How does DSD work?
Technical experts will tell you DSD is basically a 1-bit Delta/Sigma conversion scheme. We’ll try explaining it in somewhat more understandable terms but cannot avoid using some technical terms too. Basically it works as follows: DSD being a 1-bit signal means that every bit represents a sample – a measurement of the amplitude of the sound wave at a certain time. Since a bit can only have two values, every bit in a DSD stream only tells weather the amplitude of the sound signal was higher or lower than the previous sample. Because it doesn’t tell how much higher or lower the amplitude is, you can imagine you need a lot of samples to accurately describe the signal. Well, DSD uses 64 times the sampling frequency of CD: 2.822 MHz vs 44.1 kHz. The factor 64 is not randomly chosen. It’s a power of two, meaning that it’s relatively straightforward to upsample from typical PCM frequencies including 44.1 kHz and multiples like 88.2 kHz.
Technical experts will tell you DSD is basically a 1-bit Delta/Sigma conversion scheme. We’ll try explaining it in somewhat more understandable terms but cannot avoid using some technical terms too. Basically it works as follows: DSD being a 1-bit signal means that every bit represents a sample – a measurement of the amplitude of the sound wave at a certain time. Since a bit can only have two values, every bit in a DSD stream only tells whether the amplitude of the sound signal was higher or lower than the previous sample. Because it doesn’t tell how much higher or lower the amplitude is, you can imagine you need a lot of samples to accurately describe the signal. Well, DSD uses 64 times the sampling frequency of CD: 2.822 MHz vs 44.1 kHz. The factor 64 is not randomly chosen. It’s a power of two, meaning that it’s relatively straightforward to upsample from typical PCM frequencies including 44.1 kHz and multiples like 88.2 kHz.
