Ayre wants $1.5K for DSD'ed QB-9

[REShaman]

+ 2 Very well said..

 

And like your comment Some people get so wrapped up in the technical side of things that they at times miss out on the enjoyment of just the music. Maybe that is the reason I still enjoy my turntable and tubes.

 

Precisely. The music's the thing; the equipment seduces. ;>}

 

Best,

Richard

[Hiro]

LOL!

 

Axiom05,

 

Like someone once said, we often laugh not because what we hear is funny, but because it's true.

 

As for the lack of ability to incorporate tags on DSD files, it's just more misinformation for the already misinformed reader of the thread.

[REShaman]

Axiom05,

 

Like someone once said, we often laugh not because what we hear is funny, but because it's true.

 

As for the lack of ability to incorporate tags on DSD files, it's just more misinformation for the already misinformed reader of the thread.

 

Hiro,

With respect, instead of telling us that Axiom05 is mistaken, I would appreciate if you would tell us specifically what from your experience the correct information is. In this way, I am informed and not left wondering what according to you was misinformation without the information. N'est-ce pas?

Thank you in advance.

Best,

Richard

[Onkle Je]

Hello Onkle,

 

Your English is fine. A switching power supply has rectifiers connected directly to the AC main supply in your house. This creates (in Europe) a DC voltage of 325 volts. Then instead of using a transformer at 50 Hz, they use MOSFETs as high speed switches to turn the high DC voltage on and off to make a square wave, usually between 100 kHz and 1 MHz. The reason to do this is that the higher the frequency, the smaller, lighter, and CHEAPER the power transformer needs to be. So they can make a very low-cost power supply.

 

But it is bad enough to have such high frequency signals on your AC power mains in your home. It is even worse because it is a square wave and the harmonics reach at least 10x the fundamental frequency. So you are generating RFI between 1 MHz and 10 MHz and it is coupled to all of wires in your home. It radiates from these wires (they make a very good antenna!) and it also is coupled through the power cords into the rest of your stereo system also. All of this RFI degrades the performance of any sound system. Many people spend hundreds of dollars to purchase linear power supplies to replace the switching power supply that comes with the computer.

 

If you are interested in electronics, that is a fairly simple project to start with. But BE VERY CAREFUL!! The voltages inside the box are enough to kill you! So don't just do something unless you know it is the right thing. If you can finds some plans on the internet, that may be helpful. Or it may be better to just purchase something that is already made. I am sure that you can find many companies that advertise at Computer Audiophile who make and sell linear power supplies for Mac computers. Another very good source of information is:

 

The Well-Tempered Computer

 

Best regards,

 

Thank You very much. In France, We call switching power supplies "fragmentation power supplies" (alimentation à fragmentation ou à découpage), so that why I didn't get it at first sight. Yeah, I always wanted to change it for a linear power supply but I never managed to find one for my MacBook Pro easily, here in France. I'll have a look here and on Well tempered computer.

Thanks for your advices.

[wisnon]

Onkle

 

try http://www.squeezeupdate.com (Pays bas) or Mainscablesrus.co.uk

[wisnon]

Hiro,

With respect, instead of telling us that Axiom05 is mistaken, I would appreciate if you would tell us specifically what from your experience the correct information is. In this way, I am informed and not left wondering what according to you was misinformation without the information. N'est-ce pas?

Thank you in advance.

Best,

Richard

 

.dsf DSD file format supports meta-tags... .dff does not. Similar to flac vs Wav in PCM.

[Onkle Je]

Onkle

 

try www.squeezeupdate.com (Pays bas) or Mainscablesrus.co.uk

 

Thank you Winson. Very kind of you. I'll check it out.

[REShaman]

.dsf DSD file format supports meta-tags... .dff does not. Similar to flac vs Wav in PCM.

 

With appreciation,

 

Best,

Richard

[Charles Hansen]

.dsf DSD file format supports meta-tags... .dff does not. Similar to flac vs Wav in PCM.

