Hearing is BelievingA quick guide to setup a great High Resolution Home Audio

(in Indian Rupees)

What is High Resolution Audio?

When an artist records music in a recording studio, the

recording is saved in a format with the highest quality.

This is also known as the master audio.

It has two primary purposes: It serves as the ultimate backup. Secondly, the

audio that the artist intends us to hear.

...contd

"Lossless audio that is capable of reproducing the full

range of sound from recordings that have been mastered

from better than CD quality music sources.”

An attempt at a formal definition by

The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) along with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)

and The Recording Academy

But 1st.

Let’s try and appreciate the science

Note: Quantizing and measuring Audio

resolution is not on similar lines of how Video

Quality is categorised.

We now know and can see the differences between DVD - FullHD - UHD video,

but that is not the case with High Resolution Audio. The differences are not so

clear cut and sometimes depends on the open-mindedness of the listener.

Yup. I know. It sounds a little vague, that’s the reason why I took so long to get convinced, to take the

jump.

What are the traits of a High Res Audio?

In MY view:

● The instruments positions can be felt like in an actual performance

● The spatial (stereo) dispersion is much wider (‘sound stage’)

● Even the background instruments can be heard with great quality

● There is great detail in the low frequencies - ‘Bass’ as well as in the

High frequencies like the Cymbals - ‘Treble’ (‘Dynamic Range’)

● You can notice the blank/empty area between the instruments

In Layman’s….

High Resolution Audio is

a digital representation of the original recording

in its highest possible quality

The Anatomy

High Resolution Audio has

● a high sampling frequency and

● a high bit depth

Wha...t !?

Sampling frequency:

How often a sample is taken from the audio

waveform for measurement

Bit depth:

More the no. of bits (of data) that are

measured, closer it is to the original waveform

A closer look at Sampling Freq. vs Waveform

I Want!

A closer look at ‘Bits’ vs Waveform

High Resolution Audio typically has the following

characteristics:

● A high Sampling Frequency (higher than 48kHz)

ranging from 88kHz - 192kHz

● And a high bit depth of 24Bit

Note: Bit depth should not be confused with Bitrate. Bitrate is actually Data

transfer Rate. Bit Depth refers to a measurable unit of a waveform

A quick look at the differences

For reference, let’s consider file sizes of Adele’s single ‘SkyFall’

MP3 128kbps (44.1kHz 16Bit) ~6 MB

MP3 320kbps (44.1kHz 16Bit) ~9 MB

M4A / AAC (from iTunes) 256kbps (44.1kHz 24Bit) ~10 MB

Lossless - AIFF / FLAC 4608kbps (96kHz 24Bit) ~110 MBCRAZY

RIGHT!

If you’ve made it till here, then

you my friend are going to be an Audiophile!

:)

I know you are waiting to ask this question.

What do you need?

This is what you need...

● A good set of stereo speakers

● A good stereo amplifier

● A good DAC (a digital to analog converter) to

read the high resolution audio

● And obviously audio that was originally

recorded in High Res.

Whoa! That must cost a lot!?

NOPE!

A quick look at the cost for a basic setup

Stereo Speakers Bookshelf, Monitor Speakers Rs. 14000 onwards

Stereo Amplifier Basic Stereo Amp with 20 - 100 watt output per

channel

Rs. 12000 onwards

DAC You definitely need this to read High Res Audio in their

native format without down-sampling

Rs. 8000 onwards

High Res Audio Not many albums available but the ones that are

available are GREAT!

Rs. 1000 onwards

per album

So an investment of Rs.42000 on this setup is enough

to hear/feel the High Quality Promise?

Some of my favorite Bookshelf / Monitor Speakers (with a very good performance to cost ratio)

Sonodyne is the cheapest. I’m also a little partial towards Sonodyne, because it’s made in India

Q-Acoustics WharfedaleSonodyne

SPEAKERS

Again, Sonodyne’s stereo amps are just great, manufactured in India, great build quality and starts from

Rs.12500 onwards. Cambridge Audio has been the most popular brand when it comes to audio.

STEREO AMPS

DAC (In my view, the most important component)

Left: CambridgeAudio’s DacMagic XS is a USB DAC with a Headphone Amplifier too.

Center: FIIO X1 (the most innovative company with great products) is a High Res Audio player with a built in DAC and also sports

a Line out and Headphone Amp

Right: AudioQuest’s DragonFly V1.2 is a USB DAC, Great reviews but accepts only upto 96 kHz 24Bit

High Resolution Music Stores

You can now own the highest resolution music legally.

Coldplay, Daft Punk, Pink Floyd, MJ, Norah Jones, Linkin Park, etc are all available in High Res.

Believe me, you’ll not regret one bit for buying them, you’ll actually feel proud instead.

Speaker Placement

High Res Audio also has audio recorded at frequencies

overshooting our hearing range i.e. 20Hz - 20kHz.

Could I hear it? No!

:P

Note: Do Not confuse the Audible Frequency with Sampling Frequency

I’m thrilled that you made it this far.

Welcome to this niche community who appreciate subtle nuances in audio.

Hello Audiophile!

Some important things I learnt and want to share

● Online reviews are good to start off but please please please have a demo before you buy any of the equipment

● If you have a computer, then you can just buy a high end sound card, they come with built in DACs, if you connect your

amp directly to the stereo out on the sound card, there is a high probability that some interference or a loose current

can cause a loud hum which defeats the purpose.

● USB DACs allows to transfer the raw digital data to the amp from a computer and hence eliminating any form of

interference or loose current to go through to the amp

● Headphone jack on a PC, Laptop, Phone, Tablet, MP3 Players, etc downsamples the high res audio to 44.1kHz 16Bit

● DACs with Headphone amps help big time. Esp. if their drivers are big

● Every speaker, amp, etc. have their own personality with respect to rendering the highs, mids and lows.

● The quality of the wires - Speaker wires, audio cables, etc is very important too

● The stands matter too. Wall mount or buy stands that don’t reverberate

● The direction of the wire also matters, the + and -, etc the audio output will be affected or it can short the circuitry too

● Speaker placement with respect to design of the room matters are lot

● Speakers should be at the listener's ear level

● The bass is always high at the walls and sometimes you’ll feel there is a delay in the beat

● A DAC can improve any audio by 10-15%

Now Dance.

www.twitter.com/phalgunp

Note:

This is an extremely simplified explanation.

There are some amazing resources online.