Definition of Direct Stream Digital
Direct Stream Digital (DSD) is a trademark used by Sony and Philips for their system for digitally encoding audio signals for the Super Audio CD (SACD).
DSD uses delta-sigma modulation, a form of pulse-density modulation encoding, a technique to represent audio signals in digital format, a sequence of single-bit values at a sampling rate of 2.8224 MHz. This is 64 times the CD audio sampling rate of 44.1 kHz, but with 1-bit samples instead of 16-bit samples. Noise shaping of the 64-times oversampled signal provides low quantization noise and low distortion in the audible bandwidth necessary for high resolution audio.
DSD is simply a format for storing a delta-sigma signal without applying a decimation process that converts the signal to a PCM signal.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Direct Stream Digital?
Direct Stream Digital (DSD) is a trademark used by Sony and Philips for their system for digitally encoding audio signals for the Super Audio CD (SACD).
Sources & credits
- Wikipedia: Direct Stream Digital – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Sony and Philips. – Public domain