Does Core decode HDCD disks?
Posted by: CharlieP on 15 February 2018
I have found nothing with search. I am sure the core will rip an HDCD encoded disk, but will I just get 15 bits of audio, or does it decode it to higher bit depth as did my former CDX?
Charlie
Hi Charlie,
You will need a DAC capable of decoding the HDCD encoding for the full HDCD experience to be present in your system. The Naim CDX2 and CDS3 had such DAC's internally fitted as part of the Naim designs for those CD players. I am not aware of too many DAC's on the market today which currently offer this function beyond those offered by Berkeley Audio Design, who were among the inventors of the HDCD process in the 90's. I don't believe the current Naim streamers or the NDAC offer this feature, as HDCD is now sort of frozen in amber. You should be able to play all HDCD discs in your system, no matter what the DAC, but if full HDCD replay is super important to you, I would recommend you keep a Naim CD player in your system if you can from the generation that included the Pacific Microsonics filter in the chip sets. I have a few client's who are big Deadheads for whom I have recommended exactly this approach. HDCD, when well played back, can be stunning. The Naim CD players were among the most musical on the market.
Good luck,
Bruce
Bruce,
Thanks for the reply. I have ripped my HDCD disks to 24bit/44.1KHz files with dBPoweramp, so I will just play those files from the Downloads/ folder I suppose. I do not have very many of them, but some good music.
I am so impressed with the sound quality of the Core, I will not be complaining about such a small matter as lack of HDCD decoding.
Charlie
Hi Bruce - as another big Deadhead (albeit UK based), I have ripped all my Dead stuff via DBPoweramp and when I play it via Asset on my Nova it shows as HDCD bit rate on the now playing scren in the Naim app. Is it the case that I'm actually only hearing vanilla red book? Sounds damn fine to me but then so did the bootleg cassettes back in the day. I dumped my CDS2 years ago in favour of streaming and never missed it - until now? Hopefully the Vault will be opened up for hi res download and all this will become moot.
I enjoy my GD HDCDs on my CDS3 but as it's not possible to turn it on or off I have no idea what difference it makes to SQ.
Clive
Pev, have you run your ripped HDCD files through the dbpoweramp HDCD plug-in (you can do this in the Music Convertor)? If so they should be converted to 24bit 44.1kHz files and should play as such from your Nova.
Hi Richard, that's exactly what I've done - thanks for putting my mind at rest. 