FYI:
It may not be the most obvious to everybody that at least as how I see "NOS/Filterless" DACs, it is not allowed to feed them with Redbook unfiltered. IOW, when we compare DSD to PCM and for PCM try to follow a chain which does not convert to "DSD" anywhere and it is about RBCD, this still *needs* upsampling/filtering.
If we like to compare apples to apples, the filtering is not allowed to be of any of the common types which exhibit at least post-ringing (and most often also pre-ringing) because it would fairly much come down to what an SDM does (for its necessary filtering).
While it is a (my) design choice to use genuine interpolation filtering which is 100% OK to the time domain and which is not 100% OK at all to the frequency domain, it could be important to see that now at least the time domain resembles that of native (!) DSD (but DSD is not 100%).
When Redbook is not filtered the time domain is still OK, but the frequency domain is a total mess.
... which is of course what NOS/Filterless lovers listen to and still like ...
When (PCM) Hires is played through a NOS DAC you get the real merits of it, unlike SDM based DACs (which always are to be considered OS) which re-apply filtering (not necessarily or necessary, but they do). It is there where 99% of PCM Hires flaws because you hear it as it was recorded (or engineered if you like); we'd be dependent on the ADC and further means used. It will, therefore, be no coincidence that I myself could not find any "HDTracks Hires" which sounded better than their Redbook counterparts which is just because I hear the real merits through a NOS DAC. Notice that this was two years before the Audacity Cowboys came about and let's say I'm well known for my views in this realm.
Disclaimer : if anyone tells me that "of course" Hires needs the filtering at playback just the same, then I'm out of this game. But I don't think this is so.
(and before you don't understand : what's coming out from HDTracks has been available years before they "obtained" it and I have it by the hundreds)
The above contains many many subjects assumed to be clear and understood by everybody, while I know this is not so at all and I too am seeking for real merits in some subjects. What I do like to express with it though, is that it is the most tough to compare apples to apples when it is about comparing PCM to DSD;
Mani showed some chains, some avoiding all conversions. But it doesn't tell all because there is too few means to compare; Therefore, consider this :
- What D/A chips are available which allow true NOS hence how many DACs can exist that allow comparing "glitching" assumed that were key to better sound (Opus' subject);
- When we have found a few DACs, how many are setup such that we can apply our own filtering means (and take it from me please that *that* makes the sound).
- When we take the DSD chain without conversions, how many DFFs etc. would we have of which we know that they are still native DSD by guarantee ? (suggestion : count on one hand).
And this is all outside of the debate which of the formats is technically better, with the knowledge that both are so different that it really needs 100s of posts to sort out that alone, and then still there's no real conclusion. This by itself makes me think that there is one solution only : listen. Yeah, well, that is what we all try to do. But now the remainder of my post above counts and I say that nobody is able to compare the apples to the apples because *if* we were able to find two setups which compare nicely, then it's still about the selection of DACs which hardly is there. So, Mani uses a PMII for PCM recording; I don't own one. He uses a NOS1 for PCM playback. Good, I have that, but there is nothing else that I know of might you not like that. He uses a Mytek for DSD playback; maybe not the best. And native DSD in there ? personally I even doubt that but alas. A Korg for recording ? Mwah. Tascam ? looks better but who tells it is the best. Using recording from vinyl to judge ? sure, I don't hear the difference when played through the NOS1 (and I tend to hear differences everywhere). But LP ? Not the best base in my view.
Moral : Someone like Mani really tries everything and all to find the real merits. But it hardly can be done by a human being;
When we have conclusions, it will be based upon that coincidental chain, the devices used (one is better than the other) and even the material we like to play. And to take this latter to the extreme : I can't find any PCM Hires that sounds better than Redbook. Think about how controversial this is and what it all can or has to take to be correct on it. Yes, include my ears please.
Peter