Neil Young’s high-resolution Pono audio player and Jay Z’s newly purchased Tidal high-fidelity music streaming service have been greeted with a far-from-platinum mixture of derision and indifference.
Who needs hi-priced hi-fi when people have listened without complaint for years to compressed, “lossy” iTunes audio files played over stock iPhone or iPod earbuds? But let’s put aside Young’s 192-kilohertz, 24-bit player and Jay Z’s 1,411 kilobits-per-second streaming today to consider affordable ways to improve the sound of any music on your computer, whatever the quality, and determine whether your ears want more.
As a frame of reference, a CD’s bit rate is 44-kilohertz, 16 bits — or 44,100 samples per second at 16 bits per sample. When you load a CD onto a computer without discarding any information in a “lossless” format such as Apple Lossless or FLAC, the file will measure 1,411 kilobits per second. That’s also Tidal’s peak quality, with five times more information than an iTunes file (the lost information renders it a “lossy” format).
Can you hear the difference? Depending on the quality of the original recording and playback software-hardware, yes. Try this experiment to see if you’re a candidate. Make copies of a familiar song at several bit rates, maybe 128 kbps (typical Internet streaming quality), 256 (iTunes), 320 and 1,411 (CD). In iTunes, go to Edit/Preferences and “Import Settings” to change the bit rate.
My guess is you will hear a substantial difference between 128 kbps and 1,411 kbps but much subtler differences, if any, between 256 kbps or 320 kbps and a CD-quality file. That’s OK. Now let’s upgrade your headphones to the HiFiMan RE-400, basic $79 earphones without inline mic, or for big spenders, the $179.99 Bowers & Wilkins C5, Series 2 earphones with inline mic.
For those who listen to an audio system at home, try the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR ($129.99 but often discounted) or the Dayton B652-Air ($59.80 from PartsExpress.com) bookshelf speakers. Pair them with a miniature, under-$100 Class T amplifier from Amazon.com — look for Lepai, Topping or SMSL — and you’re halfway to greatly improved sound.
Next, retire your laptop’s digital-to-analog converter, that little sound-wrecker, by replacing it with a USB DAC, often a memory stick look-alike that plugs into a USB port and commandeers audio reproduction. Plug earphones directly into the DAC or run an audio cable to a nearby sound system.
Here are handful of DACs, all under $200, that promise to be ear-openers.
Under $50
HiFiMeDIY Sabre Tiny USB DAC ($29.99, hifimediy.com): A basic, incredibly small, DAC from this Chinese site, a hangout for the DIY audio community. It uses a pared-down chip from ESS Technology, whose Sabre chips populate many of the highest-rated DACs.
Peak resolution: 48 khz/16 bits
Under $100
HiFiMeDIY Sabre USB DAC ($42, hifimediy.com): An upgraded Sabre chip (ES9023) with a USB-to-optical converter for connecting a digital optical cable to an audio-video receiver.
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Peak resolution: 96/24.
Schiit Fulla ($79, schiit.com): Third-grade humor but first-rate technology — reverse the name of this combo DAC/headphone amplifier (wink-wink) — from this California company that makes Fulla in America. It’s a lot for the money, with a DAC that also powers your headphones and analog volume control.
Peak resolution: 96/24.
Under $200
AudioQuest DragonFly, version 1.2 ($149.98, audioquest.com): The DragonFly, now in its second edition, started the DAC-on-a-stick market. It also showed the importance of DACs that use asynchronous data transfer — the device, not the computer, controls data-flow timing — to reduce a distortion known as jitter.
Peak resolution: 96/24.
Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS ($189, cambridgeaudio.com): Overshadowed by USB DACs from AudioQuest and Meridian, this Sabre-chip-driven device includes onboard volume controls and Pono-matching resolution capability.
Peak resolution: 192/24.
Audioengine B1 Bluetooth Music Receiver ($189, audioengineusa.com): The B1 improves Bluetooth streaming from a smartphone, tablet or computer with aptX coding and a 24-bit upsampling DAC. Connect the B1 to an audio system or powered speakers and start streaming. Range extends up to 100 feet with this Bluetooth 4.0 device.
Peak resolution: Determined by Bluetooth/24.
The final step is improving your computer’s playback software. For Macs, try Audirvana ($74, audirvana.com) or Pure Music (channld.com/puremusic) with iTunes. For Windows, try JRiver ($69.98, jriver.com).
How does that sound?