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RE: DSD Editing Thoughts

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" so why not convert it to analog in the process of editing a DSD recording instead of PCM?"

Why would you want to do this? This is not the same as the Marantz idea used in the SA-10 of a simple low pass filter after a high rate DSD stream to form an analogue output without use of a conventional DAC. Editing does not really take place on the fly and you need a storage format for the recording during the editing process. So for analogue you are back to using tape or some other analogue storage format (disc?). This would have all of the disadvantages in record production which led most producers to abandon it decades ago ( which also means that the skills needed to edit in the analogue domain are in short supply nowadays). Furthermore, as the purpose is editing DSD, the analogue format would subsequently need to be re-digitised in order to end up with a DSD file but one now complete with e.g. tape hiss, tape modulation noise etc. Furthermore editing can be an iterative process and the abberations which are inherent in analogue media would aggregate as the editing proceeds.

Of course some prefer the sound of analogue. I have no argument with this view but those producers that do presumably would not be editing a DSD file in the first place as they would have used analogue from the start. If the producers' choice for the original recording was digital then it is reasonable to expect that the intention is that the production process would continue in this domain.

I am afraid that your suggestion would seem to be a way of combining the worse features of both digital and analogue. Digital in that it may be judged not to sound as good as analogue and analogue in that the sound quality degenerates generation to generation.


Edits: 07/08/17

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