The Art of Listening - Hi-rez music

Bruce B · Mar 9, 2011

I was going to tag this on to one of my other threads but decided to start a new one just concentrating on what we hear and feel.

Later I'll be posting files of the same hi-rez music, just at different sample-rate/bit-depths and showing what you should listen for.

Before I do that though, I just watched an excellent video of Evelyn Glennie. For those of you that don't know of her, she is a deaf musician. For years I've been telling people to also listen with your body. You do it now at the theatre when a dinosaur stomps at 12Hz. You can't hear it, but you can feel it. The same principle applies to tones > 18k
Take a look/listen to the video. You'll never listen to sound the same.

[video]http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html[/video]

garylkoh · Mar 9, 2011

Hey, Bruce. Great minds think alike. I posted the same video in another thread here some time ago. I agree that it's a must-see for members on this forum!

audioguy · Mar 9, 2011

Very cool. Thanks for the post. I am going to forward this to our church choir director even though she is talking about physical instruments.

Very interesting.

Ron Party · Mar 9, 2011

Thanks for posting the link to that video. Absolutely wonderful!

Bruce B · Mar 15, 2011

Here is a file that we recorded at a native 24/352.8 It starts off with piano/drum. Do not listen to the music! Instead, concentrate on the sticks hitting the cymbal. Listen to the attack/transient of the initial hit. Listen to the tone and then the decay. Focus on just this one element.
Listen to the sound of the cymbals in the room. How big is the room? What kind of space is this drummer in? Listen to the tone of the cymbal.
Now... as you go down to 176.4, then 88.2 and finally 16/44.1, listen to these elements that I talked about above. Listen how the transient attack becomes more dull. Notice how the tone of the cymbal changes from crisp/pristine to dull and flat. Next, notice how the decay becomes shorter and shorter and the "room" becomes smaller and more dry with less reverb.

Remember to do a "right-click" and "save as" on the files and save them to your hard drive.

Sample files

Bruce B · Mar 23, 2011

Whom ever notified the label, while I appreciate you trying to police the internet, this file has already been offered as a FREE download and not just the 55 seconds I have here.

mep · Mar 23, 2011

Bruce B said:
Whom ever notified the label, while I appreciate you trying to police the internet, this file has already been offered as a FREE download and not just the 55 seconds I have here.

Wow. I guess this should get filed under "no good deed goes unpunished."

RBFC · Mar 23, 2011

Anonymous back-stabbing is pitiful....

Lee

mep · Mar 23, 2011

RBFC said:
Anonymous back-stabbing is pitiful....

Lee

Painful too. I have a bunch of scars on my back.

NorthStar · Mar 23, 2011

I really like the attitude of that nice lady!

microstrip · Apr 7, 2011

Wilson–VTL–Transparent–Beethoven

Perhaps this is not the best place to post this link, but I could not figure a better one.

Bruce should be congratulated for his participation in the best sound of the 2011 SSI. See:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson150vtl150transparent150beethoven

Now, we only have to wait for the release of this fantastic recording at HDtracks.

garylkoh · Apr 7, 2011

Congrats, Bruce!!

Just as a matter of curiosity, why did you pick 88.2kHz instead of 96kHz or more? I ask because I think that some DACs sound better at multiples of 44.1 and others at 48, but there's no way to test this because material in 88.2kHz and 96kHz is not available....

Bruce B · Apr 8, 2011

garylkoh said:
Congrats, Bruce!!

Just as a matter of curiosity, why did you pick 88.2kHz instead of 96kHz or more? I ask because I think that some DACs sound better at multiples of 44.1 and others at 48, but there's no way to test this because material in 88.2kHz and 96kHz is not available....

Because these tapes were transferred at DSD128fs and DSD64fs on the Sonoma, the logical delivery to Peter via ftp was 88.2

I'd love for Peter to release the DSD files someday!

microstrip · Apr 8, 2011

Bruce B said:
Because these tapes were transferred at DSD128fs and DSD64fs on the Sonoma, the logical delivery to Peter via ftp was 88.2

I'd love for Peter to release the DSD files someday!

