[DaggothReborn]

Alright. I have a handful of questions about music quality. Let me get my equipment out of the way first.
 
Computer>Foobar2000>X-FI Titanium HD>Decent set of cables (~$200)>Schiit Valhalla>Byer DT770 600Ohm
 
I will be picking up Schiit's new "Bifrost" DAC as soon as its released, so that will replace the weakest part of my setup.
 
Except for my music. Maybe. 
 
I went from MP3s when i was a complete noob, to now FLAC. I have most of my music in 24/96+ FLAC rips. But i still have some questions.
 

• Will my computer play a SACD or DVD-A? If so, is there a difference between a 24/96 FLAC file and a physical SACD or DVD-A?
• Will a regular, physical CD sounds as good as a copy of the song in 24/96 FLAC?

 

[nick_charles]

 
Quote:

Alright. I have a handful of questions about music quality. Let me get my equipment out of the way first.
 
Computer>Foobar2000>X-FI Titanium HD>Decent set of cables (~$200)>Schiit Valhalla>Byer DT770 600Ohm
 
I will be picking up Schiit's new "Bifrost" DAC as soon as its released, so that will replace the weakest part of my setup.
 
This is kindly meant. Your existing soundcard is technically superior to your proposed upgrade. There is no technical department in which the Schiit is notably technically superior. Far from being a weak link your soundcard is already really good.
 
 
Except for my music. Maybe. 
 
I went from MP3s when i was a complete noob, to now FLAC. I have most of my music in 24/96+ FLAC rips. But i still have some questions.
 

• (a)Will my computer play a SACD or DVD-A? (b)If so, is there a difference between a 24/96 FLAC file and a physical SACD or DVD-A?

 
(a) Almost certainly not for SACD and very unlikely for DVD-A. A PS3 will play SACD but not DVD-A
 
(b) SACD and DVD-A use different encoding systems. SACD uses 1 or 4 bit 2.44Mbs DSD, DVD-A uses PCM encoding at anything up to 32bits and 192Khz. FLAC is lossless compression so the audio data in the source is the same as in the target when decoded. Ripping an SACD is however far from trivial as I understand it.
 

• Will a regular, physical CD sounds as good as a copy of the song in 24/96 FLAC?

 
CD standard is 16 bits and 44.1khz sampling - there is no reason to rip a CD above that standard - you cannot get more audio data from it. Ripping a CD to 24/96 is genuinely pointless and wastes space. You do not increase the dynamic range, lower the noise or extend the frequency response.
 

 

 

[DaggothReborn]

Alright. That pretty much answers my questions. So I don't guess I really know if i have a good copy of a song. It might of been ripped and up-sampled from a regular CD.
 
Hum.
 
So I guess the only real way to make sure i have a good copy of music is to get either SACDs/DVD-A/Vinyl/or FLAC from reputable sites such as hdtracks.
 
So on the SACD/DVD-A side of things, i seem to have a really hard time finding certain CDs. The only music i really care about enough to actually pick up a SACD/DVD-A copy, would be Elton John, Eminem, and Tool. From what I have read, older rock is great for vinyl.