back to 2L main page HiRes Download - test bench We invite you to join us in this evaluation of future consumer delivery formats. FLAC is a lossless encoding of WAV-files derived directly from our production original used for the SACD and Pure Audio Blu-ray. All resolutions and encodings are derived from the same original DXD source files. Please send us an e-mail and share your experience on your practical experience with these file formats. Enjoy the music! Our 2L music store combines HiRes audio files and physical products in one shop. All our albums originally recorded in DXD are now available in a wide range of resolutions, including DXD, DSD64 and DSD128, along with physical products like CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-ray and vinyl. Give it a try and let us know what you think! www.2L.no/shop For Mac users this nice little program converts FLAC to ALAC preserving all meta data and album artwork. Adjust settings once and then just drag the FLAC files onto the droplet. ALAC is the Apple equivalent of FLAC and makes it possible to play back 96kHz/24bit in iTunes without any additional software: XLD format converter Exclusive Mode aka Hog Mode : What really matters on a Mac OS is how the player takes control of the settings in core audio of you machine. Open up "Audio- and MIDI-settings" and show the audio window. Play files with different sample rates and bit-depth from iTunes and you will se that core audio doesn't change. That means a sample rate conversion is taking place. Now download and run an app like the BitPerfect and make the same test. You should now observe that the core settings are actively adapted for each and every song you play in iTunes. This is what players like Amarra Music Player, Pure Music and Audirvana also does; they take active control and optimize the core audio settings to avoid any local real-time sample rate conversion. MQA is an end-to-end process which consideres the AD converters from the original recording sessions and the actual DAC used for playback and reduce its digital ’fingerprint’. It sounds best through an MQA decoder which confirms this studio recording as you listen, but even with no decoder you will enjoy the deblur of the recording side. Using pioneering scientific research into how people hear, MQA technology captures the full magic of an original audio performance in a file size that's small enough to stream or download. Supplementary listeners’ notes from Bob Stuart & Morten Lindberg. More info at www.mqa.co.uk Special test, published July 2018: DXD vs DSD comparison Tweet