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hrx
HRx is Reference Recording‘s trade name for high resolution audio WAV files on a DVD R data disc. These files contain exact bit-for-bit copies of Reference Recordings’ master recordings. They are the ultimate in fidelity for two-channel sound.
Technical Description Overview (from Reference Recording’s website):
We supply files that have exact copies of digital data from our master recordings. These are loaded to a computer or server that has been set up with player software and a special sound card to provide precisely timed signals to operate an external high quality digital to analog converter (or DAC). Our first releases are two channel, 24 bit high-resolution copies that are sampled at 176.4 kHz, the same PCM formats that have been used by the professional industry for many years.
Merits of the System:
For the first time, listeners are at the top of the food chain. They will experience clarity, resolution, and a seductive ease of listening - the same presentation production people, like ourselves, hear at sessions and from masters. Older release formats had filters, tape recorders, record cutters, and coding devices further down the chain that obscured or veiled this experiential connection or collective consciousness.
Advances in the Art:
High-speed data handling and powerful processing are fundamental to contemporary media. Technology is replacing old methods, which had to compromise sound in order to fit the recording to the early release formats. Consumer High Fidelity began in the 1950’s with professional equipment that was state of art for its time. High-resolution systems are emerging from a similar development path.
Typical Equipment:
We use a simple Dell computer with Microsoft XP operating system. We downloaded and set up Media Monkey as its player. A Lynx AES 16 card was installed to provide a re-clocked ultra low jitter professional AES signal. A single cable routes this signal to an outboard digital to analog converter unit. We like the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC, which can drive a power amplifier directly and eliminate preamplifiers and cables from the system. Programs are loaded from DVD recorded optical discs and the data becomes WAVE files to the player. These are presented as a track list that can be played from mouse or remote control commands.
Playing HRx files directly in a player:
PS Audio’s PerfectWave Transport is the only CD transport capable of playing these high resolution audio files directly from the DVDR.
