On Tue, 2005-11-01 at 20:47 -0800, seanadams wrote: > Patrick Dixon Wrote: > > Good point. In fact, the SB2 DAC datasheet claims 100dB S/N (although > > IIRC Sean said all the ones they tested measured better), whereas > > quantisation noise would be at -144dB. > > I've consistently measured the noise floor around -120db relative to > full-scale sine output - that's within the 22Hz to 22Khz range.
By the math, -120 dB is 20 bits. In a real recording studio, getting even 16 bits (96dB) of real signal to noise ratio is so hard as to be impossible. Carefully replicating the last 20 dB means carefully replicating at least 20 dB of noise. At the fully absurd, 24 bits is 144 dB, probably 20 dB more than the difference between a every well made recording studio and a military jet fighter on takeoff. There was actually a decent reason for RedBook to be 16 bit. Early CDs sound bad not because of the 16 bit samples, but lack of dither, bad recording and mixing techniques, etc. Good RedBook can sound very good, and average SACD and DVD-A is not inherently better. -- Pat http://www.pfarrell.com/music/slimserver/slimsoftware.html _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
