How popular is DSD format?

[n4d5]

Hi

im looking and comparing dacs, and I wanted to know how popular the DSD format is?

dacs I'm looking are the maranta, rega , and audiolab

Thanks

 

[Al ears]

Hi

im looking and comparing dacs, and I wanted to know how popular the DSD format is?

dacs I'm looking are the maranta, rega , and audiolab

Thanks

At the moment I would say it's only popular with some people. It can depend on what sort of music you listen to. Over the last few years more and more material has been produced and the number of websites you can download files from have increased dramatically. I believe it will continue to do so. Many DAC manufacturers, but not all, seem to believe this also and are making provisions for it in their latest DACs.

 

[n4d5]

Ok thanks, so why do mamufacturers like Rega didn't include this feature in their latest dad-r? Is the format controlled via software decoding or hardware?

if software do manufactures such as Rega send out updates for their Dac?

thanks

 

[Al ears]

Ok thanks, so why do mamufacturers like Rega didn't include this feature in their latest dad-r? Is the format controlled via software decoding or hardware?

if software do manufactures such as Rega send out updates for their Dac?

thanks

If a DAC does not have a chip that can handle DSD resolutions then it cannot be updated with software. Rega appear to believe DSD is not necessary. If you want this capability, and I don't know why you wouldn't with even cheaper DACs now supporting it, you will have to look elsewhere.

 

[n4d5]

You right why I wouldn't even consider having the DSD option. That leave me with marantz and audio lab and others who do...

thanks for your help

 

[BigH]

You right why I wouldn't even consider having the DSD option. That leave me with marantz and audio lab and others who do...

thanks for your help

DSD is not that popular yet, you should check out what is available in music you buy. Rega did have some excuse for not including dsd. With DACs there are many choices, I would research it more, Audiolab is one to consider, there is a new one out, also many others such as Chord, John Kenny, Westlake, Young, Metrum just to name drop a few.

 

[Al ears]

You right why I wouldn't even consider having the DSD option. That leave me with marantz and audio lab and others who do...

thanks for your help

DSD is not that popular yet, you should check out what is available in music you buy. Rega did have some excuse for not including dsd. With DACs there are many choices, I would research it more, Audiolab is one to consider, there is a new one out, also many others such as Chord, John Kenny, Westlake, Young, Metrum just to name drop a few.

I'd also consider how you are going to use the DAC. Is it going to be connected to a computer or will other devices be used as a source?

It could possibly be to your benefit to look at universal players like the Oppo 105 that have twin dacs built in and can handle all formats including DSD, stream, play from hard drive, and play all sorts of discs

 

[n4d5]

Primarily I want to use my Pioneer PD-S703 CD player and a transport and run a optical or coaxial feed to the DAC, secondary I wanna stream music to it through a laptop from a NAS or streaming services and possibly burn some CDs of on a cd recorder, that's my main use...

The dac will feed into a Plinius 9200 through RCA.

At present my music files are cd quality, however I just want to future proof it with the DSD format.

Thanks

 

[Al ears]

Primarily I want to use my Pioneer PD-S703 CD player and a transport and run a optical or coaxial feed to the DAC, secondary I wanna stream music to it through a laptop from a NAS or streaming services and possibly burn some CDs of on a cd recorder, that's my main use...

The dac will feed into a Plinius 9200 through RCA.

At present my music files are cd quality, however I just want to future proof it with the DSD format.

Thanks

Ok, forget the Oppo unless you want to spin SACD discs. Perhaps it might be viable if you sold the Pioneer as it will do everything else you require.

 

[BigH]

Can you audition DACs and the Oppo?

Seems like you have a decent system, I would be looking at the Chord Qute2 and new Audiolab and maybe new Westlake.

 

[busb]

I'm listening to my 1st DSD tracks as I type from my Mac Mini via USB to my new M-DAC+ - Shostakovich No 7, Jãrvi. The player is Audirvana Plus.

I was expecting the M-DAC+ to be noticably better than my standard M-DAC but not an order of magnitude better & a hell of a lot less than £2995 for the Chord Hugo TT that I borrowed! The bass is astoundingly good as is the level of detail, dynamics & imaging - well worth £799 but you may find they are thin on the ground for a month or 2. It's a 1st class DAC, IMO.

The music available on DSD is crusty old rock, some jazz & a reasonable amount of classical. If you're into stuff like alt-metal or electronica, your choice is virtually non-existent at the moment.

 

[Al ears]

I'm listening to my 1st DSD tracks as I type from my Mac Mini via USB to my new M-DAC+ - Shostakovich No 7, Jãrvi. The player is Audirvana Plus.

I was expecting the M-DAC+ to be noticably better than my standard M-DAC but not an order of magnitude better & a hell of a lot less than £2995 for the Chord Hugo TT that I borrowed! The bass is astoundingly good as is the level of detail, dynamics & imaging - well worth £799 but you may find they are thin on the ground for a month or 2. It's a 1st class DAC, IMO.

The music available on DSD is crusty old rock, some jazz & a reasonable amount of classical. If you're into stuff like alt-metal or electronica, your choice is virtually non-existent at the moment.

I think you might be surprised by the genres covered if you look hard enough but it still takes some finding. There are a few sites that do nothing but DSD.

Glad to hear the new MDAC is that good.

 

[busb]

I'm listening to my 1st DSD tracks as I type from my Mac Mini via USB to my new M-DAC+ - Shostakovich No 7, Jãrvi. The player is Audirvana Plus.

I was expecting the M-DAC+ to be noticably better than my standard M-DAC but not an order of magnitude better & a hell of a lot less than £2995 for the Chord Hugo TT that I borrowed! The bass is astoundingly good as is the level of detail, dynamics & imaging - well worth £799 but you may find they are thin on the ground for a month or 2. It's a 1st class DAC, IMO.

The music available on DSD is crusty old rock, some jazz & a reasonable amount of classical. If you're into stuff like alt-metal or electronica, your choice is virtually non-existent at the moment.

I think you might be surprised by the genres covered if you look hard enough but it still takes some finding. There are a few sites that do nothing but DSD.

Glad to hear the new MDAC is that good.

Well, it's been an interesting weekend (a huge understatement with what's going on with many of the Leave voters trying to rescind their choice). The M-DAC+ is that good & highlights to me the importance of optimally designed PSUs within any audio device that either draws serious current or needs isolation.

I bought Audirvana Plus yesterday which gives me 3 months of Tidal free (well, for £1). Audirvana either acts as a library for hi res & Tidal etc or program running with iTunes below it that strips out Apple's Core Audio & replaces it with its own workings with the audio processor threads given max priority over housekeeping tasks. Core Audio is already very good & gets tweaked by Apple regularly anyway so buying it just to replace CA is not something I'd do.

The DSD version of Shostakovich No 7 is good but unavailable on iTunes to compare. So my thoughts on whether or not DSD versions are worth the expense (£19.99 in this case) will have to wait.

I've just spent a couple of hours playing the same songs on Tidal & iTunes through Audirvana. To my ears over a fairly short time, the differences are small enough to not want to ditch iTunes. I may hear small differences if I continue to compare but I'm not willing to pay for tiny improvements. iTunes has a vast amount of music only matched by Spotify Premium which is also very, very good IMO