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So what is the problem with the DSD?
Well, here I put down some of the issues, but perhaps one of the most
important issues is the issue number three,
that all the mastering software,
everything that we have, that everybody uses because the CD you listen to is not
it's not directly from the microphone to your speaker, but it's been processed.
There was a recording engineer; there was a mastering engineer.
All mastering today that exists
Exists only in PCM format.
There is not much you can do with
DSD directly. You can perhaps change the volume,
but that's about it.
So as a result,
even when the record says it's DSD,
it has effectively been converted to PCM
for mastering purposes
and so at the end, you can convert it back to DSD if you like and that's
what's done,
but unfortunately that
kills the original idea
of getting rid of those interpolation filters.
So we're back to using the interpolation filters
and then at the end we are artificially converting it to a DSD.
That is the issue number 3
that is perhaps the weakest point of the DSD idea.
The issue number two is equally important.
When the DSD was originally created it was a 1-bit format.
Since then the world moved on.
The chip designers quickly realized that 1-bit DAC
does not give you the
dynamic range that you want
and the one bit designs were abandoned approximately ten fifteen years ago
towards 3-bit designs and then later to
5-bit modulators. That's something that's not taken into account.
So as a result, when you're converting it to 1-bit,
you're actually throwing away the bits that the DAC is capable of because
the DAC itself
You cannot buy a commercial DAC chip
today that's a 1-bit DAC chip.
All the chips that receive the DSD formats, they are actually
3-bit or 5-bit modulators which will then artificially
which are not using all the
bits that the chip is capable of.
So as a result, this 1-bit issue
is sort of
again there is a loss involved, that it's mismatched with the current technology
that's commonly available.
Then there is issues of standardization
and most importantly as well from a technical point of view.
The DSD system
uses a lot of dithering
in order to work properly and this heavy amount of dithering it's
actually high-frequency noise,
which when it gets into analog circuits like preamplifiers and power
amplifiers after it
tends to react with the
with the input circuits
in such a way as to produce another set of distortions.
So a huge amount of dithering noise is always an issue
with the analog circuits that follow.
So as a result
because of some of these reasons DSD format
as well as standardisation issues and equipment never really obtained
penetration
and in my view
the idea was excellent,
but the implementation did not quite work out
how it was intended to be.
So now let's see - what can we do with today's technology? Times move on, we're
now to 3-bit modulators, 5-bit modulators and we are up to the chips
that can convert at a much
higher sample rate.
So the argument I'm going to make is that 384 kHz audio
actually has a chance to become
what DSD wanted to be
but did not actually become.
Now what is so cool?
Well, the cool thing about
high sample rates
is that they
whereas they do use a little bit of filters in the chip these are not
the long and deep filters
with very very
long-time trenchant responses. These are affectively we're taking a signal
as if almost directly from the modulator with a small amount of filtering,
very very gentle.
We are able to convert it to
384 kHz, PCM
and we are able to go away from the problems with the upsampling and the
downsampling.
We now, because it's a PCM format,
we now become compatible
with all the mastering plugins
and it is now a format that's easily stored
and distributable
in files, so you can store them in WAV files, you can store them in FLAC files
and that's something that makes it very compatible with the modern internet age.
- And, because of the very very
dense sampling in time - it reproduces the time response, the trenchant a lot
better, which is thought to be responsible for
creating a sound which comes much closer to the analog sound that the digital has
always wanted to reproduce.
So now, very very shortly the advantages of higher sample rates: It allows for
frequency response much above 20 kHz.
Now this is a little bit of a
controversial issue. Some people think it matters, some people think that it doesn't,
- your dog will hear it for sure
- you may not.
It reduces the processing distortions in the DACS. It improves
the mastering and it comes closer to the analog sound.
So now,
What can you do with the stuff? Well, one of the things you want to do with this
stuff, is if you are an LP lover, you have some records,
it would be nice to digitize them
at much higher sample rates because it's going to sound a lot closer to your
original LP.
Now, what kind of equipment can you use With it?
There's a few things available on the market including our own unit that we're going
to be showing
We are showing it today
and that's called Rubicon.
It's a 384 kHz mastering and processing center for audiophile.
You have 384 kHz A/D converter, D/A, you have a USB interface,
you have an atomic clock that
takes care of the jitter issues
and you have a nice headphone preamp.
So come out, check out this unit
and I'm going to pass the microphone to the next presenter
who's going to talk a little bit about
how are the high sample rate
recordings actually mastered.