Bottlehead Forum
Other Gear => Digital => Topic started by: proud indian on January 27, 2013, 05:00:02 AM
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My oppo player has this available on the audio format setting. I am aware that CD's are 44.1. So my question is that is there any reason to run it on 96 or 192 and what actually happens ( theory and audio wise) by up sampling something which was recorded at 44.1. The manual says that the default setting is 192, and I feel that it is more from a blue ray point of view, rather than audio.
shreekant :)
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Shreekant,
I have gone back and fourth on upsampling, and have had several upsamplers. I do always go with the highest upsampling rate. But I am not certain it helps.
I get the idea, more bits and interpolating between actual data points. I am still undecided.
So when your attention span is at its best, choose a favorite song and listen to all possible upsampling rates against the straight 44.1.
Let us know what you hear.
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Hey Shreekant - which Oppo did you get? I'm having some serious lust issues over the 105! - anyway thats my problem - I'm a serious digital slut and have tried all things digital in terms of sound manipulation.
IMO - redbook (16/44.1) upsampled IN SOFTWARE sounds a bit 'better' than NOS (non-oversampling) of the same, or hardward (chip) upsampling of the same. There are innumerable algorithms out there to accomplish this. Thats one of my fascinations with the Oppo is to see how they used the ESS DAC's to do the deed.
With my kit, the AKM9396 (Transporter) and the dual AKM9399's in my Gungnir, I get better sound upsampling my redbook to 24/96 using Sox with Foobar. This upsampling is done ahead of time, permanently changing the files, so they exist as 24/96 files on my hard drive (quite large at that). Therefore, the DAC sees 24/96 files. These DAC's do not up/oversample them. You could experiment with the same techniques using the 105 and a laptop or hard drive NAS over USB. With the Oppo I would upsample to 24/192. My transporter maxes out at 24/96.
Very exciting time for DAC's! I piss my pants just thinking about it!
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I tried all three settings and preferred the 48. The 96 and 192 added some unwanted action in the upper register. The 48 is much warmer. Then I suddenly realized that I have a NOS DAC in my other system,( 8x TDA 1543) so I connected that in and man did that make a difference. Now with the dac ( OPPO being reduced to a transport) there is more body to the music and sounds better than ever before. Most impressed with the bass and the clearer high's.
shreekant :)
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Interesting. Paully bought an Ack! dAck! which is NOS. He brought it to my house years ago and I liked it so much that I bought one. Both are the first iteration, not the 2.X version. Both of are still enjoying them.
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So, I am not alone!!!!
shreekant :)
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This may help
http://www.sakurasystems.com/articles/Kusunoki.html
shreekant :)
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So, I am not alone!!!!
shreekant :)
No, not alone. About this time last year I built an Audio Note Kits 4.1LE NOS DAC. So far it's taken on all challengers and is currently undefeated. Since I'm still using the Jim H's old HagUSB I expect additional improvements from the Off-Ramp 5 I'm going to slide into the system.
Tick
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This may help
http://www.sakurasystems.com/articles/Kusunoki.html
shreekant :)
I recently went back to the non-upsampling / non-oversampling and built myself a 47 labs 0647. And I do not miss a thing. The sound is extremely clear, undistorted and sweet. No harshness or sharpness.
This guy here has also written some good technical analysis http://www.mother-of-tone.com/index.htm (http://www.mother-of-tone.com/index.htm)
Best
Michael
http://zimmer64.wordpress.com (http://zimmer64.wordpress.com)
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NOS is the new digital vinyl. All the rage. IMO, its all about the filters, not necessarily the oversampling. Pre-ringing is what sounds like crap. Minimum filters sound the best because they dont pre-ring. More 'natural' sound. The ear is not accustomed to hearing a ring before the sound even occurs (except the Matrix).
For my money, I want a DAC that doesnt lock me into a particular over/upsampling algorithm (hence - NOS). That allows me to play with the digital on the front end. It seems that what has become clear is that on chip ASRC is a downer. That doesnt mean we should throw the baby out with the bath water! With smart upsampling we can allow aliasing and dither and get a very nice result. It isnt like we brick wall or nothing. We have computers now.
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I have an external word-clock that allows me to go from 44 to 96 with the flip of a switch. When I play a CD or any Redbook audio, I cannot hear any difference when I flip from 44 to 96. I have tried it with a few friends and they agree. If I am playing some 96 hi-res audio and flip from 96 to 44, then I can hear a difference.