It's already started.... 32bit DACs are available from AKM and XMOS, for example. Although I don't know what software/hardware platform you'd use to actually make use of this precision, you can build your own 32-bit sound playback interface with a few boards from HK: http://www.yuan-jing.com/dacs-decoder/32bit-192khz-usb-dac-decoder-ak4399-wm8805-pcm2706-opa627au-optical-coaxial http://www.yuan-jing.com/dacs-decoder/xmos-usb-audio-32bit-384khz-dac-decoder-board-pcm5102-tda1308-headphone-amp
On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 9:41 AM, Alexandre Torres Porres <[email protected]> wrote: > Yep, nice indeed, I guess I learned - in short and in layman's undetailed > terms - that audio output is ~24bits (a bit higher, but much higher for > smaller numbers). > > Moreover, digital audio cards won't likely have more than 24 bit precision > for many years to come, so it's just way more than enough. > > thanks > > > 2015-04-23 6:43 GMT-03:00 Julian Brooks <[email protected]>: > >> Nice. Thanks Chuck, I learnt something. >> >> On 22 April 2015 at 23:45, Charles Z Henry <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 5:11 PM, Alexandre Torres Porres >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> > So I start with this idea that the audio (values from -1 to 1) can't be >>> > in >>> > full 32 bit float resolution, it's less. I don't see why that is >>> > "wrong". >>> > And then, from it, my first question here was: "what is the audio >>> > resolution >>> > then?". I'm still clueless here about this answer. >>> > >>> > Moreover, is it more or less than what 24 bit audio cards handle? >>> >>> Let me try: >>> >>> 32-bit floating point numbers have 24 bits of precision. Always. The >>> remaining 8 bits are just for the sign and exponent. When the >>> amplitude of the signals decrease, you don't lose any precision in >>> floating-point. The value of the least significant bit (LSB) gets >>> proportionally smaller. >>> >>> However, the output of a 24-bit soundcard always has a fixed >>> quantization. The LSB is always the same size. Smaller numbers have >>> less precision. >>> >>> The mismatch occurs when converting from the 32-bit floats to the >>> 24-bit fixed point numbers. Now, the smaller numbers aren't as >>> precise anymore. They get rounded to the nearest number in the 24-bit >>> fixed point system. >>> >>> So, yes, the resolution (of small numbers) in floating point (internal >>> to Pd) is finer than the resolution of those numbers when output >>> (driver/DAC). >>> >>> Also, the 24-bit fixed point format is for values between -1 and 1. >>> That means that numbers between 0 and 1 have just 23 bits. In 32-bit >>> math, the numbers between 0.5 and 1 still have 24 bits of precision >>> (the sign is held elsewhere). That means that Pd's internal >>> resolution is finer than the soundcard resolution for all numbers >>> between -1 and 1. >>> >>> Chuck >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> [email protected] mailing list >>> UNSUBSCRIBE and account-management -> >>> http://lists.puredata.info/listinfo/pd-list >> >> > _______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list UNSUBSCRIBE and account-management -> http://lists.puredata.info/listinfo/pd-list
