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DSD [A Reprise]...

Posted by Storris (A) on September 11, 2014 at 06:47:22

I'm just gathering my thoughts about DSD. I thought I'd gather them here in order to gain corrections/pointers from people who actually know what they're talking about.

I'm not a young pup by any means (35), but this time last month I didn't know what DSD was. I knew about flac, alac and mp3, wav and aiff, but had never heard of DSD. I knew high fidelity music existed, I thought I was listening to it! Then I had a run in with Windows Media Player & took to scouring message boards to find a replacement. On the way I found DSD and I think most importantly, I started to question what I was listening to. I'm now upgrading as many of my music files as I can find high quality sources for. I'll still be listening through my PC or Smartphone connected to Bose headphones though...

Everything I've read to-date, approximately two decades' worth of data-sheets, Msc & DIY projects and forum posts, suggests that the conversion, recording, transport and playback of audio via DSD is, or at least should be, a simpler and cheaper solution to A/D/A than via PCM.

On that assumption (my background is in mechanical rather than electrical/electronic/audio engineering) I have based the following...

It seems that the reason DSD is a niche format is a combination of factors including the inherent size of DSD files, Sony/Philips early crushing grip of the format, and the general lack of knowledge in the public about DSD.

With continuous growth in StorageCapacity/in²/£ allowing multi-TB Hard Drives to become the norm, and with 10's of MB/s of internet bandwidth available to many, it is possible for even the largest digital music libraries to be accumulated easily and stored entirely on the home PC, the size of DSD files is now almost an irrelevance.

The proprietary grip on the format no longer exists. Innovation has seen new solutions to DSD popping up, from PS Audio's hardware to Merging Technology's software. There are plenty of fish in the sea, even if they are all swimming around in the same small area! The sparse DSD music landscape (thanks to Sony's heavy boot?) is a concern, but by all accounts, DSD done well has the potential to make other digital audio formats sound better (does this also hold for MP3?), increasing the potential immediate market for DSD capability beyond those few who currently own DSD files.

And this brings me I think to the biggest PITA...

As I said, I based these thoughts on the premise that DSD was easier, simpler and cheaper to do than PCM. But the material evidence, the DSD DAC market, says otherwise.

Inside my PC, a mid-sized tower with discrete graphics card, I currently have enough spare, empty and usable space (which also happens to accommodate 2 available PCI slots) to place a small retail DSD-DAC, case and all. I believe that with a little real-estate design and component-placement management, PS Audio's Directstream hardware would also fit nicely. My point? That as a minimum a discrete DSD capable PC sound card is in the the realms of possibility, physically at least.

I presume that if it was possible, a software-only solution would already have been produced. Still, I can't help thinking that the simplicity of the required circuits, the power of computers and the genius of programmers, should be able to piece together a high quality application. Am I missing something fundamental here? Is it possible that people can create and programme algorithms capable of predicting a system as chaotic as the weather, but are unable to simulate a suitable low-pass filter who's parameters are well defined and well understood?

This is a massive assumption, but I suspect that given the option people would rather listen to hi-fidelity music, than watch high-definition videos of cats, perhaps. But they aren't going to be able to purchase products that they don't know about or that they have no way to access. If the market for hi-fidelity sound is to mature beyond the confines of the audiophile's 'listening room', there will have to be at least some attempt to market it by the industry. They will also need something to sell and £000's boxes aren't going to cut it in volume.

DSD is in a complex and expensive/time consuming niche, when it could, should be the standard.

Edits: 09/11/14

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