “universal players” will support SACD/multichannel and you would need to have,at the minimum 5 channels/speakers of amplification. There is a online site that may familiarize yourself with hardware SACD’s that are available and there are reviews/discussions etc. It can get very complicated. www.HRAudio.net.
I’m upgrading my brain. Obviously it’s the component that ultimately processes the sound. Most days, I try to pad the brain cells with a Martini carefully avoiding the inferior Martini and Rossi vermouth. Alternatively, I may use some single malt, from the northernmost highlands (Wick) or perhaps from an island (Jura, etc).
Once done with the brain, I think I may look for some tube amplification to plumb into the analog chain so that I may energize my old STAX phones in that setup. Possibly even consider higher-end DAC at some point.
The big upgrade sticking point are the loudspeakers, as the price of an upgrade there is not insignificant, AND the spousal unit has a lot of input on both cost and aesthetics. Least important are the wires that carry power to the speakers. I sort of bought into good quality patch cords (interconnects) on the delicate parts but I have yet to decide on cryogenic room temperature superconductor bi-amplified Ride of the Valkerie - Rainbow Bridge 100.00% Oxygen free, boron free, knob and tube speaker cables suspended in mid air by drones.
It does seem that since speaker wires carry higher current over longer distances to very low input impedance transducers, one would want something with suitably low resistance (i.e. high gauge) there. Of course, I don’t think that means it needs to be made of silver silk pooped out by Japanese Akaushi spiders and spun by rainbow unicorns in small batches.
I found this article very educational on the topic of DSD/SACD files
Looks like another deep dive into finding that extra 1% quality but I can dig it
Great article. I can’t pull it up in the Headphone Community. It may take me few days to read and digest. Thanks for the info.
Frank
ok… I found it here on Headphone Community. I would love to hear pure DSD through headphones,speakers whatever.
Okay,I read through the whole thing. I am not an engineer. But it seems like the very end of the article seemed to be an advertisement for somebody or some company.
As I understand it, a key benefit to SACD releases is that at least some of them were mastered more towards an audiophile listener. That is much more important to me than the format.
yeah, it is, but I thought it was one of the better presented articles/blogs on the topic, and they weren’t really trying to sell anything in the article, so I wasn’t bothered by it.
Edit: I have 0 affiliation with any audio company lol, just wanted to make sure that was out there… this article was just a random find while searching for info on the topic.
To my ears it’s absolutely wonderful
ok…DarthPool… all is good.
hey… Carmantom… can you elaborate. Do you have a set-up to directly listen to DSD or are you just pulling our chain.
Of course, what would be the point of commenting on it. Mac - A Boatload of DSD files - Audirvana - Matrix X sabre (which I sold and temporarily using the Fiio 5 3rd gen) to custom built amp by Xrk Audio designed for my Audeze LCD Fazers. Used to be Woo Audio Wa7 Fireflies using only the amp wit the MatriX X Sabre. I have listened to DSD files since when lots of people thought they weren’t any better than redbook.
All this brings me to my recently purchased Utopias are burning in. My Chord Hugo 2 will be here in a week.
So “No” I’m not pulling your chain. I’m hoping I misinterpreted your post. It seemed sarcastic.
I absolutely did not mean any sarcasm towards your post and I was genuinely interested if you listened to direct DSD, I have always been impressed with your posts. I’m sorry.
My bad! Sorry!
I now have a setup worthy enough to really dive into for a while (D50 + Massdrop CTH + HD 600 (HD 6xx on the way)). Massdrop Plus for on-the-go.
What I am upgrading is my music library, my time management, and my openness to try new music.
I really enjoyed the Massdrop Plus, that and an HD600 is really solid for an under $1,000 system. What kind of music are you into?
What’s the D50 like? I understand it measures very well and I have been following it with interest. That’s a fine setup you’ve got too.
-Paul-
I am still forming my impressions of the MD+. Its sound changes dramatically with type of tip used and the seal it creates. So far the medium silicone tips feel and sound the best to me. It also doesn’t pair well with MCTH, as there is a constant hiss. Out of the phone or MacBook pro, though, it’s great. And I look forward to testing with my colleague’s iDSD BL.
Music wise, I am into a wide range of stuff, from Indian classical music to hip hop to Jazz. Grew up on a lot of classic rock. The one area where I am just starting to explore is electronic music (EDM, etc). I need help finding the right music here because I like clean and crisp sound, and songs that sound like a lot of cool woozy nothingness don’t do much for me.
Jazz is something I only got into over the last two months, so great Jazz suggestions are welcome too.
I created a playlist with some eclectic music, I recently got into trop house style edm, so that plays heavily into this playlist: