[miuywu]

Hello! Currently I listen to a mix of mostly digitally purchased mp3's, ripped cd WAVs and in-between.

I've started playing with DSD just a bit and so far it seems that my files don't make use of it, any difference I may hear is just as good as placebo at my current listening(I've only noticed a tad smoother). I also don't like that using DSD locks my dac out of the other sound channels in windows 11.

Looking for suggestions for great computer hifi experience and if I've missed trying anything for this so far. Thanks!

 

[earmonger]

A lot of hi-res hype is just...hype. Are you playing back through high-end headphones, amplifier, DAC? How subtle is the music? For a lot of people, 320kbps mp3 is just fine; for more sensitive people, lossless (WAV or FLAC) is just fine. I have no doubt that some people can perceive into the high-res zone but not everybody does. There's a lot of placebo effect and confirmation bias up there too.

 

[chesebert]

Waste of money and storage space. Get a better dac.

 

[miuywu]

A lot of hi-res hype is just...hype. Are you playing back through high-end headphones, amplifier, DAC? How subtle is the music? For a lot of people, 320kbps mp3 is just fine; for more sensitive people, lossless (WAV or FLAC) is just fine. I have no doubt that some people can perceive into the high-res zone but not everybody does. There's a lot of placebo effect and confirmation bias up there too.

I listen on a rme adi 2 and class a amp + diana v2. I can confidently hear the diff between wavs and mp3s in busier tracks. It's also easier to hear the difference between recorded songs and a digitally composed songs (indie electronic). Would you know where streamers fit into this hobby?

 

[prymortal]

This one time at https://bandcamp.com/ I got high res files. Well FLAC which is all you need if you want to waste disk space

 

[miuywu]

Waste of money and storage space. Get a better dac.

do you mean physical space? Solid state storage is affordable nowadays and you could even get ridiculous hard drive space a low cost. Songs I have in Wav only take up ~50MB.

 

[prymortal]

do you mean physical space? Solid state storage is affordable nowadays and you could even get ridiculous hard drive space a low cost. Songs I have in Wav only take up ~50MB.

Yeah, SSD fill up quick, so does 24TB of normal storage. Fun Fact cold storage 8TB drives don't last long & fill up fast.

 

[miuywu]

Yeah, SSD fill up quick, so does 24TB of normal storage. Fun Fact cold storage 8TB drives don't last long & fill up fast.

I have a feeling my scale is off here having never asked how large peoples' collection sizes are. My current library only takes up 13GB. If they were all wavs that would be around 100 GB probably.

 

[u2u2]

I have a feeling my scale is off here having never asked how large peoples' collection sizes are. My current library only takes up 13GB. If they were all wavs that would be around 100 GB probably.

It doesn’t take a lot of higher end DSD to gobble up tons of space. I focus on hi res flac files that I perceive exceed the quality of what I can stream or I want as a solid off line source. My CD collection is also ripped for that purpose - may I never see them again… I have various DSD sample sets up to 256 but haven’t bought many. Just a few for testing. Ditto for the larger flac items like 352.8. If you focus on just acquiring great sounding tracks at 44.1 16 to, say, 192 you can get plenty of enjoyment, get by with a TB or less, and still be able to empty an average wallet plus some. Chesebert is somewhat correct in that you do need solid performing gear to get the most from the files. Has he heard your DAC ? Don’t think you mentioned your gear so you could well have the best sounding setup of us all!

Pro Studio Masters and HD Tracks are reliable sources with the former being considerably more affordable.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

If DSD locks out other sounds in Windows and FLAC does not, you are not using ASIO drivers and exclusive mode. So, you're not getting the best sound quality possible from your gear.

I like DSD, I have hundreds of SACD rips, and storage is cheap. So get what you like.

Would you know where streamers fit into this hobby?

Streamers are for convenience since you can operate them with remote apps, and good ones also solve the issue of noisy PC USB interfaces.

For headphone listening where you are at a desk or at least near the gear, a streamer often doesn't make much sense. For a shelf system or multi-room scenario, streamers can be a nice addition.

 

[Monsterzero]

As others have mentioned, get yourself into a streaming solution, like Roon. Add in Qobuz and/or Tidal. Both have an extensive 24 bit catalog that you can stream, and/or can purchase. I prefer the SQ of Qobuz over Tidal, but Tidal seems to have a better selection of obscure metal. Its worth noting that Qobuz always streams at redbook quality or higher, whereas I have ran into a few albums on Tidal that are lossy, but again, thats on obscure albums.

If streaming isnt your thing, you can find 24 bit files for sale on the above forementioned services, HDTracks as well as occasionally, on Bandcamp.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

As others have mentioned, get yourself into a streaming solution, like Roon. Add in Qobuz and/or Tidal. Both have an extensive 24 bit catalog that you can stream, and/or can purchase. I prefer the SQ of Qobuz over Tidal, but Tidal seems to have a better selection of obscure metal. Its worth noting that Qobuz always streams at redbook quality or higher, whereas I have ran into a few albums on Tidal that are lossy, but again, thats on obscure albums.

If streaming isnt your thing, you can find 24 bit files for sale on the above forementioned services, HDTracks as well as occasionally, on Bandcamp.

Almost everything on Tidal is lossy now. Hires, but lossy. Over the past year or two they have replaced almost every Redbook album with Master and in most cases the Redbook version goes away. It's annoying but I have to say the MQA versions usually sound great.

So, I have it, I like it, it's cheap here and Qobuz is not available at all. If Qobuz ever makes good on their threats (3+ years and counting) to show up here I plan to add it and keep Tidal.

 

[Monsterzero]

Almost everything on Tidal is lossy now. Hires, but lossy.

You confuse me. How can something be Hi Rez and lossy at the same time?
The Roon software tells you when something plays back at lossless or lossy. 99% of the time Tidal plays back as lossless, according to Roon anyways.

If Qobuz ever makes good on their threats (3+ years and counting) to show up here I plan to add it and keep Tidal.

I have both. There is a lot of overlap between the two, but I keep Tidal for obscure stuff and Qobuz for better sound quality.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I have a feeling my scale is off here having never asked how large peoples' collection sizes are. My current library only takes up 13GB. If they were all wavs that would be around 100 GB probably.

There are many sites for Hi-res
HD Travks
Qobuz
Native DSD
Presto music (for classical and Jazz)
Highres-audio
And many other or the lab la themselves

My collection is 1.48TB. 85% is CD quality and 15% hi-res arround 600+GB hi-res, 900+GB CD redbook flac ( 2017 kill d my last mp3 album after finding it as FLAC)

 

[gimmeheadroom]

You confuse me. How can something be Hi Rez and lossy at the same time?

This is kinda unique to MQA. It's lossy, because MQA compression does throw away some bits. It's highres, because when fully expanded by a compatible and correct decoder, it can expand up to 352.8 KHz. This varies by album. Some albums expand only to Redbook so on paper they're worse than Redbook because MQA is lossy. Other albums expand up to the 352.8 KHz mentioned, but most seem to run 96 KHz.

The Roon software tells you when something plays back at lossless or lossy. 99% of the time Tidal plays back as lossless, according to Roon anyways.

I guess Roon can't be relied on for that level of technical detail. Indeed, as you said, there are very few number of albums which are not even Redbook. And there are two tiers below Redbook you can choose on the Tidal app to save on streaming bandwith (in 2022 why?) Not sure how they implement that. Lot of weird stuff going on.