But even if we assume that there is an audible difference, it might very well be that we cannot detect it. We listen mostly to imperfect speakers and imperfect rooms. For instance we can come close to perfect linearity in frequency with speaker X in an anechoic chamber, but if we place it in a room, we will not hear 'perfect' sound.
I don't think that the bottle-neck is the nature of the digital medium. It is, by far, overshadowed by other factors. To put it in other words: you will not tell the difference between SACD vs. CD if you can't chose the couch and can't chose where it goes."
Having said that, we would all anticipate some difference given the beating the signal takes with 44.1 KHz sampling. But there certainly be a limitation based on the law of diminishing returns. If not 16 bit, then perhaps at 20 bits; regardless, I think that with the CD format, we have come very close.
I am not sure how far we can push, but we have bigger fish to fry than trying to squeeze out a BENEFICIAL auditory experience from SACD assuming perfect equipment but imperfect listening room.
What do you think? Too pessimistic?
Given domestic set-ups and its inherent limitations, are we limiting our auditory experiences in a major fashion? And this is not even tackling mastering techniques etc..
I guess my experience is at odds with yours, but then, having the availability of a variety of source material at hand to conduct AB comparisons is an advantage that is not normally available to most listeners.
One such comparison we conducted was first playing an FIM CD (XRCD24?) and then the glass master that had been used to produce that CD. I can tell you for a fact, that of the approximately 20+ members that listened, not one thought they were even close to sounding the same and all agreed that the glass master was much better sounding.
It should be noted that our club system is pretty good, although many of you may actually have much better gear, and the room is in the basement of a Church. The acoustics (IMO) are not very satisfactory, but the rent is low.
It may be, as is often suggested, all ones and zeros, but they reside in an imperfect, physical world and I suppose that's where the trouble begins. Commercial CDs are stamped out and the QC of the companies vary. What this means is that some of the labels may change the "stampers" often and others don't. This is very much like LPs, where the records produced at the end of a production run using a particular "stamper" are inferior to the first ones produced. This is one of the reasons that the Direct to Disk LP recordings were often superb sounding, as the total number of records produced was limited in order to insure the quality. This is not an apple and oranges comparison, as we're addressing a physical process that includes wear and a subsequent decline in quality during production. The care taken in the production of the medium is very important and can mean the difference between an excellent CD (or LP) and a mediocre one that utilizes the same source, such as a master tape.
One thing that can sometimes give you an improvement is to wash and polish your new CD. In the manufacturing process a parting compound or release agent is used to allow separating the plastic (that is applied to the metal foil or data medium) from the press. A cloudy surface, resulting from the residue, interferes with the ability to read the disk and can produce errors.
People that are really into burning their own copies have claimed that their copies can be better than the original disk that is used as the source. Using a product such as EAC (excellent freeware) to first correct the errors in the digital domain, the data is then transferred to the disk using a quality burner that will give sharp, precise pits (remember that old worn out stamper?) that can be more easily read and allows a much reduced block error rate (BLER).
In the last two or three years a lot has happened to improve the quality of the digital reproduction of music. While vinyl is still capable of, and often does, outperform CDs, the gap has been narrowed quite a bit and the day is approaching when the promise of digital may, at long last, be realized.
This has already turned out to be longer than I intended, but I get up pretty early for work so I'm off to bed.
Best Regards,
TerryO
