I’m using dbpoweramp to rip some cds. I normally choose wav. But what about choosing DSD? Other than files size what are the Pros/Cons?
The digital content of your CD is PCM at 44/16. So why would you rip to DSD? Rip to FLAC…
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I prefer wav to flac since flac is a compressed file. I realize that flac is lossless but your dac has to work to unfold the flac file. Wav is more straight forward.
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Naaah… That’s the Roon core’s task. The DAC in any case receives an uncompressed bit stream.
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This generally good practice, DSP is a conversion so you’ve lost the original data, in effect the master. If you want a DSD copy just create one from the FLAC copies you rip. So it’s not an either or choice.
This isn’t true, your DAC will get an uncompressed PCM stream via RAAT.
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(10 chars)
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We had that in another thread already - why do you keep reiterating unsubstantiated claims?
I did? I’m just going off of what Paul at PS Audio said. It could be total bs for all I know,
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Uncompressed a FLAC file adds computer noise? The less processing one has to do, lowers computer noise? What ■■.
As far as one’s DAC getting a FLAC file, this is a key point.
PCM is not analog like, but DSD is? C’mon, Paul.
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Paul McGowan from PS Audio is the last person I’d want to get advice from in digital audio.
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I’ve done the ripping thing a few times since the early 2000s. Finally got it right with FLAC. Lossless, reasonable size given the cost of storage, almost universal playback on devices. IMO, .WAV is just a waste of Xfer time when moving them around and drive space…even though I just said drive space is relatively cheap.
YMMV, but if you are asking for advice from someone that has been there before 100%, no doubt, FLAC.
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Another vote for FLAC, you really can’t go wrong with it. The WAV vs. FLAC discussions just go on and on, and DSD isn’t worth the trouble, IMO.
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In my mind, ripping has two purposes:
- It backs up physical media so that you don’t lose the data if it gets damaged.
- It allows for streaming the content, without the need to physically handle it, just like you stream from online services.
Per #1, it seems obvious that ripping should capture digital media in a way that preserves the original bits, without any irreversible processing. Conversion to DSD would not achieve that. Both WAV and FLAC preserve the bits, but the former uses a lot more disk space compared to the latter and also doesn’t have “native” support for rich metadata. There are other lossless formats besides FLAC, but considering that FLAC is open source, non-proprietary and widely supported in software and hardware, I think it’s the best choice.
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I think I know the other thread and that was a different poster with however a quite similar name and similar claims at first glance. I sent this other one a quite lengthy private message about how flac files do not change their size on the filesystem by getting “unzipped” for playing, among other factual explanations 
Not if you are using Roon, as Roon only sends PCM to the endpoints (or DSD as the case may be… and to be really picky it can send flac to Squeezebox hardware when the Use Flac Compression switch is set to Yes under device setup; this switch is only seen for Squeezebox hardware endpoints).
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oh well
sorry for the mix up then @Markus_Menasci, but please keep with the facts…
and thx for setting me straight @Suedkiez
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I did do a double take myself when I stumbled into this thread
Are there audio players which don’t uncompress FLAC files before sending the data stream to a digital interface connected to a DAC?
But but Ted says………no vested interests going on here………move along
Go FLAC Jack do it again……….apologies to Steely Dan
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