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High res music

Do people just hear what they want to hear?
I have been drifting through the elsdon
Wonfor cable thread, desperately trying not to post anything negative but my god it’s an eye/wallet opener.
Terms like more grown up and spacious sounding! Even one evaluated that he needed to change a mains lead to unleash the new speaker cables performance.
I’m glad I am a cloth eared engineer.
 
Currently trialing Spotify.
Quite happy with it compared to Tidal.
I had a real issue with Tidal’s app when using My chromecast audio.
If you changed tracks it would drop back to the phone.
No such issues with Spotify.
Also decent pop recordings like Taylor Swift’s latest 2 albums sound absolutely fine. Obviously well produced compared to normal pop crap.
 
AndyU said:
I listen mostly to classical music, and Qobuz gives me the option of many new releases in high res, and I always choose hires. A perfect copy of the master; what more could you want.
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Well, in my case, almost certainly the CD (assuming there is one).
 
Curtis said:
Do people just hear what they want to hear?
I have been drifting through the elsdon
Wonfor cable thread, desperately trying not to post anything negative but my god it’s an eye/wallet opener.
Terms like more grown up and spacious sounding! Even one evaluated that he needed to change a mains lead to unleash the new speaker cables performance.
I’m glad I am a cloth eared engineer.
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It’s called doubt and expectation bias.
 
Curtis said:
Do people just hear what they want to hear?
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Certainly if they're in a Simon & Garfunkel song.

Co-incidentally I was playing some files last night, originally while cooking/eating dinner. Was going reasonably well until I moved to the sofa and I came to the 'hi-res' version of a Paul Simon album, 'You're The One,' which I know very well. (Originally purchased/downloaded from QoBuz back in the day when I thought that was a worthwhile way to buy music).

Was feeling lazy, and definitely in the zone, so I thought 'nah, just let it run...'

Started to get on my tits about half way through the second track, so dug out the CD so I could listen to it without grinding my teeth.
 
Interesting discussion! Love the sound of my silver disc spinner. Use a Mac Mini to push ripped CDs through when I can't be bothered to put on a disc. Been thinking of going for an expensive streamer but may just keep what I have. CD player when I want the best and Mini for lazy listening.
 
boneman said:
Interesting discussion! Love the sound of my silver disc spinner. Use a Mac Mini to push ripped CDs through when I can't be bothered to put on a disc. Been thinking of going for an expensive streamer but may just keep what I have. CD player when I want the best and Mini for lazy listening.
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Sounds as though you're pretty much in the same place as me. Great majority of my 10,000 or so files are ripped from my own CDs, but there are about 400 tracks I only have as downloads, where typically there is/was no CD release — or a limited number and I was too slow off the mark. Last two purchases in that respect have been Love & Money Live In Glasgow (CD sold out, bugger) and The Sleeping Years (album has CD option, EPs are download only), both via BandCamp.

Over and above those, I have about 130 'hi-res' tracks, sourced from HDTracks and QoBuz, the majority of which I also have on CD.

It's roughly a 50/50 split between albums I previously owned on CD and subsequently purchased in 'hi-res,' and 'hi-res' albums I subsequently purchased on CD after realising the 'hi-res' files from the former group weren't actually that great. At the time I'd bought a Melco server, I've since reverted to a Mac mini as a secondary source.

I can't say I've sat and done a comparison between the two on every album, in fact I've not really done it on any of them as a 'formal' comparison, I just realised the file-based options, especially the 'hi-res' versions weren't really floating my boat.

I've been here before, 40 years ago. Swapped a Linn/Grace/Supex for a Linn/Ittok/Asak. The latter was 'better hifi,' the former was a lot more engaging, and in hindsight made me buy/play a lot more albums.
 
notevenclose said:
Sounds as though you're pretty much in the same place as me. Great majority of my 10,000 or so files are ripped from my own CDs, but there are about 400 tracks I only have as downloads, where typically there is/was no CD release — or a limited number and I was too slow off the mark. Last two purchases in that respect have been Love & Money Live In Glasgow (CD sold out, bugger) and The Sleeping Years (album has CD option, EPs are download only), both via BandCamp.

