The quick answer is everything depends on source material. I've heard some DTS core material that blows away some DSD transfers, some CDs that sound far better than DVD-A, and so on. For material in which the source is already great, I find that the separation of instruments into 5 speakers as opposed to 2 will always give you a less fatiguing experience. The instruments aren't crowded together like a 2 channel CD. OTOH some 2 channel high res material is just stunning. I put on Rapture by Anita Baker and the 192 just blows everything else away. It's a matter of learning to listen to what you're missing with CD res, particularly with decay, cymbals, and the feeling that there is a room rather than a 2 dimensional space. I would think his observations would apply even more to surround sound. I imagine that even 16/44 could sound quite good if it were uncompressed from all speakers. In fact I think that 16/44 would actually gain some legs had that same sampling rate be applied to surround. Many of the things that make 2 channel less involving for me is that the instruments seem much more crowded together and any one instrument that vies for ones attention will easily trump the LSB and the subtler sounds are lost. Spreading the instruments out just gives the LSB more space to be heard. MHO of course. I do not own a Mytek or such that would sufficiently reveal the nuances of DSD, but I believe the Oppo can produce a fine approximation of it when you let it do the processing. But many folks who have 'proper' DSD equipment will tell you the Oppo is only an approximation of what good DSD can sound like. However even using just the Oppo as source fed to a higher end AVR with good analog inputs one gets a clear sense of the recording space suddenly just 'being there'. I don't get this even from the best PCM stuff. In fact converting to PCM, even with the Oppo or foobar, results in a slight difference in sound. Not that it sounds bad, but I don't hear the room in the same way I do with DSD. DSD the room is clearly right 'there'. A couple PCM recordings I can think of that really sound like DSD would be way old like the Getz/Gilberto album. Even that falls short of the best DSD stuff. I'd say he pretty much mirrors my experience with most material I've listened to, given that I don't have Bruce making copies for me to compare! The best of each (ie the source is already great) all exhibit nearly the same qualities he describes and I would hardly think my AVR or Oppo for that matter have a particular sampling sweet spot. In fact, they may handle CD quality the best. Even so, I noted almost all of the same qualities he describes listening to the various formats. I've done some blind tests with 192 and 96 material from HDtracks. If the recording is good the difference btw the two is subtle but significant. You really feel like you are in the studio with 192. Like he says 96 is extraordinary but one still feels like there is something still not quite there. That disappears completely with decently mastered 192.
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August
Bleed, Inc.
Selling Art Is Tying Your Ego To a Leash And Walking It Like a Dog
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