Jump to content
  • 0
IGNORED

Is bit depth about dynamic range or data?


audiojerry

Question

I thought after all this time I was correctly explaining bit depth and sample rates to my non-audiophile friends, but now I"m not so sure. I thought that bit depth or bit size determines how much information can be captured in a single sample taken from an analog signal. So if, for example, you are recording a symphony orchestra, there are lots of instruments creating a lot of complex tonal information and sound  levels. This creates a complex analog waveform, and when you take a sample of this waveform, you are going to digitize it and store it in a file. This single sample of the waveform would obviously contain a lot of information about what was happening in this symphony orchestra in that instant of time. The larger the bit depth, the more information you can capture, and you have a better quality file to produce a better quality recording.

 

But now I'm hearing that bit depth is all about dynamic range. That seems too simplistic to me.  

Any experts out there who can set me straight?

 

 

Link to comment

Recommended Posts

  • 0
On 3/5/2020 at 11:31 AM, audiojerry said:

 

This is not intended as a one-up, but just to share my personal experience:

 

After hearing the DS SR, I grabbed a good deal on a DS JR demo unit with Bridge II from Underwood Wally. I was very pleased with the sound and promptly put my Oppo up for sale, which I sold for more than list, once Oppo announced it was stopping production. Unfortunately, I began experiencing frequent drops in the DLNA connection with my JRiver player when using the PS Bridge. 

 

After numerous calls with PS Support to try to fix the issue, PS surprisingly offered to exchange the PS JR with a PS SR plus $1500. Although that was more than I ever anticipated paying for a dac, i rationalized that the offer represented a nearly $3k discoount, so I bought it but asked PS to ship the SR before I returned the JR. This allowed me to directly compare the SR with the JR. As much as I liked the JR, the SR put a smile on my face that I couldn't wipe away. The SR just takes the sound of the JR to a higher level. For whatever reason the SR does not have the Bridge issues of the JR. I have read that the dac designer, Ted Smith, is brilliant.

 

With the dac's ability to perform free firmware updates, I am a real fan.           

Oh, I didn't have the PS Audio DSJ for long, but that was no reflection on it's capabilities.  I had the opportunity to trade in the DAC, a Nu-Vista Phono preamp and Nu-Vista 800 integrated amplifier for a pair of demo Devialet Expert Pro 440 monoblocks.  As the Devialet has the DAC built I got rid of everything but the turntable and speakers.  

Link to comment
  • -2

Bit depth is about the signal to noise ratio. If you reduce the depth, you get a higher level of random noise - tape hiss is the obvious analogue variant. A decent digital encoding can capture that tape hiss with ease, so "everything that matters" is being transferred

 

This all assumes that the person who might be playing around with bit depth, while recording and/or mastering, knows how to apply the correct dither, at the correct point of operations ... get it wrong, and you can hear the mistake.

 

Human hearing can compensate for random loss of data, or excess noise, remarkably well - good handling of digital data can rely on that ability, to make even poor bit depth "sound OK".

 

Dynamic range is purely about mastering decisions - nothing to do with bit depth.

Link to comment
  • -2
2 minutes ago, mansr said:

Signal to noise ratio and dynamic range are the same thing.

 

Yes, if one is talking about it as a purely technical level concept - but dynamic range is thrown around these days as having subjective connotations - as in, "orchestral performances can't be captured by 16 bits, the sound is, too big!" ... I was referring to this subjective take on the matter.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...