I hope we can agree that a great recording on a CD can blow the socks off a poor recording on a high resolution capture like DSD256.
Which brings us to formats and recordings.
I have seen an interesting trend lately, one that is teetering on the edge of becoming misguided. That the difference in formats is big enough to make up lost ground with a poor recording. In other words, the riff goes that a high definition SACD or a beautifully pressed 180gm virgin vinyl disc of a mediocre recording is worth the extra money.
Some of this notion harks back to the days of great and irreplaceable performances. The thought was that regardless of how badly it was recorded, the higher the definition the better the chance of capturing all that is there.
An interesting notion for sure and some of it may be true.
That said, most of those old recordings don't really benefit from higher resolution captures because they are already so bandwidth and dynamically limited that even a lowly CD quality reproduction far exceeds their capabilities. There is no loss.
Lastly, we've all heard CDs that blow away high defs. And, if we think about it, the difference isn't in the format.
It's in the recording.
