Korg DSDAC-100

machone

I just received my Korg DSDAC-100. I am using Korg Audiogate 3.0.2 on a Dell Precision M4400 laptop to the Korg DSDAC-100 via USB. I am upconverting everything to DSD 5.6mhz. It sounds great and this is with upconverted CDs! I just got it so I have not had time to download DSD files created straight from a master. Very natural sound; vocals, brass, strings, bass, everything and with great dynamics! The "digital" edge seems to be gone. Very impressed with the Korg and with DSD.

machone

I did some listening comparisons last night using different types of outputs from the Korg DSDAC-100. All songs were ripped from CDs to .wav files using a Dell Precision M4400 laptop running Windows Media Player. Using Audiogate 3.0.2 software the Korg plays or converts the ripped CD files on the fly. I compared PCM 44.1khz-16bit, 96khz-24 bit, 192khz-24 bit and DSD 5.6mhz-1 bit. I listened to several different songs and the results were the same with DSD always the winner. More nature and with great depth front to back. Great detail without any fatigue. It is amazing that the DSD 5.6 format can transform CD source material. I downloaded a free DSD file last night and it sounded great but it was very unfamiliar music so I can't really comment. I have downloaded MJ's Thrilller in 2.8mhz DSD today and will listen tonight.

bryantspaint

Get rid of windows media player! Get Foobar or Jrivers Make sure you get iso drivers and dsd drivers. 100times better

machone

Thanks. I am new to digital music. Until this week I had only ripped one CD in my entire life. Foobar and Jrivers 100 times better how? Ease of use? Sound quality? I noticed with the MJ Thriller files that I downloaded included a jpg of the artwork that shows on the Audiogate screen. How do I get artwork when I rip a CD?

bryantspaint

sound quality foobar and jrivers bypasses all windows mixers. if you have problem ill walk you thru it

machone

I only need a better program to rip the CDs. I am interested in software that can rip to FLAC because it supports artwork. I will probably go with something like dbPowerAmp because it does error correction, it's fast and will output to multiple formats at the same time. I can make MP3's for the car at the same time I make the FLAC files. The Korg Audiogate software does all of the playback and conversions and has all the drivers needed to play native DSD as well as any PCM format. It can output to any digital format either to files or discs including DSD discs. It sounds great now but it takes 300 hours of burn in for its best sound. The Korg hardware and software was designed together and really works well.

bryantspaint

Im talking players foobar and jrivers sound 100% better playing wav/flac/losslessand and dsd. windows media player doesnt do dsd if it does it converts it back down. Sound is not in the same ballpark.

bryantspaint

foobar and jrivers allows you to upsample

bryantspaint

and both support artwork

machone

I am not using Windows Media Player for playback. I used Windows Media Player to rip some CDs because I already had it and it was an easy way to get started. For playback I am using Korg AudioGate software designed to be used with the Korg DSDAC-100. They are designed to work together. It converts all PCM and/or FLAC files up to 192khz-24 bit to DSD 5.6mhz-1 bit in real time. The Korg system will also export DSD-5.6mhz-1bit to create DSD discs.
To my knowledge the Korg system does not rip CDs.

Emlyn

machone wrote: »

I only need a better program to rip the CDs. I am interested in software that can rip to FLAC because it supports artwork. I will probably go with something like dbPowerAmp because it does error correction, it's fast and will output to multiple formats at the same time. I can make MP3's for the car at the same time I make the FLAC files. The Korg Audiogate software does all of the playback and conversions and has all the drivers needed to play native DSD as well as any PCM format. It can output to any digital format either to files or discs including DSD discs. It sounds great now but it takes 300 hours of burn in for its best sound. The Korg hardware and software was designed together and really works well.

I can recommend JRiver for ripping CD's with excellent error detection. It will tag files with artwork in WAV format. However, not all playback devices will show the artwork from a WAV File. For example, Squeezebox Touch does, Oppo 105 does not, Sony HAP-Z1ES does. FLAC is more universally compatible with playback devices now but I chose not to use it for what are essentially archive files and stuck with WAV. Of course I can create any other file type in JRiver from the WAV files If I need to, and I do sometimes. I would always start with a rip to WAV though. Storage space is no longer an issue.

machone

Thanks Emlyn. Yes! Storage space is cheap and I have been using WAV for files.

The current version of the Audiogate software does not support artwork with WAV files. See below from the user guide:

"AudioGate 3 can load images in the following formats.
∙ Image files in JPEG or PNG format
∙ Image files embedded in an AIFF, DSF, MP3, WMA, AAC, Apple lossless, or FLAC format audio files"

"AudioGate 3 can embed the picture attached to a file when exporting the following formats.
∙ AIFF, DSF, MP3, WMA, or FLAC format audio files
∙ DSD discs"

I have pasted artwork manually but that is slow. However it does give me some time to actually listen to the tracks while working with the artwork.

I downloaded MJ's Thriller in DSD and Artwork displayed with no problem.