Just Discovering Lossless Digital
msg
Posts: 6,252
A week or so ago I started ripping some of my favorite cds. An enjoyable little mindless process, that, by the way. Thanks to all who contributed by thread and PM/email to help me get the configuration down before getting too far in.
I know this seems late and backward for as long as I've been involved in the 2ch bit of this hobby, but I'm sitting here in the sweet spot listening to Luna's "Penthouse", and I almost can't believe what I'm hearing. It's like when I first got good cables. I wondered whether I was imagining it, but as with the cables, the improvements, though singularly subtle, are too consistent to ignore in the overall experience. Details I've never noticed before. Clarity. Articulation. Greater bass presence. Better stereo separation and presentation. Instruments seem to have a bit of texture and dimension, almost, like you could reach out and almost physically touch and feel some parts of the music.
This is in my multi-use main system of some Parasound stuff with 705s, and a Squeezebox Touch, which I still don't have a good digital coax in yet. The liddle office system is similarly pleasing in its own way, and a touch more immersive probably due, right now, to the near field setup.
This is cool
I know this seems late and backward for as long as I've been involved in the 2ch bit of this hobby, but I'm sitting here in the sweet spot listening to Luna's "Penthouse", and I almost can't believe what I'm hearing. It's like when I first got good cables. I wondered whether I was imagining it, but as with the cables, the improvements, though singularly subtle, are too consistent to ignore in the overall experience. Details I've never noticed before. Clarity. Articulation. Greater bass presence. Better stereo separation and presentation. Instruments seem to have a bit of texture and dimension, almost, like you could reach out and almost physically touch and feel some parts of the music.
This is in my multi-use main system of some Parasound stuff with 705s, and a Squeezebox Touch, which I still don't have a good digital coax in yet. The liddle office system is similarly pleasing in its own way, and a touch more immersive probably due, right now, to the near field setup.
This is cool
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Some say it's hype and only sounds different because the music is re-mixed which may be the case. In any event, I reset iTunes to rip CDs lossless and am more and more going in that direction.
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Village Idiot of Club Polk
Sony XA-5400ES SACD
Pass XP-22 pre, X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers, SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on preamp, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits.
You seem somewhat restrained with your response, Bud.
Village Idiot of Club Polk
Sony XA-5400ES SACD
Pass XP-22 pre, X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers, SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on preamp, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits.
Village Idiot of Club Polk
Sony XA-5400ES SACD
Pass XP-22 pre, X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers, SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on preamp, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits.
My theory is that it has something to do with the data retrieval process; where an optical drive must read "pits" via laser (are the pits cleanly rendered?) vs the magnetic retrieval of a hard drive reading head/disc platter.
@steveinaz
The funny thing is I have had the exact opposite experience in my system. I detailed it in my Laserdisc thread. While I LOVE my Oppo as it is a streaming BEAST (*in fact I'm listening to a DSD file of Michael Jackson Thriller that I downloaded from superhirez.com a few years ago as I tap this out on my tablet*) when it comes to listening to ripped CD's versus playing the actual disc. The disc always sounds better. The reasons have to do with jitter in the HDMI connection. It's all on the Laserdisc thread.
I'm running HDMI from the Oppo to the Onkyo preamp.
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When ripping cds how does the sound quality compare between WAV and FLAC?
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Depends....on if your system is revealing enough to discern those small differences. Wav files take up much more room than Flac or other lossless formats but if you have a nice big external hard drive it shouldn't be an issue.
The reason Wav files take up more room is because they are uncompressed, unlike other lossless formats which are, and then uncompressed at playback. Some say it does make a difference in sound quality, some say not so much. I guess that comes down to your system.
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Just discovered lossless files eh ? Congrats.....maybe now you can discover Pasta, good wine and a fine steak. lol
Just bustin' your chops pal, there's no going back for you now.
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's
I don't use HDMI. I use the coax out from my Oppo to my Benchmark DAC2.
The difference is miniscule and not really heard even on the best systems. That is as long and the ripping of either one is done properly.
I feel the miniscule differences (heard or not) come from software and hardware issues. Not from the format itself.
H9
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@Nightfall
The high definition audio like Dolby True HD,DTS HD-MA and DSD are not available from the analog outputs. Copyright protection stuff.
@steveinaz
Same goes for the SPDIF digital outs. Coax and Optical. Non of the hi def audio is available there.
@machone
I have actually heard a difference in my system between FLAC and ALAC 24/96 files. I had a friend come over and he confirmed it with his ears. I've not been able to detect a difference between WAV and FLAC or ALAC (Apple Lossless) However I also do not have any hi-def music in both WAV and FLAC or WAV and ALAC. The comparison was with 16/44.1 files.
You have to remember the first comparison between the FLAC and ALAC was with some high definition music files at higher than CD resolution of 24 bits and 96 khz sampling rate. MUCH more revealing than standard 16 bit/44.1 khz CD quality music files. That was the second comparison between WAV and FLAC and the third between WAV and ALAC. Since you have to buy the same album two or three times in each individual format from HDTracks. I wasn't even thinking about spending all of that money just for comparisons sake.
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