Περί ακοής και bits...
32 bits? We use a lot of bits for audio work station. We need that for mixing and editing of audio tracks. But the outcome is 24 bits or less. In fact, the individual audio channels recorded by an AD NEVER have 24 bit accuracy. 20 bits is real good! The other bits may be there but they are just random noise, not at all connected to the music. Those lower bits are the noise floor.
We are restricted to such noise levels because of analog noise in components but with careful design, we keep that noise low, as low as say 21 bits.
This is not bad! Why? Because the EAR can only hear a certain dynamic range (from the loudest to the lowest levels. Each bit is around 6dB so at 20 bits we have 120dB dynamic range. That is huge. A CD has only 16 bits thus 96dB and that is already pretty quiet.
If you stand next to a 747 engine (running), and call it the loudest you want to hear, then go to a sound isolation room and call it the lowest sound level, you have less then 126dB which is 21 bits. So who needs 32 bits? When it comes to digital audio workstation, you need that and more. For listening, no one needs even 24 bits.
Third
384KHz, as well as 192KHz is marketing driven, and it is NOT GOOD for best sound. Too slow is not good, and too fast is not good either. There is an optimal sample rate, and it is somewhere in the 60-70KHz. Of course there is no such standard so 48 or 88.2KHz is reasonable, and even 96KHz is just a bit too fast. I explained all that in great detail in my paper "Sampling Theory". The paper is too technical for some folks, I tried to keep is comprehensible...
You can hear better then 16 bits, 18 "real bits" is better then 16 bits, I would not mind 20 bits. And a little faster sample rate then 44.1KHz is better also. 48KHz is better then 44.1KHz. 88.2/96KHz is also pretty good. Any faster is not a good idea. I heard some real beautiful 96KHz 24 bits (probably 18-20 real bits). Some of the high definition audio (DVD Audio) is fantastic to listen to. It is unfortunate that it did not gain commercial acceptance.
At the end of the day, I too do most of my listening to CD format (16 bit at 44.1KHz). I would like to have a few more bits, and somewhat faster sample rate. I would love to have say 18-20 real bits (that means 24 bits format) at 60-70KHz. But given that most of the music comes on CD's, I listen to CD's... And there are some fantastic CD's out there.
Regards
Dan Lavry
