If you prefer to buy and download your euphony instead of paying a monthly fee to stream it , you in all likelihood want to buy that euphony in the highest - quality data formatting possible . For many audiophiles , that imply DSD and DXD , two formats that represent the pinnacle ofhi - ray digital audioperformance , andQobuzhas just foretell that it has added both as downloadable choice within its online computer memory . This have Qobuz one of the only companies that lets folks stream or download in the high potential quality .
For now , the DSD and DXD catalog are tiny when compare to Qobuz’slosslessCD quality and hi - atomic number 75 FLAC library size . The party says “ more than 22,500 track are now available , mainly in DSD format , ” as oppose to its FLAC collection , which numbers over 100 million .
Why do audiophiles care about DSD and DXD ? It ’s all about the room these data format convert analog music into digital . All digital music must be sampled from an parallel source by taking “ snapshot ” of the analog signal multiple times per second . In the showcase of compact disc - character digital music , those snapshots capture 16 bits of data , 44,100 times per instant , which is why we refer to it as 16 - bit/44.1kHz . So - called hi - res audio increase the shot size to 24 bits and captures it at anywhere from 48,000 sentence per 2d ( 24 - bit/48kHz ) up to 768,000 times ( 24 - bit/768kHz ) . Typically , hi - res audio uses 24/96 or 24/192 . high sampling rate are much less common .
DSD takes a unlike approach , with 1 - fleck shot taken anywhere from 2.8 million times per secondment at its lowest resolution ( DSD64 ) , up to a stupefying 45.1 million times ( DSD1024 ) . This “ stream ” of bits is where DSD gets its full name : Direct Stream Digital , and audio purists think it ’s an inherently superior direction of digitizing audio .
However , DSD is very difficult to work with if you involve to edit or remaster it . To do so , it needs to be converted into DXD , a format that can conserve most of its original timbre , yet which can be falsify by digital audio workstation . DXD can be thought of as a ace - high - quality edition of FLAC , and it ’s playable on any equipment that can decode and dally FLAC files .
Qobuz give you the choice to download DSD in one of four quality grade : DSD64 , DSD128 , DSD256 , and DSD512 , though not all DSD tracks are available in all levels . DXD files are provided as FLAC 24 - bit , available at 352 or 384 kHz .
In the past , most kinfolk know DSD by spiel Super Audio compact disk ( SACDs ) discs in a compatible player . The musician ’s internal software anddigital - to - parallel converter(DAC ) took care of the whole process , sending out an analog signal that any amplifier could accept .
DSD downloads are a unlike story . To play them , you call for software that can take DSD files ( commonly tagged with the file name extension .dsf or .dff ) and ideally , a DAC or a portable medicine actor like theAstell&Kern Activo , that can swear out the DSD stream natively . Not all DACs can do this . NativeDSD , another seed for buying and download DSD and DXD , maintains a handy list of whichDACs can handle DSD .
If your DAC ca n’t process DSD natively , these filing cabinet can still be played , but they must be downconverted to pulse code inflection ( PCM ) data formatting first .
If you ’re thinking of beget into DSD downloads , keep in mind : these data file check far more info than even hullo - rhenium FLAC files , so be fain to position away a lot of free space on your hard drive .
