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[retraite]

Before trying to answer your question I should say that I don’t have “golden ears” and if asked to pick out in a blind test, which stream was which, I’m not sure, in this instance, I could reliably or consistently distinguish the transcoded and the direct.

Being absolutely honest, with Linn Classic Radio, tracks are invariably less familiar and I find I can hear very little difference when I simply sit and listen.

To my ear the difference with transcoding is most noticeable on the music with which I am most familiar and I become aware of the benefit, rather than being able to consciously hear it, hence my previous comment about it perhaps being a question of what isn’t there, rather than what is.

Likewise on Radio 3, with unfamiliar music on “Words and Music” yesterday, I found it hard to “hear” differences in the quality of the music, but I found the voice of the readers (Sally Philips and Jonathan Keeble) had a bit of additional presence with the transcoding.

It is very difficult to articulate why I prefer the transcoded stream, but in general I do. My wife, who is musical (I’m not) also notices the difference and shares the preference - unusual, in that she is invariably vocal about anything she might regard as pretentious.

I don’t know if this answers your question, but it’s the best I can do for the moment