songs downloaded for the net are sounding flat and lifeless when played through the system. How do we improve the sound quality of downloads to sound like CD's. Pl suggest what needs to be done either during downloading or when being played. regards
Help required in improving SQ of Songs downloaded
- Thread starter mshifi
- Start date
guddu478
Active Member
Hi,
I expect that you are talking about MP3 songs (and others lossy and compressed audio formats) here and looking to improve on their SQ.
Not sure till what extend this is practical but Pioneers says they use "Advanced Sound Retriever" technology in some of their products to improve quality of compressed audio near to CD quality.
For example, my Pioneer VSX830K has this feature and I find it quite satisfying considering those are MP3 files.
?Sound Enhancements ?Advanced Sound Retriever (Multi-ch)
Hope this helps.
Last edited:
music4mhell
New Member
What's the format of your downloaded songs and the bit rate ?
There is no way to improve the sound quality of poorly ripped songs.
Whatever gimmicks that are offered are just some equalization here and there.
1. Don't Download Mp3 below 320kbps, if its a lower bit rate you can't improve much on SQ by any means.
2. Download Lossless format whenever possible ; Flac or Wav etc
3. Play from computer or laptop. if possible buy a better dedicated media player, CD player(not bluray player) or network player with USB support. Source is very important in sound quality apart from speakers.
4. Buy a decent dedicated external DAC like Smsl sanskrit (8k), Modi 2 uber (15k) or SMSL M8 (15k) connect to USB out from laptop or computer. Dedicated DAC is always better over integrated unless you go high-end.
Changing to a better speakers and better amplifiers also a great but costlier option, which almost always works.
Other than audio oriented bluray players from Oppo, Marantz etc most of the others are not good for audio, either by CD or USB drive.
Network player is better for downloaded and streaming stuff. Marantz NA 8005 (58k)etc could be considered. Marantz CD 6005 (28k) dedicated CD player (not a network player) is a great option for cd with USB drive support. There's Auralic Aries mini (35k) in the classified section, comes with a renowned ES 9018 chip on board apart from USB and various streaming capabilities check it out.
Raspberry pi with DAC is another VFM option for DIY people. Check, There's a thread dedicated for the same.
Smsl DAC s : I mentioned AliExpress website prices, Modi uber from Headphonezone. You need to check with local availability, arcam, audioquest and music fidelity DAC are good options. You can avoid buying a DAC by buying a good cd player or network players mentioned above.
No matter what you do while downloading or playing, a bad quality low bit rate sound track will sound bad, no matter what player, dac, etc you use. You cannot fit a 295 section tire on a Maruti and expect it to drive like a Mercedes:licklips:.
Also, avoid illegal downloading of music, try online streaming of music which is catching on pretty well now in India. Try altering your source in a way to make use of these facilities. Not to forget Google Play Music now officially available in India Google Play Music subscription launched in India at Rs 89, to allow offline streaming. You get around 15 days free trial to align your setup to make use of it. You could also use Apple Music which comes with 3 months of free trial period.
MaSh
Great conclusion,
Illegal downloads are better prevented, because from the day musician gets cheated, music starts on a path of slow death...
Buy Cds or legal hi-res downloads. Stream if still out of budget, easy poor quality downloads though are user friendly ; they mean death to music as well.
Dear Could you please share from where you are intended to get modi mulibit as I am trying to get one but not able to procure. As it is not available on headfonezone :sad: and they are also not sure when it will be available.
Also importing direct from shicht website custom duty/landing cost on the modi mulibit is almost double of the cost of dac itself. Someone on the forum also shared that he has paid almost Rs. 11500/- for importing modi uber whcih is only cost usd 99/- only.
Higher end Creative Soundcards have a thing called Crystalizer which is automated audio-restoration processor it tries to enhance quality on the fly, works okish. I use to use it in the old days when quality of the mp3 rips wasnt great.
On my latest ZxR Soundcard I dont use it turned off completley, only play lossless FLAC mainly and sometimes 320kbs or vbr mp3's now
On my latest ZxR Soundcard I dont use it turned off completley, only play lossless FLAC mainly and sometimes 320kbs or vbr mp3's now
Rajeshh
Well-Known Member
mshifi, do post a review of the Modi, its great that you went the multi-bit way.
In particular could you post if the sound is analytical/bright or warmish?
On the sites to download high-res music, try HDtracks.com.
If you want to download from torrents, search for vinyl rips, they tend to be of high quality & nice sounding.
Apart from this, my personal belief is that streaming is the future, Tidal is fantastic albeit expensive, otherwise it is a toss up between Apple music or Spotify.
In my experience streaming quality beats downloaded music, unless the download file is High res FLAC.
In particular could you post if the sound is analytical/bright or warmish?
On the sites to download high-res music, try HDtracks.com.
If you want to download from torrents, search for vinyl rips, they tend to be of high quality & nice sounding.
Apart from this, my personal belief is that streaming is the future, Tidal is fantastic albeit expensive, otherwise it is a toss up between Apple music or Spotify.
In my experience streaming quality beats downloaded music, unless the download file is High res FLAC.
Rajeshh, have connected the laptop>dac>amp. The overall SQ is better now with the highs, mids and bass becoming more cleaner and forward sounding. The highs are a bit bright and hope this would improve with usage. Its not more than 20 hrs of burn in. Would expect it would become smoother as we use it. There is definitely an improvement is SQ with the dac if playing files through the laptop. have downloaded file from HD tracks in WAV format. These do not sound as good as CD's though. Will have to wait and see how much SQ would smoothen with usage.
rajeevisonline
Member
I have an SMSL Sanskrit, which I am selling for 4000. I am based in Bangalore. If interested, do let me know.
Order now for just ₹19,990.00
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