HD TRACKS, DOES ANYBODY HEAR THE DIFFERENCE??

[apique]

Hi,

I have been downloading some HD tracks in 24/96 and 24/192 after all the big Neil Young Pono marketing......and I have played them back with my FiiO X3 and Sennheiser Momentum over ear headphones.

The truth? I cannot tell the difference in most of them, comparing with rips to flac from my cd´s......and if I can tell then it is so minimal that for me it is not worth the price.......and if I get some new remasters from old records, like Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Dylan, Neil Young himself.... etc.. then I do not see the point at all....

So, I am reaching to the conclusion that all this fuss about HD is only to fill your PC drive with Gbytes and nothing else.

Or do I need a "better" player than FiiO to feel the difference??

I also wanted to play them back in my home system which is good enough to really hear differences, specially th speakers: Cayin CD 15-T + Lavardin IS + Graham LS/9 speakers but I don´t have an A/D converter and hearing the results on my FiiO I don´t want to spend the money.

So my question is: The FiiO has the Optical and Line outputs. Can I connect the line out directly to the amp using a minijack to RCA connector converter? Will this diminish the quality of the playback ? Do I really need the A/D converter? Is there a way to burn a cd with 24/96 or higher resolution? My CD player has a 192/24 A/D, so it should play it back.

And also, anybody feeling the same about the HD tracks playback as me? Or you really can notice a substantial difference between a 16/44 remastered and a 24/96??? Is it me? My ears??? Getting old???

Thanks for the help

Agustin from Barcelona

 

[The_Lhc]

You can use the analogue output from the fiio to your amp, you will obviously be dependent on the quality of that output.

And no you can't write 24-bit to CD, they're 16-bit only.

 

[jmjones]

Hi Apique,

Try this from one of my other threads:

If you want to check out whether it's worth paying the difference for Hi-res files take a look at the song on the Oppo website here called "Vision of Her".

https://www.oppodigital.com/hra/dsd-by-davidelias.aspx

You can download the song in its original DSD 64 master or conversions through FLAC or WAV down to MP3 at 320khz. Personally I think I can hear a difference from the MP3, but that's it. But my ears are 57 years old.

Other comments on this thread are very valid. I've found that the main reasons I buy downloads is either for a superior mix or surround sound effect.

I thought surround music would be "carp", but actually I have found it quite good!!

Happy listening.

 

[apique]

Hi jmjones

I´ll try what you say about the oppo, but I feel as you do, only can tell the difference from mp3 to flac or wav etc, but especially if the rip is from a new remastered cd, the difference from that flac file to 24/96 or 192 it is impossible to discern......my ears are also 55, so......

Thanks for the info

 

[Al ears]

Hi jmjones

I´ll try what you say about the oppo, but I feel as you do, only can tell the difference from mp3 to flac or wav etc, but especially if the rip is from a new remastered cd, the difference from that flac file to 24/96 or 192 it is impossible to discern......my ears are also 55, so......

Thanks for the info

Perhaps as we get older the hearing range does falter. I find I can still discern subtle differences on some hires files although admittedly most of these are of a classical nature. The differences tend to blur dramatically if trying to spot any improvements whilst listening to more modern rock or blues tracks.

CDs are going to be around for a lot longer yet! I do wish the SACD format had taken off more than it ever did though.