What is DSEE HX and how does it work
Sony pays a lot of attention to audio systems, rightfully considered one of the best manufacturers in this area. In parallel with the development of headphones, players and speakers, the company does not forget to develop technologies that allow you to squeeze the most out of compressed audio formats. Now you rarely see a person who listens to music in uncompressed formats, the vast majority of people upload MP3 songs to a player or smartphone. The quality of such compositions, albeit very good, but still can not be compared with "serious" recordings without compression. However, Sony managed to create technology that can significantly improve sound quality. In this case, you do not need to switch to another format or free up space on the device for more weighty audio files.
What gives DSEE HX?
It is very difficult for digital audio file formats to reproduce the tiniest nuances of a composition. All music - the sound of musical instruments, down to subtle tones, vocals - should be recorded in the form of an ordinary sequence of ones and zeros. If the quality on a standard CD-ROM is still high, then with the more popular MP3 format, due to the strong file compression, the sound is significantly worse. At first it may seem that the song sounds great, but it’s worth including the same composition on a CD or uncompressed format, as all the shortcomings of the compressed format will make themselves felt.
Worst of all is the situation with high frequencies, which are usually the first to suffer when reducing file size. They sound blurry, and sometimes they cannot be heard in principle. Sony was puzzled by improving the quality of songs in compressed formats. The problem may seem strained - you can simply switch to high-resolution recordings, that is, created using High-Resolution Audio technology. The quality of the format is even better than the CD, but the songs take up much more space. On a smartphone, as a rule, they store a collection of photos, and games, and a variety of applications - there may not be enough space for music, especially when you want to record your entire home library “just in case”. With Hi-Res Audio, in addition to file size, there is another problem. Music should initially be recorded in the appropriate resolution, and there are not very many such records.
Therefore, Sony decided to work on improving the sound in existing formats - CD and MP3 - without changing the files themselves. At the time of the creation of the new technology, the company already had a DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), which, when processing a signal, converts the compressed composition to a higher quality format. Thus, the recordings were received with the transition to MP3 high frequencies. The result was that MP3s sounded like CDs. Sony took DSEE as the basis and managed to refine the technology so that now it is superior in quality to CDs. The novelty is called DSEE HX. A few eloquent figures: for compositions on CD, the frequency is 44.1 kHz / 16 bit, for DSEE HX - 96 kHz / 24 bit. The main plus - the file size does not increase at all. The technology does not process the record as such, but information,
Do we even hear the difference?
Of course. Sony suggests testing any song with and without DSEE HX. It is recommended that you listen to not even the whole, but a small fragment in order to better feel the differences. We listened to a piece of the song, rewound it to the beginning of the segment, activated the miracle option and started the composition again - it will be hard to miss the change.
The DSEE HX effect is especially evident in concert recordings - it seems that you are right on the stage. Applause, crowd rumble, individual musical instruments are heard more distinctly - guitars do not merge, but sound more fragmented. In short, a complete sense of presence at a performance of a group or musician. Also, at concerts, you can sometimes hear an echo from the vocals, and the technology allows you to transfer changes in the volume of these sounds, up to a gradual fading. On studio recordings, the DSEE HX work is also noticeable, just in live performances it will be more explicit.
What devices does it work on?
Of course, only made by Sony. DSEE HX works on Xperia Z smartphones starting with Z3 and all subsequent versions, Walkman players that support high-resolution audio (Hi-Res Audio), wireless audio speakers, home theater AV receivers, BRAVIA 4K TVs and some other devices .
There is one caveat: although the technology on the entire list of devices is the same, but it works a little differently. For example, Walkman and Xperia will have a different frequency. For players it is 192 kHz, and for smartphones - 96 kHz. Otherwise, there are no differences.
What gives DSEE HX?
It is very difficult for digital audio file formats to reproduce the tiniest nuances of a composition. All music - the sound of musical instruments, down to subtle tones, vocals - should be recorded in the form of an ordinary sequence of ones and zeros. If the quality on a standard CD-ROM is still high, then with the more popular MP3 format, due to the strong file compression, the sound is significantly worse. At first it may seem that the song sounds great, but it’s worth including the same composition on a CD or uncompressed format, as all the shortcomings of the compressed format will make themselves felt.
Worst of all is the situation with high frequencies, which are usually the first to suffer when reducing file size. They sound blurry, and sometimes they cannot be heard in principle. Sony was puzzled by improving the quality of songs in compressed formats. The problem may seem strained - you can simply switch to high-resolution recordings, that is, created using High-Resolution Audio technology. The quality of the format is even better than the CD, but the songs take up much more space. On a smartphone, as a rule, they store a collection of photos, and games, and a variety of applications - there may not be enough space for music, especially when you want to record your entire home library “just in case”. With Hi-Res Audio, in addition to file size, there is another problem. Music should initially be recorded in the appropriate resolution, and there are not very many such records.
Therefore, Sony decided to work on improving the sound in existing formats - CD and MP3 - without changing the files themselves. At the time of the creation of the new technology, the company already had a DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), which, when processing a signal, converts the compressed composition to a higher quality format. Thus, the recordings were received with the transition to MP3 high frequencies. The result was that MP3s sounded like CDs. Sony took DSEE as the basis and managed to refine the technology so that now it is superior in quality to CDs. The novelty is called DSEE HX. A few eloquent figures: for compositions on CD, the frequency is 44.1 kHz / 16 bit, for DSEE HX - 96 kHz / 24 bit. The main plus - the file size does not increase at all. The technology does not process the record as such, but information,
Do we even hear the difference?
Of course. Sony suggests testing any song with and without DSEE HX. It is recommended that you listen to not even the whole, but a small fragment in order to better feel the differences. We listened to a piece of the song, rewound it to the beginning of the segment, activated the miracle option and started the composition again - it will be hard to miss the change.
The DSEE HX effect is especially evident in concert recordings - it seems that you are right on the stage. Applause, crowd rumble, individual musical instruments are heard more distinctly - guitars do not merge, but sound more fragmented. In short, a complete sense of presence at a performance of a group or musician. Also, at concerts, you can sometimes hear an echo from the vocals, and the technology allows you to transfer changes in the volume of these sounds, up to a gradual fading. On studio recordings, the DSEE HX work is also noticeable, just in live performances it will be more explicit.
What devices does it work on?
Of course, only made by Sony. DSEE HX works on Xperia Z smartphones starting with Z3 and all subsequent versions, Walkman players that support high-resolution audio (Hi-Res Audio), wireless audio speakers, home theater AV receivers, BRAVIA 4K TVs and some other devices .
There is one caveat: although the technology on the entire list of devices is the same, but it works a little differently. For example, Walkman and Xperia will have a different frequency. For players it is 192 kHz, and for smartphones - 96 kHz. Otherwise, there are no differences.