Do you know when and at what bit rate they will be released by HDtracks?

Bruce B · Apr 8, 2011

microstrip said:
Do you know when and at what bit rate they will be released by HDtracks?

I would assume it would be 24/176.4 Don't know the release date.

Nevillekapadia · Apr 26, 2011

Bruce B said:
Because these tapes were transferred at DSD128fs and DSD64fs on the Sonoma, the logical delivery to Peter via ftp was 88.2

I'd love for Peter to release the DSD files someday!

Bruce, yes I await the day that such files could be released in DSD. I use a Korg MR2000s to record my vinyl, and really revel in the fact that it captures it so well in 2xDSD. This purely for convenience as it also saves wear and tear on the vinyl and gear.
Heard some raw recordings of home taped instruments on the portable Korg -MR1000 in 2xDSD. It knocked my socks off and you know what level of realism I am referring too.
I await the release of dac's that will decode the 2xDSD via USB -e.g. Playback D. and Mytek. Also the software -don't know of anyone working on it (grapevine says Amarra) officially.
I was fortunate enough to get a DSD of a newly recorded master tape (jazz ensemble with vocals) as well as the same version in red book and 24/196. When I playback the DSD version for visitors, they start giggling at the realism in an unbelievable manner that it does not sound like digital (red book) or analog (vinyl pressing).
Do you know if Winston would also go down this path of releasing such great recordings in DSD? I guess I need to go and ask him, but as I was on the topic, took the shortcut.
Would you ever put a sample of Peterson -we get requests, or What a wonderful world -yamamoto in 2xdsd for us korg owners to download and relish?
I look forward to your reply and do understand if you are bound by any legal requirements in not being able to reveal information.
Thanks,
Best Neville

Bruce B · Apr 26, 2011

Yes Neville, the Korg MR2000s I think is the best sounding 2-track recorder under $10k. We use it a lot for location recording along with the Sonoma.
Andreas has DSD files playing back through the Playback Designs via USB using a Mac mini and iTunes. I think AudioGate will play DSD as well.
I know there are several professional workstations that will play DSD.
I don't think Winston will be releasing any DSD/DXD anytime soon. He did offer a free download on CA that we did in DXD though that sounded amazing (Yamamoto - Wonderful Trio). I offered snippets of material before and got my hands slapped. Guess people went to the label and ratted on me that I was offering their music, even though it had been offered for FREE before in it's entirety.

Nevillekapadia · Apr 28, 2011

Bruce, many thanks for your reply.

When time permit and you do speak with Andreas could you check if the iTunes lets the native DSD files through or if it converts it to another format such as PCM. I do know that Audiogate will play the DSD files, but will convert them to some format like PCM as a normal DAC will let the music play through usb via Audiogate.

On another note, I do have the Wonderful Trio Album, and it even beats Winston's previous SACD recording of Yamamoto's - "Autumn in Seattle" in my books. In fact I did pick up quite a few FIM's DXD on my recent travels in S'pore.

What a shame that people ratted on the availability of the DSD snippets. It is through these audio learning's that audiophiles could learn about how great a format like 2xDSD could be. It would increase its popularity and get acceptance from more hardware manufacturers and OEM's to include Dac's capable of decoding such signals.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas on this forum.

Best, Neville

Tarekith · Jun 1, 2011

Bruce B said:
Before I do that though, I just watched an excellent video of Evelyn Glennie. For those of you that don't know of her, she is a deaf musician. For years I've been telling people to also listen with your body. You do it now at the theatre when a dinosaur stomps at 12Hz. You can't hear it, but you can feel it. The same principle applies to tones > 18k
Take a look/listen to the video. You'll never listen to sound the same.

[video]http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html[/video]

If you like this, be sure to check out the movie "Touch The Sound" starring Evelyn, one of the most inspiring movies I own.

Bruce B · Jun 15, 2011

Has anyone read this paper? Comments?

On the audibility of "high resolution" digital audio formats
and how to test this
Dr. Hans R.E. van Maanen
Temporal Coherence

The Art of Listening - Hi-rez music

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