Altmann Tera Player - Page 10  

tera-fi, you need to realize that 24 bits isnt resolution, it is just more dynamic range. and i dont think that you have a single song that uses the 96 db of dynamic range available in a 16 bit recording. Higher "resolution" would be a product of higher sampling frequencies, which the tera player does support(not that there is any evidence those do any better either though either).

My point is that this shouldnt be a deal breaker issue in any way

Glad to hear. I have 135+ CD's in my collection. Gotta get started on ripping them all over again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 

I have a HiRes .flac recording that I downloaded from HD Tracks that is 24/192. None of the downloaded files will convert properly to .wav, so I purchased the same CD that that I bought in the HiRes format from HD Tracks. I then compared the 24/192 .flac from my DX100 to the CD that was ripped to .wav files and played from my Tera Player.
I can hear no audible difference at all between the 2 different types of files. I don't know why I can't convert the downloaded HiRes files to .wav format. They show up as .wav files, but the Tera will not play them. I can convert other files such as MP3 or .Flac that I have previously ripped and they play fine. Perhaps there is some sort of copyguard on the downloaded files.
I would suggest emailing Charles for a technical explanation of how the 16 bit DAC is able to play HiRes files and sound so good. My .wav rips directly from my CD's sound so good on the Tera that I doubt that I will be paying for any more HiRes downloads since I can buy a complete CD that I can rip to .wav for less than the price of a HiRes download that I can't use on my Tera Player.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


I have a HiRes .flac recording that I downloaded from HD Tracks that is 24/192. None of the downloaded files will convert properly to .wav, so I purchased the same CD that that I bought in the HiRes format from HD Tracks. I then compared the 24/192 .flac from my DX100 to the CD that was ripped to .wav files and played from my Tera Player.
I can hear no audible difference at all between the 2 different types of files. I don't know why I can't convert the downloaded HiRes files to .wav format. They show up as .wav files, but the Tera will not play them. I can convert other files such as MP3 or .Flac that I have previously ripped and they play fine. Perhaps there is some sort of copyguard on the downloaded files.
I would suggest emailing Charles for a technical explanation of how the 16 bit DAC is able to play HiRes files and sound so good. My .wav rips directly from my CD's sound so good on the Tera that I doubt that I will be paying for any more HiRes downloads since I can buy a complete CD that I can rip to .wav for less than the price of a HiRes download that I can't use on my Tera Player.

There's 2 types of wav files. Wav and broadcast wave that has has a bit more info for the purpose. It needs  different codec to play. Possibly, you're decoding to broadcast wav by accident.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoupRKnowva 

tera-fi, you need to realize that 24 bits isnt resolution, it is just more dynamic range. and i dont think that you have a single song that uses the 96 db of dynamic range available in a 16 bit recording. Higher "resolution" would be a product of higher sampling frequencies, which the tera player does support(not that there is any evidence those do any better either though either).

 

My point is that this shouldnt be a deal breaker issue in any way

There's debate whether the 24 bit portion or the sampling is actually more important and we are also not sure of how high a sampling rate the DAC can actually handle, why I also asked for the highest bit rate. That said, 16/44-48 will not be the weakest link in audio performance in this type of device. There will be limits to performance of most anything this portable and specsmanship is often overstated. His work with jitter, the software player proper decoding and reliable results seem to be what sets it apart and that's plenty. It's also great that it will play these other wave file without further conversion as in a pro environment, it makes for a quick and easy file to take along and listen to with a full bit rate to transfer later.

He may have overstated the only dac to use bit because things like the 1704 can still be sourced but perhaps it's the integration to the controller and circuit that lends itself so well to his concept. I also prefer ladder type. These things always need to be taken as a whole to work their best and it seems he's done just that. Besides the spec performance, the voicing and component matching available here is something you just can't get when designed by committee.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoupRKnowva 

tera-fi, you need to realize that 24 bits isnt resolution, it is just more dynamic range. and i dont think that you have a single song that uses the 96 db of dynamic range available in a 16 bit recording. Higher "resolution" would be a product of higher sampling frequencies, which the tera player does support(not that there is any evidence those do any better either though either).

 

My point is that this shouldnt be a deal breaker issue in any way

Thanks for the explanation.  I think I was just being overly-cautious as this will likely be my last DAP for the next 5-10+ years.  I guess the 24-bit realm is not ready to be explored yet.  I am looking for that 'impact' SQ more than anything bit-wise.

