Hi Res Music lamens question

[efiste2]

Looking to step up to a High Res music player but a little confused about the format so please forgive me for being so nieve....to listen to high res music is it simply extracted from a normal CD at a higher rate, or do I need to purchase or download "hi-res" versions of my favourite music. Again please excuse my nievity.

I listen to music at the moment on an iPod Classic via a Fiio E12A and either Senheisser Momentum 2's or Bose QC wired, and want to replace the iPod with the hi-res music player, any recomendations that fall within my budget of £250

 

[Gray]

Hi efiste2,

CD resolution is 16 Bits, 44.1kHz. Hi-Res is the name given to any audio with a higher resolution than that.

It's typically 24 Bit, 96kHz - 192kHz. DSD (Direct Stream Digital) is another form of high resolution. Hi-res cannot be extracted from a CD. (That's not to say that some unscrupulous outlets are not passing off upsampled CDs as genuine hi-res. Beware)

You would indeed need to download hi-res files for the player, free samples are quite easy to find. Any player would also be able to store and play your CDs - it's a good idea to convert them to FLAC files, which reduces the storage space required without compromising sound quality. You will see that 24/96(192) files are also available as FLAC.

As you know the brand, here's one of theirs to consider:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00OHIO7N2/ref=ox_sc_sfl_image_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3OX2K9JAC8M3M

A bit basic maybe, but it's sound is well regarded and it would enable you to try hi-res. Note that it can't handle (the less common) DSD files.

I'm fairly sure other posters will be able to add another couple of hundred quid to a recommendation if you really want to spend more.

Don't expect too much though, once you've reached CD quality, the original recording / mastering quality always has more influence than any higher resolution playback.

Most people, as you may have seen, report any hi-res benefit to be marginal at best and say that the only difference between 96 and 192kHz sampling rates is the file's price!

 

[nick8858]

Most people, as you may have seen, report any hi-res benefit to be marginal at best and say that the only difference between 96 and 192kHz sampling rates is the file's price!

Good advice. I recently bought a Hi Res album and it was awful - entirely due to bad recording in the first place. CD quality is just fine and as said a lot less harmful on the wallet. By the way I am 58 anyway so its highly unlikely I'd hear the difference anyway