 

Wisnon,

 

Thanks for supplying this information for REShaman. I don't think Hiro gets paid to make useful posts -- only for ones that stir up trouble.

 

Cheers,

[mav52]

Wisnon,

 

I don't think Hiro gets paid to make useful posts -- only for ones that stir up trouble.

 

Cheers,

 

It appears that occurs a lot here, like point - counterpoint which is endless in nature.

[pawel8]

It appears that occurs a lot here, like point - counterpoint which is endless in nature. [ATTACH=CONFIG]5874[/ATTACH]

 

Precisely!

Has Ayre QB9 DSD been shipped yet?

[Axiom05]

As for the lack of ability to incorporate tags on DSD files, it's just more misinformation for the already misinformed reader of the thread.

 

Hiro, at least quote what a person says before telling them they are misinformed. What I said was there are "two different file formats, one that is non-compressible (lossless) and one that cannot incorporate tags." This is the basic information that I had read somewhere else. Based upon the information provided by wisnon, the .dsf file supports meta-tags, therefore the .dff is the one that does not support lossless compression. So unless I am wrong about the .dff files, my original statement was not incorrect. Note that I did not say that no DSD file format supported meta-tagging. The existence of two different file formats which have different characteristics will just add further confusion for people new to DSD.

[Hiro]

Hiro, at least quote what a person says before telling them they are misinformed. What I said was there are "two different file formats, one that is non-compressible (lossless) and one that cannot incorporate tags." This is the basic information that I had read somewhere else. Based upon the information provided by wisnon, the .dsf file supports meta-tags, therefore the .dff is the one that does not support lossless compression. So unless I am wrong about the .dff files, my original statement was not incorrect. Note that I did not say that no DSD file format supported meta-tagging. The existence of two different file formats which have different characteristics will just add further confusion for people new to DSD.

 

Axiom05,

 

Sorry, I thought you were implying that DSD files can't incorporate meta data, as opposed to PCM ones. Thanks for clearing this up.

[tailspn]

Wisnon,

 

Thanks for supplying this information for REShaman. I don't think Hiro gets paid to make useful posts -- only for ones that stir up trouble.Cheers,

 

Disparaging others that don't share your point of view Charles? Last I looked; this was a public forum, open to anyone who registers. You're a guest, just like the rest of us, not the moderator.

 

Wisnon is partially correct in his statement about .dsf verses .dff file format, from a consumer standpoint. .dff files do support tagging, but not the kind useful to the consumer, and supported by the popular software players. .dsf is actually a Sony format, developed for their DSD Disk venture, which went nowhere. However, unlike FLAC compared to .wav, which is a lossless compressed file of .wav data, .dsf and .dff have identical music content data. The difference between them is the additional "chunks" for Metadata Tags

 

http://dsd-guide.com/sites/default/files/white-papers/DSFFileFormatSpec_E.pdf

[barrows]

Charlie Hansen: Now I know that Ayre is a hardware company, and I understand that you guys might rather sell hardware than do this, but I wanted to plant a seed anyway. Have you considered developing SRC software using your relayively unique digital filter designs? I would think that Ayre SRC SW might be a nice thing to offer. I for one would love to be able to convert DSD-PCM at 176.4 and 352.8 using your filters, and there would likely be some professionals who might like a nother option for SRC SW. I could also see some computer audiophiles oversampling 44.1 files to, say 352.8 using your filters (there are some 352.8 DACs around these days) to take advantage of your filter designs.

[Axiom05]

Sorry everyone, I messed up the info in my last post. Would someone less confused than me straighten this file format stuff out. The .dsf file supports meta-tagging but not lossless compression. The .dff file supports lossless compression but not meta-tagging. Is this now correct? See, I said it was confusing to people new to DSD.

