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Is DSD really better sounding, and simpler, than PCM?

Posted by Tom Schuman (A) on January 28, 2015 at 04:26:17

The motivation for this post is a quick read of PS Audio's promotional literature on their new Direct Stream DAC, which converts every digital input into DSD before conversion to analog.

The writeup says the process is software intensive, yet inherently simpler than PCM multibit conversion, AND uncovers new information even in PCM data streams.

Yet everything I've read about SACD replay, suggests that the DSD recording and playback process is, if anything, more cost intensive. The PS Audio DAC seems like an extremely complex product, partly since they've decided to accept any and all kinds of digital streams before converting to DSD. And, it seems a stretch to say that conversion to DSD can reveal NEW information in the resulting analog signal, that is lost by traditional D/A methods.

There is also the question of whether DSD is really sonically superior across the board. In one of the informational videos posted on the site, a DSD recording engineer talks about playing DSD masters to engineers who are used to using PCM 16 or 24/48 to record and master, and the response is not even 'wow, this is much better', but 'wow, this is different sounding, and I'm not sure I like it better' because there'S a loss of immediacy and punch in the sound.

The same DSD engineer admits himself that the original Nat King Cole tapes had an immediacy and naturalness that cannot be captured by original DSD recording (though they were mastered to 3 track DSD for the release). He is saying, in a sense, even DSD (and digital in general) is a step back from tape recording.

I myself have never been overly impressed with how much 'better' SACD sounds, but it is easy to hear how the sound is different: more relaxed, phasey, somehow, with softer bass transients and a more apparent treble range. There is maybe less harshness (associated with jitter and the brickwall filter of redbook perhaps) but the sound is also less punchy and direct. And the phaseyness is not something I like...as though the signal polarity were off.

So the question is: given that the vast majority of recordings are still made in PCM, is it really realistic to expect that DSD will become the dominant paradigm for recording and mixing?

Most of the mastering of material relased as SACD used to have to occur in PCM anyway, only now are systems available that allow direct DSD recording and mastering chains, but they're tremendously expensive.

I would be interested in seeing a really good comprehensive comparison of, say, the MSB Analog D/A converter with the PS Audio Direct Stream, products of a similar price but with different technological assumptions. And it would be interesting to see whether one of these products is in every case sonically superior to each other, or to the best nonoversamplibng PCM designs, like the Audio Note or Metrum.

I still think that PCM may sound better for rock and pop, and DSD for mellow folk and classical. And, it also seems to be true that sticking with one technology, and not trying to convert one to the other all the time, results in the best sound for the least investment. The 'swiss army knife' approach seems to reduce quality across the board, as compared with an approach which is less flexible, but more consistent in philosophy. The MSB, for example, has one digital input and is optimized for PCM and that type of input, and doesn't try to accept every digital datastream on the planet.

Or maybe, DSD really is simpler, even cost saving, and on the whole worse than PCM! Sony wants to sell us yet another 'perfect sound' format which is worse and cheaper to implement than the existing model, but which they have to hype as 'the best ever'. Perhaps DSD is yet another cost saving measure hyped as an improvement, like CD was.

Edits: 01/28/15

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