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Legacy audio vs HDMI sound quality

1K views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  scannerman 
#1 ·
Any experiences from you audiophiles comparing legacy audio (hi res 24/96 6 ch out) vs HDMI out. I know I will have to upgrade one day but I wonder if anybody has noticed the difference?
Thx guys
 
#2 ·
Also guys, I need to rip cds to a storage device (lossless) replacing my Sony ES jukeboxes (400 & 200 capacities) and this device needs to have decent playback quality. Looks as if I will have to wait for vendors to support legacy users.

:cool:
 
#21 ·
Go buy something called a NAS. It's a storage device that goes on your home network or can be connected by USB. Make sure it uses either RAID-1 or RAID-5 so if a drive fails you don't lose your data. Rip them all to a high quality lossless format like FLAC or Apple's lossless. The latter is sometimes more easily supported. Then buy a device that will play them over your network.

I would also buy a cheap external hard drive and back up a copy to it and keep it at a friend's house, relatives, in the car, etc.
 
#3 ·
#1 . No, there isn't any difference unless something is faulty.
#2 . Server.
 
#5 ·
Question about claimed HDMI jitter - why do people think that there is more jitter with HDMI than any other digital input? Wouldn't the digital stream be reconstructed the same way? Wouldn't both HDMI and, say, TOSLINK use the same DAC clock for timing purposes during digital/analog conversion? Not trying to be the skunk at the garden party here, just trying to understand why HDMI DA conversion would be any different than DA conversion from another source.
 
#6 ·
HDMI often measures worse then SPDIF, but it's not audible so it doesn't matter. The two transmit data differently which is why there are different clocking schemes. Google is your friend here.
 
#7 ·
Actually, Google has me more confused, which is why I asked. I'm reading items (many at AmirM's website) that claim that the DAC clock is adjusted to match the timing of the HDMI bitstream, while there are others that say that reclocking solves the problem, and many or most AVR DACs would reclock. The latter makes sense to me, because for wireless transmission, like Airplay, the DAC would need to supply the complete timing information.

I'm really not asking because I'm concerned about jitter, as I accept the argument that even when it occurs, it is below audible levels. I just can't understand why it's even a theoretical concern.
 
#8 ·
I'm reading items (many at AmirM's website) that claim that the DAC clock is adjusted to match the timing of the HDMI bitstream, while there are others that say that reclocking solves the problem, and many or most AVR DACs would reclock.
Experiment and test for yourself.
Or... get the rust protection and undercoating for your new car. :D
 
#20 ·
Jitter is not audible so it doesn't help the OP at all. The right answer to the OP is that the CD was released in the early 1980's in the red book format with enough bandwidth to provide for complete encoding of the audible spectrum and inaudible noise. In the interim the audiophile community has interested itself in "high resolution" file formats which have no effect on either the resolution, the audible noise or the sound quality. Bias controlled listening tests have proven that.


The higher "resolution" formats are used in the process of recording, mixing and mastering piece of digital music to provide overhead for the process. It simply isn't necessary in the final product.


As a matter of understanding, HDMI has no sound quality. It is a means of transmitting data just like S/PDIF. The sound quality is encoded in that data. HDMI has the ability to transmit video and audio but doesn't change the numeric value of the data it transmits any more than any other transmission method.


Finally, the high resolution recorded formats do provide one capability not available in red book CD. That is surround sound. So if you like your music in surround sound, then you may enjoy using these formats and having the equipment necessary to play them.


Sorry for the long winded response but it seems nobody else was actually addressing your question.
 
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