ezkcdude;148736 Wrote: > Let's illustrate this graphically, because it can be confusing. Imagine > this is the 16-bit signal: > > (LSB)1000 0100 0010 0001(MSB) > > MSB=most significant bit > LSB=least significant bit > > Now, if we pad that 16-bit signal with 8 bits from the LSB side, we > get: > > (LSB)0000 0000 1000 0100 0010 0001(MSB) > > O.k., now let's attenuate the signal by a factor of two (just for the > sake of simplicity): > > (LSB)0000 0001 0000 1000 0100 0010(MSB) > > Just for good measure, let's do it again (factor of two attenuation): > > (LSB)0000 0010 0001 0000 1000 0100(MSB) > > So far, so good. Now, what will happen to that "1" on the left (LSB) > side of the signal if we keep attenuating like this a few more times > (well, 7X to be exact)? Right, information from the original 16-bit > signal will be lost. However, that is theoretical. What is more of a > problem in the real world is how many times we can reduce the volume > until that bit is lost in the noise floor of the DAC. Are there truly 8 > bits to play around with? The answer should be obvious. Also, it should > be clear that if the signal was sent to a 16-bit DAC, that bit would > have been lost on the first attenuation step, because we left-shifted > the data.
Whilst not disagreeing with your example, I presume you do agree that a 16 bit DAC will simply ignore any value in the 8 LSB's? - and that the 16th bit is lost in the noise floor (probably). -- Phil Leigh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=27832 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
