You say you want resolution

In my experience, the sonic and musical qualities of albums from the ’80s onwards depends much more on the capture/production quality than the specific medium. Musicality robbing compression and the like “flatten” the listening experience. Properly miked, recorded, and produced CDs from the earliest days of the technology can sound thrilling. I have a 1984 Verve Silver Collection CD of Billie Holliday, catalog # 823-449-2, produced in West Germany, that captures the closemiked recording of Ms. Holliday’s timeless and enchanting voice along with her breaths and inhalations. She is in the room with me every time I play “I Wished on the Moon.” 1984 was the very dawn of CD technology, and you can buy a copy of this wonderful Billie Holiday CD today at Discogs for 75 cents plus shipping.

I have found that the audio distinctions between Red Book and higher-resolution audio files—even some 24/192 and DSD128 and 256 files—are fairly subtle. Again, the primary differences relate to how well the music was originally captured and produced in the various releases. Properly implemented DAC technology today renders well-recorded digital files beautifully, and the music flowing from my Audio Research Ref 250SE’s to my Wilson Sasha 2s immerses me in the beauty and artistry of the musicians. Whether I get lost in the music depends not on the resolution of the file but on the recording itself. My system becomes a time machine with well-recorded, well-produced albums, regardless of the media.

Lon Baugh Dallas, Texas

Mr. Baugh, I agree that, as a container for music, hi-rez has only a small advantage over CD-rez. To fully exploit that advantage during music production is, it would seem, quite difficult. Consequently, many CDs sound better than many hi-rez recordings—not in direct comparison perhaps, but on balance hi-rez has a slight edge. It would seem that the quality of recorded music is most limited not by the medium but by the information captured—not by technical resolution but by quality. In considering this, I see no reason not to include the quality of the music. It’s the whole experience we care about, or should.—Jim Austin