Over and above those, I have about 130 'hi-res' tracks, sourced from HDTracks and QoBuz, the majority of which I also have on CD.

It's roughly a 50/50 split between albums I previously owned on CD and subsequently purchased in 'hi-res,' and 'hi-res' albums I subsequently purchased on CD after realising the 'hi-res' files from the former group weren't actually that great. At the time I'd bought a Melco server, I've since reverted to a Mac mini as a secondary source.

I can't say I've sat and done a comparison between the two on every album, in fact I've not really done it on any of them as a 'formal' comparison, I just realised the file-based options, especially the 'hi-res' versions weren't really floating my boat.

I've been here before, 40 years ago. Swapped a Linn/Grace/Supex for a Linn/Ittok/Asak. The latter was 'better hifi,' the former was a lot more engaging, and in hindsight made me buy/play a lot more albums.
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Yep, pretty close to same as you but with zero downloads. There is SO much good music on the used CD market and it's so affordable I'm like a kid in a candy shop every time I go on Dicsogs! I think the area I would dabble in for higher res would be classical though I tend to go more for the performance than the all around sound. I'm in no hurry to change much in my system as I'm pretty happy with it but always curious. Of course with each year the hearing probably gets a bit more shite and upgrading won't matter anyway!
 
Since changing my rig about 18 months ago I’ve stopped listening to the system, and started listening to the music. I use Qobuz via Roon on the house system. I also use Qobuz app on my phone via USB into the car system. I’ll not be changing either app anytime soon.
 
Octavian said:
You might find this interesting: https://www.realhd-audio.com/?tag=mark-waldrep
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That's a great article. I have never managed to tell the difference between red book and higher rez. Strangely, though, I never really liked CD players and only began to enjoy digital music once I bought a Dacmagic Azur, which I still use. Yesterday I listened to a Klimax DS for the umpteenth time. Was it better than my DACMagic? I can't be sure, but probably. A little. Do I have any urge to upgrade? Not really.

When they introduced CD as the perfect sound forever, they probably weren't that far wrong.
 
Octavian said:
Please note that Waldrep's current views are very much based on his experiment with hundreds of audio enthusiasts. If you do the listening sighted, it will have very little value.
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Unless you know how to be really honest with yourself. ;-)
 
sonddek said:
Unless you know how to be really honest with yourself. ;-)
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Thinking about this, in my case that honesty starts with a default assumption: 'I probably can't reliably tell the difference between these two renditions'. Then, if I do think I hear a difference, I attack my claim mercilessly until I'm left with a pretty good idea of whether it's real or just me.
 
sonddek said:
Then, if I do think I hear a difference, I attack my claim mercilessly until I'm left with a pretty good idea of whether it's real or just me.
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And then what? If you catch yourself in an act of self-deception, is it on with the barbed wire underpants for a few days?
 
sonddek said:
That's a great article. I have never managed to tell the difference between red book and higher rez. Strangely, though, I never really liked CD players and only began to enjoy digital music once I bought a Dacmagic Azur, which I still use. Yesterday I listened to a Klimax DS for the umpteenth time. Was it better than my DACMagic? I can't be sure, but probably. A little. Do I have any urge to upgrade? Not really.

When they introduced CD as the perfect sound forever, they probably weren't that far wrong.
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I went through more CD players than any other component except perhaps for speakers and only found one that was ok. It was the cheapest!

Ripped and streamed with competent equipment that’s readily available for bugger all these days, a well mastered CD is pretty darn good. Good enough for me anyway. The problem as I see it was largely with the players.
 
notevenclose said:
And then what? If you catch yourself in an act of self-deception, is it on with the barbed wire underpants for a few days?
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Isn't it the other way round? YMMV, but understanding that some detail in what I am hearing may not be a fault in the equipment seems to me as permission to doff the irritating barbed wire underpants and enjoy the cashmere of good music.
 
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