DSD™ (Direct Stream Digital™)

Joint trademark of Sony and Philips for their “Super Audio CD” (SACD) next generation CD-standard, which is completely backward compatible with current CD player hardware. Sony and Philips have split from the DVD ranks to jointly propose their own solution comprised of a 1-bit, 64-times oversampled direct-stream digital Super Audio CD format. Sony and Philips claim the dynamic range of the SACD to be 120dB, and the frequency response to be a true 0Hz [DC] to 100kHz (more than twice that of the current 24/96 frequency response of 48kHz, and even unprecedented for analog recording systems). Maximum playing time for either layer is 74 minutes, same as a normal CD. Recordings made with DSD can be sample rate converted to all existing sample rates (32kHz, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96) via simple integer multiplies and divides. The sample rate for DSD – 2.8224MHz [yes, you read that right] – is evenly divisible by all of the parenthetically mentioned sample rates, of great import for producing quality digital downsampling to rates more common today.