[kothganesh]

Upconverting doesnt improve sound quality, if anything it would degrade it as you produce artifacts from the encoder trying to put information where there isn't any.

You have to find actual lossless files, mp3s are lossy

Bullseye, found out the "hard" way (as in wasting time)

 

[Pumelman8]

Hi there again. In the future I would be looking to upgrade my schiit lyr with a bifrost DAC as I can only afford the modi atm. When it comes to buying the bifrost, is the uber upgrade really worth it? Also would it be best to buy the bifrost with the uber upgrade already installed as it costs less than sending it back in the future?

Cheers
Pumelman8

 

[nk77]

   
 
Thanks for the informative replies. I feel like I am asking questions which are quite "obvious" or "derp" and I should stop. Maybe I should do more research. Anyway, thanks for the help guys.

 
Not at all mate. Sift through the passive aggression and sarcasm and you will find a whole bunch of useful info and helpful folk. There is no wrong question but it also doesn't hurt to research first before posting. We are all here to learn one way or another.
 
In answer to your first question. WAV/FLAC is essentially what the CD sounds like. All info is ripped from CD in tracks and converted to WAV/FLAC. Now of course you can rip the CD into mp3 but it loses a bit of detail. Effectively some info gets shaved off and compressed to get that much smaller file size. Since information is stored in bits - WAV/FLAC files are exactly the same as the information on the CD or 'bit-perfect' (more often called lossless). These files can be much larger. MP3 on the other hand is a lossy format. Now if you started with a lossy mp3 file - you cannot go backwards and recover the lost information as you convert to FLAC. It will be a FLAC file (but mp3 disguised as FLAC if you see what I mean). The computer will recognise the file as FLAC but you won't hear a difference (so long as expectation bias is held at bay). Now on the other hand you can go from lossless (FLAC/WAV) to lossy (MP3) but not back again because once that information is lost...it's gone for good. So you have to get the original CD and rip the audio onto the computer once more but this time in lossless format.
 
If you have the original CD, then I don't see why you can't download FLAC files off the net morally speaking to save a bit of time ripping a hundred CDs....

 

[tuna47]

Right know I am happy with the bifrost. Uber lyr and He500 my 10th headphone 3rd amp 3rd dac all have been upgrades from my last rigs I say end game but know that I will upgrade again it's an addiction. I love the research and waiting and tracking package nothing better then that 1st time listening

 

[bourbonhoova]

I have a pretty simple question for you head-fi black-belts...
I would really appreciate it if you could suggest one or two websites that I can download WAV format music from. I've started using 'Bleep' but it only has quite a niche or limited range of music, so I still end up buying most of my music from iTunes. Now, I'm getting into this hobby of audiophile headphone enjoyment I feel much better about buying music in WAV than in 256kbps MP3. I very occasionally buy CDs but I prefer the flexibility of choosing my music track by track. Do you know of any sites that are good for genres like electronic, alternative, rock and offer WAV? I really like the iTunes software for managing your music, so I'm not really interested in abandoning it for a completely different platform. B. T. W. I have tried doing a search on this before but bleep was pretty much all I came up with. I don't have any objection to paying for my music, I just don't want to be settling for MP3 if I could be downloading lossless for a similar price. Thanks guys. (I know this question doesn't relate to HE-500s, but I've been following this thread for so long now, I'm beginning to feel like I'm almost getting to know a few of you regulars).

 

[Zoom25]

I have a pretty simple question for you head-fi black-belts...
I would really appreciate it if you could suggest one or two websites that I can download WAV format music from. I've started using 'Bleep' but it only has quite a niche or limited range of music, so I still end up buying most of my music from iTunes. Now, I'm getting into this hobby of audiophile headphone enjoyment I feel much better about buying music in WAV than in 256kbps MP3. I very occasionally buy CDs but I prefer the flexibility of choosing my music track by track. Do you know of any sites that are good for genres like electronic, alternative, rock and offer WAV? I really like the iTunes software for managing your music, so I'm not really interested in abandoning it for a completely different platform. B. T. W. I have tried doing a search on this before but bleep was pretty much all I came up with. I don't have any objection to paying for my music, I just don't want to be settling for MP3 if I could be downloading lossless for a similar price. Thanks guys. (I know this question doesn't relate to HE-500s, but I've been following this thread for so long now, I'm beginning to feel like I'm almost getting to know a few of you regulars).

 
I get music from some Russian sites that can help track you material 

 

[Okamoto]

Talking about converting MP3 to FLAC, that is a really common practice. I downloaded a program to check if the file is truly FLAC and found out that a lot of lossless albums I had were in fact lossy. Pretty stupid thing to do, if you ask me. I don't know what people gain with that. Maybe it's just ignorance at best.

 

[hifimanrookie]

I get music from some Russian sites that can help track you material 

am almost afraid to say it..soooo ssssst... use the piratebaybrowser..search for it on goigle...works geniusly!! All wellknown download sites under ur fingertips
and some flacs not being lossless.. i found that out also ..as if people do that on purpose..upping that..todiscourage us downloaders?

 

[koiloco]

   
whoa don't get upset i was being sarcastic, i merely meant, ify ou ask people who spend a ridiculous amount of money well.... that's what they're going to say is the best approach a lot of the time.
 
this is the perfect place to ask questions and everything. didn't meanto be rude or kick you out or anything

and their gears will always sound better than your cheaper ones, in their opinions of course. 

 

[hifimanrookie]

and their gears will always sound better than your cheaper ones, in their opinions of course. 

And sometimes they do

 

[koiloco]

And sometimes they do

of course, they do. 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

and some flacs not being lossless.. 

 
thats why i always use adobe audition or some other frequency graph program to check to make sure lossless files are legit. annoying but i typically check about 1 or 2 songs per album i add to my library
 
 

   
I get music from some Russian sites that can help track you material 

 
+1 

 

[Pumelman8]

Hi there again. In the future I would be looking to upgrade my schiit lyr with a bifrost DAC as I can only afford the modi atm. When it comes to buying the bifrost, is the uber upgrade really worth it? Also would it be best to buy the bifrost with the uber upgrade already installed as it costs less than sending it back in the future?

Cheers
Pumelman8

 

[jexby]

Hi there again. In the future I would be looking to upgrade my schiit lyr with a bifrost DAC as I can only afford the modi atm. When it comes to buying the bifrost, is the uber upgrade really worth it? Also would it be best to buy the bifrost with the uber upgrade already installed as it costs less than sending it back in the future?

Cheers
Pumelman8

 
 
I have never heard the BiFrost without the Uber Analog upgrade, nor without the USB 2.0 upgrade.  ordered it that way from Day 1.
one less step / hassle to future proofing was my rational.
 
yet from the AudiopiliacMan tweet a few days back:
"
Steve Guttenberg @AudiophiliacMan
Installed Uber Analog board & USB card upgrades on my #Schiit Bifrost DAC, first impressions are improved transparency, I report more soon.
"

 

[highrolller]

Oh right. Guess people here are just playing with me with their passive aggression and sarcasm... Thank you guys haha.