Phil Leigh;577599 Wrote: > The best audio ADC's in the world can only resolve 20-21 bits. The rest > is pure noise. > > No normal microphone yet made for studio use can get much beyond a > dynamic range of 100dB. The Neumann U87 - generally considered as one > of the premier mics, used on tens of thousands of recordings - has a > max DR of 105dB (that's about 18 bits in crude terms). However, the mic > amps and desk it was plugged into (up till the 90's - and even beyond!) > will eat into that. > > That's really all you need to know. Nobody can hear beyond the 18th bit > when actual music is playing. Under normal circumstances, even the > 17th/18th bits are inaudible. > > The importance of 24-bit (or greater) recording is NOT in the bits - > it's NOT to do with the resolution/SNR. It's in the freedom you get to > PROPERLY master the material. > YMMV.
I was under the impression that freedom to master etc was the reason why 24 bit recording is worthwhile even if CDs are being produced at 16 bit. But you seem to be saying that 16 bit (downsampled) playback of a 24 bit recording will be indistinguishable from 24 bit playback. I agree about the overall dynamic range of the recording signal and the smallest amplitude signal which can be resolved but remain unpersuaded that that is determinative of the question of what is the limit at which one can distinguish a small change in a larger signal. -- adamdea ------------------------------------------------------------------------ adamdea's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=37603 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82050 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
