Gary S 10+ year member
CarAudio.com Elite
I just wanted to give a review about Hi Res music in general, and why I like it. So here's some plain talk about Hi Res music and why I think it's one of the biggest leaps in consumer audio in history.
I too read and watched the vids on what people and experts were saying about Hi Res music....... it seems like half the people believe it's better quality, the other half of the camp says it's baloney. I did not know what to think - all the controversy reminded me of debates about wires, amps, and vinyl vs. CD's.
What I don't like is some of the purely wrong stuff some of the proponents say about Hi Res..... like it has extended frequency response above 20K, above human hearing.... that's nonsense, science proved we can't perceive anything above that, and they proved it long ago, so that's a lie. No wonder some people are skeptical.
But, there is sound quality in some form, hearing is believing.... when I heard a really good Hi Res track for the first time a couple of years ago, I could not believe it, and I got really excited - and I was excited for at least a year, lol. Now I'm getting used to it but it's still sooooo sweet.
- not all Hi Res tracks are High Res - if they weren't mixed or recorded well, or are just up-sampled, about 40% or more of them only sound like CD's.
- I'm not sure you can tell the difference between a CD and Hi Res at low or moderate volume levels. It seems to work best at high volume levels. Basically, in layman's terms how it works is, the Hi Res music (the tracks that really do sound better), have a more accurate pitch.... apparently, we can hear the extra information in the music, as if the "timing" or perception gets better. (for example, a piano sounds sweeter and less gritty than it does on CD's) - it does not hurt your ears like a CD.........this enables you to turn up the volume louder and get more of a live, concert-like sound (please watch your hearing). And with this increase in volume, a couple of things happen:
1) You get more dynamic range from Hi Res music than Cd's (and lesser formats).
2) The bass and treble are often extended - not beyond the range of human hearing, like some have falsely claimed, But it often seems the good Hi Res tracks have more information in the low bass and treble in the range that we can hear. Now, granted, I have a pretty serious subwoofer in my Sensurround home theater (that's what I like to call it, heh!). It's a near-field subwoofer with three - 12 inch drivers. The hi frequencies, such as from a synthesizer, seem to go into the stratosphere.
And in my opinion, to handle the extended frequency response and dynamic range, you need a decent system... a good home stereo or theater with bookshelf speakers or bigger, receiver, and sub at a minimum, or high end $100.00 + headphones, or a car stereo......... those little Bose speakers, ear buds, TV's, and sound bars won't make it.
And by the way, I've heard one good remastered CD that sounded similar to Hi Res, and I'm sure there are more out there, but Hi Res is more than that.
I've been listening to Hi Res in the house, I don't know how to get it into the car yet, I've heard some head units down convert to CD quality in the DAC, so I have to do more research on this.
I've been around high end car and home audio for 39 years, I've heard and installed a lot of systems, both car and Home theater (even a boat and a dump truck). I was there when the first car CD players came out - the Sony was the first one I saw. I also remember when JL Audio contracted with a U.S. speaker build house for their subs, before they started building their own.
I thought for 30 years that CD sound was as good as it gets for consumers (other than a reel-to-reel which is probably not practical for most consumers). Boy, was I wrong. I was in shock for a year at how much better my home theater sounds with Hi Res music, I play it most of the time when I want to listen to music.
All I can tell you is, this is the best audio improvement for the consumer I've heard since surround sound, CD players, active crossovers, and separate subwoofers were introduced. I'm amazed.
I too read and watched the vids on what people and experts were saying about Hi Res music....... it seems like half the people believe it's better quality, the other half of the camp says it's baloney. I did not know what to think - all the controversy reminded me of debates about wires, amps, and vinyl vs. CD's.
What I don't like is some of the purely wrong stuff some of the proponents say about Hi Res..... like it has extended frequency response above 20K, above human hearing.... that's nonsense, science proved we can't perceive anything above that, and they proved it long ago, so that's a lie. No wonder some people are skeptical.
But, there is sound quality in some form, hearing is believing.... when I heard a really good Hi Res track for the first time a couple of years ago, I could not believe it, and I got really excited - and I was excited for at least a year, lol. Now I'm getting used to it but it's still sooooo sweet.
- not all Hi Res tracks are High Res - if they weren't mixed or recorded well, or are just up-sampled, about 40% or more of them only sound like CD's.
- I'm not sure you can tell the difference between a CD and Hi Res at low or moderate volume levels. It seems to work best at high volume levels. Basically, in layman's terms how it works is, the Hi Res music (the tracks that really do sound better), have a more accurate pitch.... apparently, we can hear the extra information in the music, as if the "timing" or perception gets better. (for example, a piano sounds sweeter and less gritty than it does on CD's) - it does not hurt your ears like a CD.........this enables you to turn up the volume louder and get more of a live, concert-like sound (please watch your hearing). And with this increase in volume, a couple of things happen:
1) You get more dynamic range from Hi Res music than Cd's (and lesser formats).
2) The bass and treble are often extended - not beyond the range of human hearing, like some have falsely claimed, But it often seems the good Hi Res tracks have more information in the low bass and treble in the range that we can hear. Now, granted, I have a pretty serious subwoofer in my Sensurround home theater (that's what I like to call it, heh!). It's a near-field subwoofer with three - 12 inch drivers. The hi frequencies, such as from a synthesizer, seem to go into the stratosphere.
And in my opinion, to handle the extended frequency response and dynamic range, you need a decent system... a good home stereo or theater with bookshelf speakers or bigger, receiver, and sub at a minimum, or high end $100.00 + headphones, or a car stereo......... those little Bose speakers, ear buds, TV's, and sound bars won't make it.
And by the way, I've heard one good remastered CD that sounded similar to Hi Res, and I'm sure there are more out there, but Hi Res is more than that.
I've been listening to Hi Res in the house, I don't know how to get it into the car yet, I've heard some head units down convert to CD quality in the DAC, so I have to do more research on this.
I've been around high end car and home audio for 39 years, I've heard and installed a lot of systems, both car and Home theater (even a boat and a dump truck). I was there when the first car CD players came out - the Sony was the first one I saw. I also remember when JL Audio contracted with a U.S. speaker build house for their subs, before they started building their own.
I thought for 30 years that CD sound was as good as it gets for consumers (other than a reel-to-reel which is probably not practical for most consumers). Boy, was I wrong. I was in shock for a year at how much better my home theater sounds with Hi Res music, I play it most of the time when I want to listen to music.
All I can tell you is, this is the best audio improvement for the consumer I've heard since surround sound, CD players, active crossovers, and separate subwoofers were introduced. I'm amazed.
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