Neil Young Archives on PS3 - HD sound?

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thirty years of Neil fandom had readied me for the prospect of never actually hearing the much fabled archive series. The three standalone CDs that snook out in the last couple of years were very welcome appetizers for the full banquet of delights that remarkably got a release date this month. Not that I've actually got my hands on a copy yet - Amazon, HMV online & Play, have all, at separate times, taken my order only to inform me they're still awaiting delivery - but tomorrow, if the nice man in the HMV store is good to his word I will be securing the purchase of the Blu-Ray edition of Archives Vol.1.

So my question is, having perused the Q&A on Neil's site which details the full tech spec of the discs, how do I get 24bit/192kHz sound from my PS3? Currently, I have it connected to my Chord DAC via an optical cable, but doesn't this down sample the data? In the tech guidelines on NY's site it mentions analogue outs from the PS3 being able to carry the data. Is this true?

What's best folks?

 

[aliEnRIK]

Youd need an amp thats capable of handling the information and connect via hdmi

Outputting via phonos would mean using the PS3s onboard DAC and I dont think that will be the result your after

 

[Anonymous]

But my! what a lot of money....Although neil youngs worth it! Im glad you posted this i had no idea this was being released..better start saving

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

It's a lot of cash, indeed. Even more than I initially bargained for because I had to buy it from an actual store!! Amazon et al let me down.

Anyway, I'm on the fourth disc (of 10), and my reactions, so far, are . . .WOW!!

The layout of the archive, the attention to detail, the visual furniture, the feeling of rummaging around the dusty vaults in search of musical treasure but most of all the sound; it's quite stunning. Not sure what I'm actually hearing in terms of bits & kHz but it's great. The reading on screen says 24bit/192khz but I'm outputting via optical to my DAC so presumably that's being down sampled. Yet, it sounds wondrous. Like the best of both digital & analogue combined. Warmth and precision throughout.

I'm hearing things I never knew existed on the previusly released stuff (Cowgirl/River/Loner etc) and marvelling at the previously unreleased gems from the very beginning when Neil was in a Shadows-like school band.

Having heard a year or so ago that the Archives were to be released on BD, I was sceptical and disappointed that he'd chosen that as his optimum format, as I didn't own a BD player. So when I purchased a PS3 six months ago it was primarily as a way of accessing the Archives, if & when they appeared. (oh, and playing FIFA).

So now they're here, I'm a real BD neophyte.

"The riverboat was rocking in the rain. . ."