What makes system/speakers/headphones hi-res?

mikkoV

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I still don't get it that what makes system capable of playing hi-res music and what kind of things will ruin that capability.

Few examples:

You have portable hifi player and high end headphones (total cost >2000) but the headphones aren't "hi-res" VS cheap player with hi-res capable dac and cheap hi-res in-ear headphones (total cost
 
mikkoV said:
I still don't get it that what makes system capable of playing hi-res music and what kind of things will ruin that capability.

Few examples:

You have portable hifi player and high end headphones (total cost >2000) but the headphones aren't "hi-res" VS cheap player with hi-res capable dac and cheap hi-res in-ear headphones (total cost <500).. Only the second one is hi-res capable even if saving more than 1,5k?

Me myself have ruark mr1 active speakers and I asked Ruark if those speakers have hi-res capability when I use them with tablet and external dac. They answered that they are hi-res capable but I'm still little bit suspecting... I think I can hear difference but have no idea why Ruark mr1 would be hi-res capable and some rivals wouldn't be.

Hi-res logo seems to be also marketing trick as all hi-res capable products don't have that logo. Most new sony products have hi-res logo on them. Example Sony SRS-X99 speaker is said to be hi-res even if it only can produce 45khz minimum and I thought that hi-res can produce lot lower than that. If hi-res capability isn't all about frequency response, what then? Bigger price and having that damn logo on product?:D

That all is confusing me. What are the parts that make speakers/system "not hi-res"? -Bad quality amp? -bad quality cables? -Frequency response not enough wide? -Something else?

Perhaps you need the re look at the definition of 'hi res' and hifi because you seem to be confused.

Hi-res is generally accepted to be an Audio format that is recorded to a medium or indeed available as a file download, that is recorded at higher than 'redbook' CD standard.

An audio system cannot be hi-res.
 

mikkoV

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You are right, I keep googling.
I have red that hi-res music has higher dynamic range and so on and I have bought some 24 bit files and felt them enjoyable.

You are saying audio system can't be hi-res, yes it just means the file. But I was talking about hi-res capable products. Even if hi-res logo would be just marketing or something, it's clear that cheap equipment can't play 24bit music or if can it would be downsampled, right?
 
Does this help?

http://www.riaa.com/high-resolution-audio-initiative-gets-major-boost-with-new-hi-res-music-logo-and-branding-materials-for-digital-retailers/

It is essentially a marketing tool. A few decades ago everything had to be badged 'turbo' when Saab used it to transform their cars. Then once Apple ruled the world, everything had to be I-something.

Now Hi Res is cool, it needs a brand. Well, it doesn't, but those desperate to sell audio gear think it does.
 

andyjm

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nopiano said:
Does this help?

http://www.riaa.com/high-resolution-audio-initiative-gets-major-boost-wi...

It is essentially a marketing tool. A few decades ago everything had to be badged 'turbo' when Saab used it to transform their cars. Then once Apple ruled the world, everything had to be I-something.

Now Hi Res is cool, it needs a brand. Well, it doesn't, but those desperate to sell audio gear think it does.

Yep. There is real value in increasing the resolution of video displays - current technology isn't as good as human perception, so improvements can be immediately seen. CD quality was already 'good enough', so hires is primarily marketing.
 

davedotco

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Once upon a time 'hi-fi' actually meant something.

A contraction of the term high fidelity, it described a product that made an attempt to reproduce recorded music with the best possible fidelity. People understood that.

These days the built in speaker(s) in your phone are described as hi-fi, the term has been degraded to the point of destruction.

Phones sound like sh!t but you can't say that, so the term hi-fi is used instead, as a description of sound quality they have become interchangable.

So now anything being promoted as slightly better than sh!t/hi-fi is referred to as hi-res.
 

mikkoV

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Sony describes high-resolution audio devices as those that deliver audio that’s clearer, sharper and more complex than other music sources and closer to the original. That sounds so unclear because naturally also 16 bit music can sound clear and have high fidelity.

How can I get fact that Ruark MR1 can (or can't) produce that "hi-res sound" as Sony explained? Is it just numbers that they must be able to play "audio signals with bandwidth and/or dynamic range greater than that of CD-DA"

Same problem when going to buy high quality audio equipment in future. As I have bought pretty much hi-res music, why I would buy 1000€ headphones that downsamples high quality music to 16 bit? This is where I would need help.
 

pauln

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mikkoV said:
Sony describes high-resolution audio devices as those that deliver audio that’s clearer, sharper and more complex than other music sources and closer to the original. That sounds so unclear because naturally also 16 bit music can sound clear and have high fidelity.

How can I get fact that Ruark MR1 can (or can't) produce that "hi-res sound" as Sony explained? Is it just numbers that they must be able to play "audio signals with bandwidth and/or dynamic range greater than that of CD-DA"

Same problem when going to buy high quality audio equipment in future. As I have bought pretty much hi-res music, why I would buy 1000€ headphones that downsamples high quality music to 16 bit? This is where I would need help.

Headphones don't downsample anything - they just produce sound depending on the signal that goes into them. Similarly, speakers and amplifiers don't downsample and aren't low res, hi res or anything res, unless you have an amp with a built in DAC. So, the things that do need to be "hi res" are the source file, the media player and the DAC. Everything after the DAC is analogue so just forget about headphones, speakers and amplifiers in this context.
 

Native_bon

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I really don't see anything wrong with calling a phone Hifi. The speaker phone is not hifi, but if connect to a hifi system see why it cannot be called hifi. We even got so called hi-res phone players now as in Sony. I think tech has moved on & not only the traditional hifi boxes is seen as hifi anymore.

I remember people saying streaming was rubbish when first came out & not real Hifi, now streaming is the norm for most.

As marketed by Sony you need a HI-res player to get the best out of hi-res music. Its up to you weather you think you need a capable hi-res player to really hear the difference. Some find it hard to hear differences bewteen normal files & hi-res even in very expensive hifi systems. Some are even disappointed & say it sounds worse in hi-res.
 

mikkoV

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Interesting discussion. Now I understand things better. Ruark MR1 for example do have built in amp as they are active speakers but don't have built in dac so good extrernal dac is most important needed, maybe going to buy Chord Hugo.

Anyway.. if sony hi-res players/astell&kern give more out of hi res music isn't it just because they have better quality sound cards? The difference must be quite minimal in sound quality.

So hi-res marketed headphones are totally same as ones that doesn't have that logo, maybe even worse. That logo only promises that the quality of the product is high enough to produce wide range of frequencies (that 5€ products can't offer).
 
mikkoV said:
Interesting discussion. Now I understand things better. Ruark MR1 for example do have built in amp as they are active speakers but don't have built in dac so good extrernal dac is most important needed, maybe going to buy Chord Hugo.

Anyway.. if sony hi-res players/astell&kern give more out of hi res music isn't it just because they have better quality sound cards? The difference must be quite minimal in sound quality.

So hi-res marketed headphones are totally same as ones that doesn't have that logo, maybe even worse. That logo only promises that the quality of the product is high enough to produce wide range of frequencies (that 5€ products can't offer).

You are correct mainly, the likes of the Astell & Kern digital music players have an internal DAC that will handle higher resolution files than the old iPod and MP3 players.
 

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