How many bits, how fast, just how much resolution is enough?

[BlueSkyy]

It all started way back in about 1982 with the arrival of CDs originally providing a resolution or data rate of 44.1khz/16 bit. Now we can obtain or generate music files at a resolution of 384khz/24 bit or higher.

 

I've personally gotten caught up in the rush to higher resolution and have upgraded several times to be able to play back 384khz/24bit files and also getting into DSD64 and now DSD128. I'm not sure

 

Advances in electronics will, probably, allow for almost limitless increases in resolution and storage space to house those huge files is exceedingly low but at what point does the human ear stop hearing any improvement? Where will it end?

[BlueSkyy]

Thanks to everyone who responded and it appears that you all are level-headed when it comes to bit depth and sampling rates. At this point I am taking away the points are the infrastructure, i.e. input/output electronics that supports the DAC and the way the filters are designed are where any audible benefits are to be realized. Also, me money I could save by not purchasing hi-rez files with stratospheric bit rates is warranted.

[BlueSkyy]

Don't get confused by the stair step of the wave form. Too many audiophiles think it's distortion rather then sampling points. Even Nelson Pass has incorrectly referenced this. Lollipop plot would be a bit better representative.

 

Either way here a tutorial that shows actual reconstructed signal on an analog scope.

 

 

This is one of the reasons I don't placate or cater to audiophiles that don't understand D/A theory.

 

Once the analog signal is accurately recreated I don't care the PCM or DSD encoding before that.

 

Plissken, thank you for the link! This video really hit it out of the park for me and reset my way of thinking. Mr. Montgomery's knowledge and his ability to put it into layman's terms will save me money! Now, if I can overcome the part of my brain that says high dollar speaker wires are better sounding than appropriately sized (AWG) lamp cord and .999 silver cryogenically treated fuses sound better than their $0.50 cent equivalent, I'll be all set!

[BlueSkyy]

No doubt about that. But it isn't all about frequency response. There are other criteria that define fidelity. <------- What he said.

That's sage information.

[BlueSkyy]

Talk about wide ranging, this thread has morphed into one covering a myriad of topics.