Multichannel DSD Download Pricing and DACs

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ubertrout

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There are sites that offer DSD downloads - and other music downloads - for more than the price of an SACD. And others that offer them at a very reasonable price.
A good comparison is the difference in price between the same album in Stereo and Surround DSD on the Primephonic ($49.98) and NativeDSD ($25.61) web sites in Stereophile magazine.
http://www.stereophile.com/content/primephonics-hi-rez-classical-downloads

On playing DSF files, DSF64 files work fine on over 500 DACs and Players including the Oppo 103 and 105 disc players.
So it's not that specialized.

There are sites that offer DSD Downloads in .ISO image format, like Pentatone, which also operates the Primephonic download site for listeners who prefer their downloads in a file by file format.
There are free apps that convert ISOs to DSF files. Even so, Pentatone received many complaints when launching their download feature for only offering DSF files as ISOs.
Bottom line: when it comes to music downloads, some people like ISOs but most do not.

I'll send your tech issue and beta site feedback over to the Channel Classics support folks ([email protected]) http://beta.channel.nl/general-info/contact-us/
I'm sure they will look into these issues.

DSF64 stereo files play fine all over. But playing back multichannel you need a multichannel DAC, of which the only notable consumer one is the Oppo 10x or 20x. And frankly that's a not insignificant request, to shell out to replace an Oppo 93 I'm perfectly happy with otherwise.

I remember the uproar about ISO files from Pentatone, although it only seemed to be one exceedingly grumpy individual making most of the noise. I can only say that I'm not planning on doing many multichannel DSD downloads going forward, and only offering image files would change that.

As you said, there's free apps to convert an ISO to any format you want - that's a big part of why I considered that individual's complaints completely asinine. But good luck turning DSF into an ISO.

I hope it's understood that these are meant to be helpful comments - the upshot is that I'm going to buy 4 SACDs as a result of this sale. It's just unfortunate that multichannel downloads are only offered as DSFs.
 
DSF64 stereo files play fine all over. But playing back multichannel you need a multichannel DAC, of which the only notable consumer one is the Oppo 10x or 20x. And frankly that's a not insignificant request, to shell out to replace an Oppo 93 I'm perfectly happy with otherwise.

I remember the uproar about ISO files from Pentatone, although it only seemed to be one exceedingly grumpy individual making most of the noise. I can only say that I'm not planning on doing many multichannel DSD downloads going forward, and only offering image files would change that.

As you said, there's free apps to convert an ISO to any format you want - that's a big part of why I considered that individual's complaints completely asinine. But good luck turning DSF into an ISO.

I hope it's understood that these are meant to be helpful comments - the upshot is that I'm going to buy 4 SACDs as a result of this sale. It's just unfortunate that multichannel downloads are only offered as DSFs.

There are other choices, besides the Oppos, for Multichannel DSD and FLAC playback. They include the exaSound e28 and their newer e38 Multichannel DAC with Multichannel DSD256, DXD and FLAC, the Merging Technologies NADAC MC-8 and NADAC Player PL-8 and the new MSB Technologies Theater Master. Along with DACs where 3 Stereo DACs can be stacked for Multichannel playback (Mytek, Playback Designs, PS Audio).

The Pentatone ISO uproar was from more than one person. And it shows that different listeners want their music in different formats and delivery methods.
(Some music sites offer USB sticks and USB Wafer Cards for music downloads vs. file downloads).

While most of the Channel Classics Multichannel Downloads on beta.channel.nl are available as DSD Multichannel downloads (over 200), I see 6 albums there offered as FLAC Multichannel downloads.
So that's yet another option for those albums.
 
There are other choices, besides the Oppos, for Multichannel DSD and FLAC playback. They include the exaSound e28 and their newer e38 Multichannel DAC with Multichannel DSD256, DXD and FLAC, the Merging Technologies NADAC MC-8 and NADAC Player PL-8 and the new MSB Technologies Theater Master. Along with DACs where 3 Stereo DACs can be stacked for Multichannel playback (Mytek, Playback Designs, PS Audio).

The Pentatone ISO uproar was from more than one person. And it shows that different listeners want their music in different formats and delivery methods.
(Some music sites offer USB sticks and USB Wafer Cards for music downloads vs. file downloads).

While most of the Channel Classics Multichannel Downloads on beta.channel.nl are available as DSD Multichannel downloads (over 200), I see 6 albums there offered as FLAC Multichannel downloads.
So that's yet another option for those albums.

Those DACs are all in the $3,500 range at the lowest end, or much higher at the other range. Obviously some will buy them, but that's not a range many of us are looking in.

