DSD to PCM conversion?

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jimfisheye

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
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Jan 8, 2010
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Has anyone written a convenient app to convert high def 5.1 DSD surround to 24/96 PCM 5.1 surround?

I'm basically not going to be investing in DSD converters any time soon. I appreciate the arguments in favor of DSD over PCM. I might even be convinced to agree if I invested in the format myself. But I invested in PCM converters (Apogee) a while back and this isn't going to change any time soon. Obviously some cheap SACD player isn't going to cut it either.

So my best option for sound quality would be to convert the DSD to 24/96 PCM.

What app(s) are available to extract from a sacd iso and convert to 24/96 5.1 PCM?
 
Has anyone written a convenient app to convert high def 5.1 DSD surround to 24/96 PCM 5.1 surround?

I'm basically not going to be investing in DSD converters any time soon. I appreciate the arguments in favor of DSD over PCM. I might even be convinced to agree if I invested in the format myself. But I invested in PCM converters (Apogee) a while back and this isn't going to change any time soon. Obviously some cheap SACD player isn't going to cut it either.

So my best option for sound quality would be to convert the DSD to 24/96 PCM.


What app(s) are available to extract from a sacd iso and convert to 24/96 5.1 PCM?

Foobar 2000 is a freeware mediaplayer that has plugins available (also for free) that can open an SACD ISO image and convert to 5.1 PCM

http://www.foobar2000.org/
 
Thanks for the reply. That old media player all the Windows users seem to like? All right, I'll bite.
 
It's my understanding that 24/88.1 is better for trans-coding DSD to PCM. I use foobar myself to convert my PS3 SACD ISO rips to FLAC.

A_L
 
As I've heard Weiss Saracon is one of the best DSD2PCM software converters. If Saracon is affordable for you then PM me and I can send you a script created by one of our friends which fully automates the conversion process.
 
Well... not sure what to point the finger at. Too many variables.

Installed foobar. It just worked. Found and installed the SACD plugin. That just worked.
Noticed the output set to restrict to 16 bit in Foobar. Set it to 24 bit. Set the sample rate to 88.2k as advised.

Test disc is Genesis Foxtrot. I'm curious what the 5.1 remix bonus tracks sound like.

I got 24/88.2 5.1 files. No apparent software hiccups or error messages.
The sound is not good. But I don't know what I'm critiquing. Maybe the conversion was perfect and these bonus remixes are laughably bad? Certainly heard that many times before.

Took a look at the waveforms. Everything looks brickwall limited but with max peak level at -4.5db. Curious... Pulled up a bit meter (suspecting 16 bit). Nope. It's really 24 bit.
Nothing sounds "mechanically" off. Nothing digitally garbled or clipped. I say 'not good' but understand that it's still professional sounding. I'm used to the Classic Records 200g vinyl stereo remaster for reference.

The -4.5 max level is curious though. I was under the impression that converting between DSD and 24/88.2 PCM was a high quality thing (ie. any loss nowhere near approaching reduction to CD quality for example). Is that not correct?

So I don't know if the conversion process is poor or if some studio intern just cranked out some awful bonus track remixes and I'm critiquing that.
 
SARACON is my best choice. It's easy to use.
s3m3ztb891sjqhjl2xhs.jpg
 
Jim, if the bad sound you are talking about sounds like tape hiss, you'll want to redo your conversion with a a low pass filter. There are options in foobar for filtering, but the default option does not include the filter. If you filter above 30 KHz, it should clean it up considerably. In DSD2PCM Mode, if you select "Direct (Floating Point, 30 KHz LF) you'll get a filtered file. The long and the short of it is that native DSD includes a lot of noise that SACD players filter out by default. I'm still playing with the best way to do this myself, so I'll post again if I find the magic potion...
 
So I don't know if the conversion process is poor or if some studio intern just cranked out some awful bonus track remixes and I'm critiquing that.

nothing wrong with your conversion. that's just Genesis SACDs set wasn't done very well, sadly.
 
Jim, if the bad sound you are talking about sounds like tape hiss, you'll want to redo your conversion with a a low pass filter. There are options in foobar for filtering, but the default option does not include the filter. If you filter above 30 KHz, it should clean it up considerably. In DSD2PCM Mode, if you select "Direct (Floating Point, 30 KHz LF) you'll get a filtered file. The long and the short of it is that native DSD includes a lot of noise that SACD players filter out by default. I'm still playing with the best way to do this myself, so I'll post again if I find the magic potion...

How are you going with finding the best settings? Cheers...
 
I haven't found anything better yet. I've definitely decided that I prefer DVD-A to SACD though. Much easier to get a good rip & no need to apply a filter.
 
I haven't found anything better yet. I've definitely decided that I prefer DVD-A to SACD though. Much easier to get a good rip & no need to apply a filter.

Yeah Sure. Agreed. The problem is availability of DVD-A. Seems SACD mulitchannel is still the favoured medium for mulitchannel recordings..what existing and new ones are out there anyway!

So can someone please post the the Foobar steps from SACD.iso> 5.1 PCM. Thanks
 
In foobar2000 (assuming you've got the SACD plugin) set sacd preferences (Under library -> Configure) to something like this:
SACDpref.JPG

Then select the Multichannel files you want to convert in the main screen, then Right click and select "Convert" then "..." you should see the following screen...

Convert.JPG

Make sure "Output format" is set to WAV (as shown)..

Set the destination in the format you want....

You shouldn't need any addtional processing...

Then hit the "Convert" button....
 
This couldn't have come at a better time!

I have always wondered why we do not have Multichannel SACD/DSD -> 5.1 24/96 FLACs -> DVD-A as an acceptable solution. I have finally got the tools to author DVD-As and have been reading up on going this route to author some seeing that SACDs are available plenty more than DVD-As.

Here are couple of links which are pertinent to this discussion.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?3534-Weiss-Saracon -> Why the pros are not a fan of Saracon

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-m...d-converters-daw-why-still-not-available.html


Apparently discWelder also converts DSD to PCM but reading the Chrome PDF I saw that even using the High Quality setting, it converts only up to 24/48 multichjannel (stereo can go to 24/96).
 
I've been using those same settings above except DSD2PCM Mode set to 'Direct (double-precision, 30kHz) and outputting to FLAC with good results. Not sure if it makes any difference (Floating Point vs Double).
 
In foobar2000 (assuming you've got the SACD plugin) set sacd preferences (Under library -> Configure) to something like this:
View attachment 11143

Then select the Multichannel files you want to convert in the main screen, then Right click and select "Convert" then "..." you should see the following screen...

View attachment 11144

Make sure "Output format" is set to WAV (as shown)..

Set the destination in the format you want....

You shouldn't need any addtional processing...

Then hit the "Convert" button....

This isn't working for me.

Bingo! Sorted, thanks for this input.
 
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