I will not let this deter me or be a deal breaker.  Time to save...  Much appreciated...

beats me though both are extensions of Microsoft. Sounds like a converter issue or you're converting to broadcast. Perhapas the original files are broadcast derived and converting back. Sorry but I really can't say but see if there's another wav option available without a prefix, try that. If they play as FLAC, they have to work as .wav.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


I have a HiRes .flac recording that I downloaded from HD Tracks that is 24/192. None of the downloaded files will convert properly to .wav, so I purchased the same CD that that I bought in the HiRes format from HD Tracks. I then compared the 24/192 .flac from my DX100 to the CD that was ripped to .wav files and played from my Tera Player.
I can hear no audible difference at all between the 2 different types of files. I don't know why I can't convert the downloaded HiRes files to .wav format. They show up as .wav files, but the Tera will not play them. I can convert other files such as MP3 or .Flac that I have previously ripped and they play fine. Perhaps there is some sort of copyguard on the downloaded files.
I would suggest emailing Charles for a technical explanation of how the 16 bit DAC is able to play HiRes files and sound so good. My .wav rips directly from my CD's sound so good on the Tera that I doubt that I will be paying for any more HiRes downloads since I can buy a complete CD that I can rip to .wav for less than the price of a HiRes download that I can't use on my Tera Player.

Did not know this.  It would of been a waste then to purchase and download the 24/192 flac only to have it not properly convert to wav.

I remember the rockbox iriver would downsample 24-bit, but it was terrible at this conversion.  At least the HiRes sounds at least as good as it's CD counterpart on the TP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


Using my Linux conversion program, (Sound Converter) I can successfully convert any of my CD rips to .wav regardless of what original codec they were ripped in as well as some downloaded files. It is only some, but not all, of downloaded .flac files that do not convert successfully so as to play from the Tera. None of the downloads from HD Tracks has ever converted successfully. My converter program shows my selected format as the following: MS Wave (.wav)

Have you tried 'flac -d <flacfile>' from the Linux shell?  You may have to install it if it is not already installed.  It should be in the repositories.

http://www.linuxcommand.org/man_pages/flac1.html

I think the -d is for decode.  So, it is basically like unzipping a .zip file.  So this will automatically convert to .wav (unzip/uncompressed) from .flac (zipped/compressed).

Curious if this generates any errors at the command line.

flac at the command line interface will be your lowest common denominator.  Any GUI Software app will probably use this tool to convert anyways, sort of like foobar2000 needing to point to flac.exe.  It is the official tool from the Flac developers.

The error can mean a number of things:

Most likely, a filename with extension was not properly entered:  e.g. flac -d music instead of flac -d music.flac

Low disk space

Tags are incorrect:  metaflac --remove -all might help to remove your tags, then flac -d

http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation_tools_metaflac.html

WARNING:  If you do this, remember to temporarily copy your flac files as this will erase all tags.

Sometimes, you may have to repeat the process a few times.

You can also install foobar2000 over the WINE emulator in Linux to do your conversion.  The playback is iffy, but conversion is fine.

I see you found something that works for you, XCFA?  Excellent.

Let us know if you run into anymore hdtracks conversion problems.

The Mother of Tone does make for some interesting reading.

http://www.mother-of-tone.com/index.htm

Thank you Charles for the education.

I'm not sure the music quality of the player is really the  most important aspect when considering you can order it with a "fur option" ...

I mean...once you break out the fur? Who really cares about the music any more...since, at that point it's all about the LOVE!

Even according to the site verbage, it: "Loves you while your listening!" ... 

LOL ... 

I simply adore that.

Rock.

.joel

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight 


Error read: Error initializing decoder
So far I have only found one converter that is in the Ubuntu software library. It is called "Sound Converter" It works on everything except HD Tracks downloads. The HD Track downloads appear to convert but won't play.
EDIT: I found another Linux (Ubuntu) media program called: XCFA. Among other things, it will convert between codecs and using it, I was able to convert all of my HD Tracks HiRes .flac downloads to .wav and they play perfectly on my Tera. Conversions are quite speedy as well. Clearly all programs are not created equally!

So HiFlight what do you think of this player compared to the DX100? Is it really worth getting over that?