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16 or 24bit would there be any difference


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You're ripping 16 bit source. So that seems it would suffice.

 

Now, it might help down the road if you get into higher resolution files or it might delay being bit by the upgrade bug if you get more flexibility up front.

 

The way I look at it, you can't fill in the missing x's and o's if they were never there to begin with.

 

However, personally I would get a DAC that could do higher resolutions so I wouldn't be wanting to upgrade in a year.

 

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Even though you rip 16-bit from a CD, converting to 24-bit can be helpful. There are a few devices that do this, including Empirical Audio USB, BEnchmark USB, and soon PSAudio USB and BelCanto USB, as well as the Sonos.

 

The benefit is that you can control the volume digitally to a large extent without impacting the sound quality or changing the original data. The extra 8-bits of data word allows 256 voltage levels of volume control before any impact on the actual music data.

 

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

 

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Does this mean that I can use any of these DACs to connect directly to my amplifier and bypass any preamp or volume control attenuator? That is, on my MacBook Pro, can I use the volume control in iTunes, Cog or Play to control the volume digitally without impacting the sound quality or changing the original data, so long as the files are 24-bits? If so, that may be a significant sonic advantage in eliminating my otherwise excellent attenuator and a set of interconnects. One of the audio fanatics (Arthur Salvatore) always stressed the value of a direct connection that eliminates the line amp, especially any active preamps.

 

I think in an earlier post I noted that several audio friends prefer the sonics of Cog or Play to iTunes. Afterwards, when I checked the audio file formats I noticed the former were 24-bit files and those in iTunes were only 16-bit. I was somewhat skeptical of their findings and regardless, iTunes was too convenient to change. But if I can eliminate things in the signal path to get better sonics, then I need to reconsider my setup and do some experimenting this weekend. In my previous trials I found that my custom volume control and Benchmark USB DAC1 was better than using the Benchmark DAC and its internal volume control, but I never tried eliminating all analog volume controls.

 

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I've experimented (somewhat) with the output of my macbook with either 16 or 24 bit. With my experience, outputting 24 bit (and hence needing a 24 bit dac) made a significant positive difference (it went out via optical to the Benchmark DAC1). Whether or not this means that the computer is messing with the sound, I don't know (probably), but I know that it was an improvement for me.

 

Cavan

 

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Steve,

 

That's interesting. What if you've ripped your entire collection at 16 bit - can you convert your files to 24bit ? I mean, in theory you're starting with the same 16 bit file.

 

HTPC: AMD Athlon 4850e, 4GB, Vista, BD/HD-DVD into -> ADM9.1

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To test, I have used a free software called "r8brain" to upsample the WAV files ripped from CDs'.

 

In most cases it made a positive difference provided your DAC can play 24bit files. Of course the quality wasn't as good as original studio master files but it is inbetween those two.

 

I have used 24bit/88.2khz upsampling rate for testing. Keep the original 16bit file to compare.

 

http://www.voxengo.com/product/r8brain/

 

M2Tech Young DAC - Graham Slee Solo SRGII - PSU1 Power Supply - Grado GS 1000i

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