[Axiom05]

Wisnon is partially correct in his statement about .dsf verses .dff file format, from a consumer standpoint. .dff files do support tagging, but not the kind useful to the consumer, and supported by the popular software players. .dsf is actually a Sony format, developed for their DSD Disk venture, which went nowhere. However, unlike FLAC compared to .wav, which is a lossless compressed file of .wav data, .dsf and .dff have identical music content data. The difference between them is the additional "chunks" for Metadata Tags

 

http://dsd-guide.com/sites/default/files/white-papers/DSFFileFormatSpec_E.pdf

 

Thanks!

[tailspn]

Sorry everyone, I messed up the info in my last post. Would someone less confused than me straighten this file format stuff out. The .dsf file supports meta-tagging but not lossless compression. The .dff file supports lossless compression but not meta-tagging. Is this now correct? See, I said it was confusing to people new to DSD.

 

The music content data is identical to both .dff and .dsf, and neither support compression. .dff is the native file format for DSD data, used in professions DAW's (digital audio workstations) for recording and editing. .dsf is a release format of .dff data with additional support for Metadata Tags.

[REShaman]

The music content data is identical to both .dff and .dsf, and neither support compression. .dff is the native file format for DSD data, used in professions DAW's (digital audio workstations) for recording and editing. .dsf is a release format of .dff data with additional support for Metadata Tags.

 

As someone new to DSD as a file format, this information delivered in a "relaxed" exchange is greatly appreciated. I realize that I can research, read and learn, still I enjoy gleaning accurate information delivered without the contention that sometimes accompanies some of the exchanges.

Thank you everyone for patiently unpacking some of these details. I will do my due diligence nevertheless.

 

With appreciation for your time (ALL),

Best,

Richard

[christopher3393]

Yawn.

Charles, you crack me up.

[Matias]

Is there a lossless format for DSD so that it gets smaller?

FLAC => wave => PCM

??? => dff => DSD

[Hiro]

Wisnon,

 

Thanks for supplying this information for REShaman. I don't think Hiro gets paid to make useful posts -- only for ones that stir up trouble.

 

Cheers,

 

Charles,

 

Thanks for your another useful post, that doesn't stir up trouble at all.

[Hiro]

Is there a lossless format for DSD so that it gets smaller?

FLAC => wave => PCM

??? => dff => DSD

 

There is, but it's used only on SACDs.

 

As far as DSD64 and DSD128 downloads are concerned - they are all uncompressed lossless master files.

[tailspn]

Is there a lossless format for DSD so that it gets smaller?

FLAC => wave => PCM

??? => dff => DSD

 

The 1-bit, two level (DSD) data stream in of itself is not compressible, AFAIK. I'ts already very efficient, in that it does not carry from sample to sample redundant information. That's what makes PCM compressible. Further to your example, every conversion from whatever Delta-Sigma Modulation data stream that originated the A/D conversion incurs losses. These are either from decimation necessary to decrease the sample rate from the original, and/or re-modulation to change the bit quantity.

 

Everyone experienced with these processes agrees it's best, if possible, to deliver in the format recorded. Unfortunately much post processing at this time requires format conversions to use the available tools. That's why some recording/mastering engineers session mix in analog, or convert back to analog for mixing and sweetening. In any case, all knowledgeable engineers limit these format or D/A-A/D conversions to as few as possible. Usually only once.

[russtafarian]

Originally Posted by MatiasIs there a lossless format for DSD so that it gets smaller?

FLAC => wave => PCM

??? => dff => DSD

 

There is, but it's used only on SACDs.

 

Yes, DST is like a zip file to get both stereo and multi-channel DFF files onto a SACD disc. An album's worth of unpacked stereo and multi-channel DFF files can be well over 10gb in size. DST squeezes the files down to the 4gb limit of the optical disc.

 

As tailspn stated, DFF and DSF carry the same DSD data. DSF has the added advantage of metadata tagging in a program like Jriver. Without good metadata tagging, keeping track of these files in a music playback program is a PITA.

 

Russ