The final frontier...DSD (DFF) playback

[AndyPandy]

Ken
I hear the Cantata is a wonderful player - a friend just bought one. I am hopefully going over to his place to hear it shortly. He owns a 20k vinyl rig and reports the Cantata is very close with redbook - but infinitely more convenient. I imagine 24/ 192 & 176 are streets better again. Mind you a good recording is a good recording. I will take some hi rez over when I go.

If you want some really excellent recordings - try 2L: awful download portal but superb production values: I tend to buy their physical media rather than the online dl because - at least in Australia - the download portal (Amazon Services) is dreadful. Speed is 1/20th what I get via the commercial file servers: why they just don't just filesonic or fileserve is beyond me or - better still - like Linn run their own.

Certainly point and click downloading is a very very convenient way to purchase. In my case made risk free by sampling elsewhere - eg via friend's collections, Rhapsody or MOG.

I recall all too well buying CD's and records in stores where you may only like 2 out of 10 tracks or (in my case) buy a recording only to be bitterly disappointed. I stopped buying after a while. It was just too expensive for the punt. FM radio and second hand records only were my diet for many years.

I guess immediately available online content generates enthusiasm, much like forums do. Which generates buzz and influences buying behaviour.

Anyways - DFF...good stuff.

[Kenkirk]

Hi Andy,

Yes the Cantata is wonderful indeed. I hated digital with a passion for years. I was talked into the Cantata when I discovered the chip I needed to update my Wadia 860 to 24/96 was no longer available. I never listened to the Wadia anymore and I was hoping to get it back into the rotation. I traded the Wadia for the Cantata and cash on the dealers recomendation. Sight unseen. To say I was floored with the Cantata is an understatement. I have the first series of The Tape Project, a sweet Otari to play them on, the Baisis Debut with vac, Walker motor drive, Urishi, etc... you get the picture. The Cantata on redbook beats the table on average vinyl. The Otari is still the reference, but I am not going to buy anymore of those tapes at the going price. I can download many 24/96 tracks which sound incredible. So unless I play the best tapes, or 45's mastered from the master tape, the Cantata rules. And the ease of use... over the top. I just sit back and scan music on the Ipad and enjoy the sound of analog without the tics and pops or the interruptions. I put the Resolution Audio Cantata at the top of my must audition list. I just plain love it and it has been a complete deal changer at my home.

Ken

[AndyPandy]

Gosh Ken - you have me itching to hear one now.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by AndyPandy

Ha! Yup at the moment its one for the computer geeks (me included). Once set up it takes about 20 min to rip an SACD. And about 5 min to extract DFF. Not cumbersome at all - what is cumbersome is finding a hackable ps3...

Easy for you to say. I own about 2500 SACDs and I need/want to tip them in MCH. At 25 minutes per, that's more than a 1000 hours and more SACDs arrive every week. I will wait until there is a less tedious way to rip them in 5 minutes.[/QUOTE]

[Dj_AmTraX]

Wow! That's A LOT of sacds. I've been trying to locate a The Bangles on sacd, but that one seems to be pricey on the used market @$50. Maybe there will be a DFF download for less in the future. I can playback the file on my Korg MR2000.