DSD music recommendations

I started a similar post off on the beta test forum when DSD was intro'd.

Best place to find them is this link - http://www.findhdmusic.com/alb...ch/?q=&fmt_dsd=1

It really is all you need - it will find all DSD recordings & where to buy them,  plus any PCM sales location provided its 24 bit.  Also you can drill down in the "more" section & it will list them by region & show the regional restricted sales from USA.

+1 for David Elias - I have all his stuff.

Also check out Blue Coast Records,  they are expensive & then some,  but they have there own artists & are not available on the general market.  They do offer some free samples & also a free whole album when you open an account.   

Most DSD is niche area stuff & the artist and/or studio is particularly focused on quality SQ from the studio to end product.

This IMO is probably 80% of why DSD recording sound better than PCM rather than DSD as a format per se.  

As far as recommendations are concerned, i.e. classical, folk, jazz etc.  you might be better off having this thread in the Music Room

Interesting. Any freebie recommendations just to try the new software out?

+1 Mike 

Most DSD is niche area stuff & the artist and/or studio is particularly focused on quality SQ from the studio to end product.

This IMO is probably 80% of why DSD recording sound better than PCM rather than DSD as a format per se. 

http://dsdmaster.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

3 tracks different formats/definitions

Regards.

Erich

Thank you Erich for the link

If you look around you will find them in most DSD vendors,  Blue Coast is a good starting place .....  I have one sample track by Eric Bibb "Meeting at the Building" ..... its superb vocal & emotion , I think I got at dsdfile.com

A nice www for genuine "native" DSD    www-dot-nativedsd.com

Some rather good  cost free DSD test recordings here. They are classical music recordings but most are very good..

http://www.2l.no/hires/

(you need to use 'DSD64')

Simon

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I'm a long way from being a classical music fan but these sound fantastic, dynamics in particular are really impressive.  Not sure if I can hear a difference between the 128 and 64 though

+2 David Elias, good music, wonderful recordings.  If anything has convinced me DSD is worth listening to its Morning Light/Western Town by him which was a free sampler download that I found astonishing. Super realistic electric guitar in the corner of my living room and bass to die for just brilliant  

Good afternoon all,

I'm new to the DSD format. There seems to be many "flavours", which one do we download...DSD Master 24 bit...176.4Khz etc?

DSD64 or DSD2.8MHz are the 'real' DSD formats the Naims will play: the ones you mention will either be downsamples from the DSD original to (usually) WAV or FLAC formats, or content upsampled from PCM originals to DSD.

For example, the new San Francisco Symphony Beethoven 9 available here is downloadable in both DSD64 and 'double DSD' (DSD128/DSD5.6MHz, which the Naims won't play), but was in fact originated in 96kHz/24-bit. I've dowloaded and played both, and while the DSD version sounds very good indeed, the 96kHz/24bit – which is basically a straight copy of the master files supplied – just pips it on detail.

If you want to explore how the same tracks sound in a variety of formats - not all of which the Naims can play – try the free sample downloads from 2L, available for just this purpose. Go to that site, click '2L brand store' top right of the page, and select 'Test Bench HD audio files' from the dropdown.

Hope this helps.

 .........  this is were we get into A is better than B,  & it will end up like one of those never ending cable debates.

The SFS Beethoven 9th may well be taken from an original 96/24 & converted to DSD.

But this is NOT the way it is with all DSD recordings,  many are recorded in DSD or another form of bitstream & as such are known as "native" DSD.

To keep it simple for Mr Dustysox,  there is only one DSD "flavour"  that Naim use - DSD64

64 refrs to the number of times faster it samples compared to CD & that sampling rate is 2.8224MHz

The file will be indicated in a number of ways, (confusing)

DSD64,  or 2.8MHz,  or 2822.4kHz, or 64fs  

No, not 'may well be' taken from a 24/96 recording – it was.

I was only using it as an example of a DSD release converted from 24/96 (and a download site honest enough to say so), not saying that all DSDs are made this way.

Yes, some simple 'audiophile' recordings are made from original DSD recordings, although most are recorded (or at least mixed) in DXD (352.8kHz/24-bit PCM) before being converted to DSD for release.

However, some the very best current DSD releases are those made from original analogue recordings.

for classic jazz lovers: Miles Davis- Kind of Blue, Charles Mingus- Ah Um at acousticsounds.com, are  examples of great transfers

"DSD file created by Gus Skinas from the original Sony Super Audio CD cutting masters."

Hi Andrew,

Sorry, I completely missed this. Thank you for your help and post.

Just to confirm, which one of below would I download?

Original DSF File. This is the only DSD-format in this list

All the others are PCM-files so no longer a DSD.

Just to reiterate Aleg's reply, only the top file is DSD, the other files are simply regular PCM.

To convert between DSD and PCM and vica versa is a lossy non precise process and should be avoided. Clearly if you don't have a DSD enabled DAC, you will need to convert to PCM,but it's a compromise.

Simon

Yes, the first one – the original DSF file – though you might want to try some of the others purely for comparison purposes if interested.

Gents wanted to say a big thank you for helping me out.

Great community spirit and what is so good about the forum.

Channel classics ( http://www.channelclassics.com ) records and mixes everything in DSD. It is something they are proponents of.

if you want to be stunned, download the Mahler 9 recording of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Not only a superior performance, but also a superior recording. Even in PCM

No, I haven't. I'm utterly uninterested in the DSD format, since it is too esoteric, just like the Super Audio CD. I think forward compatibility is a real problem.

I do not buy 24/192 either. I cannot hear the difference with 24/96, so why waste the money and the disk space then?

That being said, Channel Classics is renowned as a DSD shop. So if you want DSD and you like classical music, it is the place to check out.

If you like Mahler, this performance by Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra is simply not to be missed. 

If you're more audiophile inclined, this recording will probably get your skin crawling with excitement. "Even" on 24/96 it baffles. Very distinct from other recordings I treasure by the almost physical presence of the orchestra. Even the other Fischer recordings. 

Thanks for the mini-review. Yes, I'm interested in classical, and in this particular recording. I don't yet know if I'm interested in DSD, but want to dip a toe in the water, and it may be that this Mahler 9 is the way to do it. What I'm unwilling to do is buy both DSD and hi-res versions and spend hours comparing them, both on cost and time grounds. Which is one of many reasons it's so good to have Gramophone's Audio Editor (and now the guy who writes many HFN/RR reviews) Andrew Everard contributing here.