Bits and Hertz Influence

Hi all,

Just want to hear some views from all of you whether you take into account the CD player bits and frequency spec when choosing a CD player. For me personally, I dont. If that CD player sounds good on my set up, then it sounds good to me without asking whats the spec like. However, if you do take into account the specs, which one would you choose from the following scenario without demoing the unit?

1. Same price between 2 models. CDP A offers 24 bit with upsampling to 192 kHz. CDP B offers 32 bit with upsampling to 192 kHz.

2. And what if CDP B is cheaper but CDP A has more reputation?

Well done to you if the listening is the main criteria. In actual fact, the differences in sound between a sampling rate of 96kHz as against a sampling rate of 192kHz and above (384kHz in some cases - read HiFace) is barely noticeable by the majority of listeners; unless and this is the caveat, if you're under 30 - 35 years old. That's because most person's hearing does not really get progressively worse but there is a drop after the age of 30 - and then the 12-15kHz takes a dip.

Additionally, the way DAC makers have gone, they have become so sophisticated that its basically a complete circuit on a chip and so it comes down to making sure attention is made to the power supplies. That's why I hate to say this but in a fair fight today, even a humble Rega or Audiolab or Cambridge Audio DAC can challenge the DACs from dCS or Wadia or Chord - such is the march of technology. (I know the high end fanboys will want to have a say on this,..)

Lastly, most high end DAC makers specify a 24 bit today but some intrepid manufacturer will try to squeeze higher bit rates by attempting to raise the resolution by splitting the conversion (custom/creative solution) and implementing a mathematical solution to increase the resolution to 32 bit. However the issue is of course the custom solution that costs $$$ and the buyers pay for that but whether the solution is fool proof (or bug/glitch free) is another issue.

Here's the reality of Hi Fi - the DAC chips are cheap to begin with and then you start to wonder where the high price came from - labour or talent perhaps but most competent electronics engineers can learn how in a short space of time.

Thanks for the respond samazzah. While technically it can be explained on how higher bit rate and freq can make the SQ better, but how do you choose between an RM12000 CDP that offers 24 Bit/192 khz and a RM6000 CDP that offers 32Bit/192 khz?

Hi Elhefe, apologies for going on about the technical issues. Actually I used to own a CD player costing about RM12k with similar specs (MF) - nearly bought the RM22k KW CDP. Soon after a 32 bit model / 192 kHz came out and I kicked my heels for not waiting but the CDP I bought sounded better simply because the build was better. Moral of the story - the sound matters.

However, here's a tip that you may not like; CD players are falling out of favour in UK and US, heck even in the last KLAV show the S'pore exhibitors were using computer audio to demonstrate their ware - there are technical reasons for their superiority. Thought I understand that you have dabbled in CAS in your previous postings. So my advice is buy a reasonable priced CDP that sounds best and with good back up, laser assemblies are hopelessly unreliable. Better still, get a blue ray player like a Sony or the highly rated Oppo and hook it up to your DAC - you'd be surprised at the results compared to your MF (CD only) transport. The issue is being bit perfect and accuracy of the laser and with less error correction (or fudging). It seems Audiolab CDPs go past the process on-the-fly issue by buffering the data before outputting to your amp and that is why it sounds better for a cheap CDP.

Samazzah...actually you are spot on...as if like you can read my mind..

I am actually currently comparing MF M6 CDP with 24/192 spec...and Audiolab CD8200/Q which offers 32/192... One is About RM15K and the other is about RM5K. Not intending to buy actually but trying to understand consumer's preference.

I know one person keeps on talking about hi-res and CAS and the benefit of higher bits and frequency...but still opted for a 24/192 CDP...

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