adamdea;577818 Wrote: > Phil I absolutely agree that 24 bit playback does sound better than 16 > bit playback of a 24 bit file. Perhaps we have been talking at cross > purposes. > > I assume that the reason why 24 bit files sound better is because there > is information beyond the 16 bits which can make a perceptible > difference. Like you i do not believe that this lies in the ability to > distinguish sounds which sit below the range in which a microphone can > pick them up. It is my assumtion that it is the ability to distinguish > between bits 16-20 or so at levels above recoding noise floor which > means that each sample is effectively more detailed. (lets call this > change sensitivity -I assume that this is what you meant by > granularity). > It is my assumtion that this ability is somewhat limited in any DAc ie > that most 24 bit DACs cannot resolve the last few bits of the message > (as opposed to the noise floor) . In this case the change sensitivity > of a 24 bit dac would be less than 24 bit. > I also assumed that the term resolution applied to that change > sensitivity as well as to the measure of the minimum amplitude of > sound (in overall level) which could be picked up (say minimum level > sensitivity ). > > So does the stereophile measurement measure the change sensitivity or > only the minimum level sensitivity. If not is there a way of measuring > the change sensitivity? > > I had assume that the measurement meant that effectively every 24 bit > word was read by the touch as x....x0000000 whereas a transporter read > the words as x......xxxx0000 > Or am I just barking up the wrong tree. > > I am not tryign to be awkward i have genuinely been confused for ages > about why 24 bit audio sounds better, what the difference is between > various dacs, and what John Atkinson's resolution measurement means.
Ah - I see... The Touch and the TP "see" the (same) bits exactly the same on their inputs. The difference is that the TP noise floor is lower so the information in the bottom bits - ONCE converted to analogue by the DAC in the TP - don't get swamped by noise. The "resolution" that JA is (presumably) talking about is the number of bits of music you get before the noise overwhelms them. The maximum possible is 21 with current ADC technology. -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal... Touch(wired/XP) - TACT 2.2X (Linear PSU) + Good Vibrations S/W - MF Triplethreat(Audiocom full mods) - Linn 5103 - Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Pekin Tuner, Townsend Supertweeters, Blue Jeans Digital,Kimber Speaker & Chord Interconnect cables Kitchen Boom, Outdoors: SB Radio, Harmony One remote for everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82050 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
