Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: DSD to PCM conversion (Read 11542 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

DSD to PCM conversion

Is conversion from DSD to PCM considered transparent?  There's an album I want to buy that is only available in DSD format.  Ideally I would convert it to 16/44.1 FLAC and then down to a vbr v0 mp3.

I will obviously be testing this with my own to two ears, but I am wondering if there are any known issues with converting from DSD to CD quality FLAC.

Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #1
An album only available in dsd? May i ask what album that is? I stumbled only across very few offered in dsd only and imho these albums were mostly boring Jazz alike crap i'd never listen.
As for transparency there is no indication it is not transparent but the typical fluff of abductees.
The starts or ends of songs may have clicks from converting.
You may merge single tracks clean the beginning and end of the resulting big file then split again.
Is troll-adiposity coming from feederism?
With 24bit music you can listen to silence much louder!

Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #2
It's a specific remaster of I, Robot by the Alan Parsons Project.  The album was released on vinyl and then the remaster used to make the vinyl was released in DSD format.

I'm a big Alan Parsons Project fan, and own almost every remaster of this album. This download would allow me to "complete the set."

Let me go find you a link for it.

Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #3
Here it is:

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/101234/The_Alan_Parsons_Project-I_Robot-DSD

The sell a FLAC version also, but it's a different remaster.

I'm kind of getting sick of  remaster and remaster of classic albums.

Before you tell me I am perpetuating the problem, I am buying most of this stuff used.  The only version I bought new was the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs version, and they included two discs in the packaging.  I was able to sell one of the discs and make back a significant portion of my purchase price.



I don't have a modified PS-3, so I can't rip the SACD to DSD sadly.  But it really doesn't matter, because the disc has a CD layer.  I just ripped that to FLAC and then AAC.

Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #4
Collecting things can be fun. To everyone his own. When i read 'Transferred on an all-tube cutting system' the step from dsd to PCM for sure can't hurt anymore.
Is troll-adiposity coming from feederism?
With 24bit music you can listen to silence much louder!

Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #5
Collecting things can be fun. To everyone his own. When i read 'Transferred on an all-tube cutting system' the step from dsd to PCM for sure can't hurt anymore.

That's true.  Its 2017.  I'm kind of surprised that people are still using tubes.



Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #8
Rollin reported that converting DSD to PCM through WavPack is gapless. I recall you're a foobar2000 user so you could use it to do the conversion. Compress DSD to WavPack, load the .wv files in foobar2000 and use its converter to resample and convert to target format. Just make sure that foo_input_sacd isn't installed for this step or you won't get PCM output from the files. The SACD component does unallowed things and overrides the native WavPack decoder with its own DSD outputting version.

And the conversion is transparent unless intentionally done wrong. Good resampling introduced noise is over 100 dB below the signal and no organ in human body misses the lost ultrasounds.

Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #9
Rollin reported that converting DSD to PCM through WavPack is gapless. I recall you're a foobar2000 user so you could use it to do the conversion. Compress DSD to WavPack, load the .wv files in foobar2000 and use its converter to resample and convert to target format. Just make sure that foo_input_sacd isn't installed for this step or you won't get PCM output from the files. The SACD component does unallowed things and overrides the native WavPack decoder with its own DSD outputting version.

And the conversion is transparent unless intentionally done wrong. Good resampling introduced noise is over 100 dB below the signal and no organ in human body misses the lost ultrasounds.

Gapless is important to me.  Thanks for that information.

I really love the idea of Wavpack.  I just don't have any devices that support it.


Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #11

I don't have a modified PS-3, so I can't rip the SACD to DSD sadly.  But it really doesn't matter, because the disc has a CD layer.  I just ripped that to FLAC and then AAC.

Except when it does matter.  Unfortunately there is no guarantee that the mastering of the CD layer is the same as the DSD layer, on hybrid SACD.   It cannot be assumed.


Re: DSD to PCM conversion

Reply #12
That is true.  The assumption is that the two layers are supposed to be the same master.  But I have heard stories of the CD layer deliberately having an inferior CD layer to make the SACD more desirable.