Over The Top Extreme Audio Experiments..Successes & Disasters?

[4est]

8 hours ago, Digi&Analog Fan said:

All you really need is redbook cd. If you hear its full capability, you will be amused at how people used to complain about CD sound. It was the players, not the cds themselves at fault usually. SACD, with its unbelievably higher sampling rate was a bit of a disappointment IMO. Not that it wasn't noticeably smoother and a bit more open, often. But with a sampling rate that dwarfed red book I was expecting big things. Another thing surprising is that in its first year, I read where the Stones Let It Bleed was the best selling SACD title. You would have thought audiophiles would have chosen something even  better recorded. Great music though.

The truth is unless you listen to a NOS DAC, you are rarely actually listening to Redbook but something that is hardware upsampled and possibly converted PCM<>SDM(DSD). I happen to largely share your sentiment, but hate it when people hop on a pedestal about this. Its all in the mastering mostly and there is no firm choice sonically.