I originally wrote a longer post complaining about this. But it looks like the Sony UHP/UBP line will transport multichannel DSD files, so I'll just get one of those at a fraction of the price.
 
Those DACs are all in the $3,500 range at the lowest end, or much higher at the other range. Obviously some will buy them, but that's not a range many of us are looking in.

I originally wrote a longer post complaining about this. But it looks like the Sony UHP/UBP line will transport multichannel DSD files, so I'll just get one of those at a fraction of the price.

True. For listeners looking for higher quality Multichannel playback and Multichannel formats including DSD128, DSD 256 and DXD, the exaSound and the others will be of interest.
 
True. For listeners looking for higher quality Multichannel playback and Multichannel formats including DSD128, DSD 256 and DXD, the exaSound and the others will be of interest.

I think it's sort of a disservice to listeners to only recommend audiophile grade gear. I understand that it's the ne plus ultra, but in practice I'd wager Sony sold multiples as many of the UHP-H1 player than there were sales of every multichannel DAC out there except the Oppo 10x series. It would be great if we could bring them in.
 
There are DACs and Players that work with DSD Stereo - up to DSD 256 - starting at $99 as well as Multichannel DACs and Players at a variety of price points.

It's true that as you get into some Multichannel formats - like DSD128, DSD 256 and DXD - you will need something more expensive than the Oppo disc players.
It will be up to each listener to decide what sound quality level and formats they want to have in Multichannel.

As always, it's good to have choices.
 
There are DACs and Players that work with DSD Stereo - up to DSD 256 - starting at $99 as well as Multichannel DACs and Players at a variety of price points.

It's true that as you get into some Multichannel formats - like DSD128, DSD 256 and DXD - you will need something more expensive than the Oppo disc players.
It will be up to each listener to decide what sound quality level and formats they want to have in Multichannel.

As always, it's good to have choices.

Right, but you're implicitly acknowledging the gap here. There's clearly a market for DSD playback in the Sub-$300 range, and there's no reason to think there's not a similar market for multichannel. I don't care about DSD128 and beyond - I think you'd have to be using some pretty fancy gear to hear a difference, and media options are still pretty limited, but there's a ton of DSD64 multichannel media out there, and it makes sense to offer playback options at the enthusiast level.

All I'm really saying is that education regarding cheaper multichannel DSD playback options would be a good thing. Oppo is the only player to explicitly support it, but these Sony players seem to also, but documentation is extremely sparse. Given the obvious desireability of a cheap multichannel DSD transport to a AVR for those using one, better documentation would be helpful.
 
There is - and there are products in the under $300 range with DSD 128 and DSD 256.
The iFi Nano and iFi Nano One are great places to start.
 
There is - and there are products in the under $300 range with DSD 128 and DSD 256.
The iFi Nano and iFi Nano One are great places to start.

I actually have a stereo DAC on my work PC that can handle DSD128, but I have no interest in jumping into that pool - I have a large DSD64 library I'm happy with. My point was the gap for multichannel.
 
If sales of Multichannel downloads increase, there will be more products to play them.
Right now, DSD128 and DSD256 downloads are garnering more and more sales in the market - hence the increase in models with those features.
 
There are other choices, besides the Oppos, for Multichannel DSD and FLAC playback. They include the exaSound e28 and their newer e38 Multichannel DAC with Multichannel DSD256, DXD and FLAC, the Merging Technologies NADAC MC-8 and NADAC Player PL-8 and the new MSB Technologies Theater Master. Along with DACs where 3 Stereo DACs can be stacked for Multichannel playback (Mytek, Playback Designs, PS Audio).
The miniDSP uDAC-8 can do multichannel FLAC up to 24/196 for only $275.
 
So, I'm going to be the jerk who says this, but I find the model of offering DSD downloads for twice the price as SACDs to be seriously frustrating.

Damn straight. I buy CDs from Amazon because they're almost always cheaper than downloads from Amazon, which makes no sense. Also the Downloads are 320kbps MP3. While it's hard to hear the difference, it's just offensive that they won't let you download the same (lossless) redbook audio that is stored on the CDs (presumably in the form of flac). I don't actually play the CDs, of course. I rip them using EAC/AccurateRip and then put them in a carton under my bed. It would be more environmentally sound to download flac, but they don't offer that. As long as the pricing models stay silly, I'll continue to buy physical media that I don't need or want. I will also continue to avoid SACD (which is the least standard, most DRM-infested format currently on the market) and more generally, DSD (for which their is little support and no technical justification) unless it's the only way to get some music that I really want.
 
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