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Smoother but not necessarily better

73.229.163.4

In Reply to: RE: Least expensive "all to DSD" dac? posted by Analog Scott on October 31, 2023 at 08:39:16

Upsampling to DSD is like a rock smoothed over by the ocean currents. It's still a rock but no longer the original rock that it once was.
Is it better? I think that's just a matter of personal preference. I don't want my Type-A hard rock and blues to sound like they've been sedated by DSD upsampling. I suppose if you have some nasty recordings and harsh sounding equipment DSD upsampling will tame it.
I've compared DSD albums to the same albums in PCM as well as on-the-fly PCM to DSD conversion during playback. I generally prefer high quality PCM as DSD sounds artificially and intentionally smoothed over. But that's just my observation for my preferred sound.

Edits: 11/04/23 11/04/23 11/04/23 11/04/23

Follow Ups:

RE: Smoother but not necessarily better - John Elison 09:27:00 11/08/23 (0)
Like you say, it's a matter of preference. No audio reproduction played on speakers in a listening room will sound identical to the actual performance. Therefore, you just have to choose the imitation that sounds best to you.

My favorite imitation is not up-sampled PCM to DSD, but actual DSD256 recordings of the original. To me, they sound better on my audio system and in my listening room than other digital formats.

To each his own!

Happy listening!
John Elison

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