Phil Leigh;539406 Wrote: > No Michael - I don't disagree with you. Using a maximum of 10dB of > digital attenuation is fine and is in fact what I use (max volume but > replaygain of up to -10dB). I defy anyone to detect any degradation @ > -10dB. > > What I do disagree with is folks who say "ANYTHING < 100 sounds > dreadful". No it doesn't. I think if you listen very carefully on SOME > material you MAY be able to hear the effects of increased SNR and > reduced dynamic range at (say) -20-30dB...
Using -10db digital attenuation is HUGE. You will hear it. That is partly why I write the test. You'll hear ~3bits less on top of what your DAC can resolve. If you could hear 20bits now you'll only hear 17bits. And the difference between 17bit music and 20bit music is quite significant. The point is it's not the difference between 21 and 24bits. Your pushing what ever you attenuate by digitally below the noise floor of the DAC (which is always less than 24bits). You may have a little elbow room with 16bit music (in that you can attenuate some and still be in the DAC range of resolution) but you have no elbow room with 20bit or 24bit music. Also the DAC tends to perform better on the MSB bits than the least. If you think of old recording days where you set your Gain so that the Peak Meter just touches the Red. Your maximizing your dynamic range doing that. Here, the best performance of the DAC is when the MSB bit of your music lines up with the MSB of the DAC. As you go lower and lower bits the SNR gets worse. -- mswlogo XP > Cat5 > Transporter/DuetController > SPDIF > Meridian G68 > DSP6000, DSP5500HC, DSP5000 XP > Cat5 > SB3 > SPDIF > Meridian DSP5000 XP > Cat5 > DuetReceiver > SPDIF > Meridian G91 > DSP5000 'My Transporter Setup' (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=350741&postcount=45) 'Hitch Hikers Guide to Meridian' (http://www.meridianunplugged.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mswlogo's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9090 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=77725 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
