Though there are those who would argue, “more is better”, there was very good logic in deciding upon the 44.1kHz sample rate with 16 bit data, when the classic music CD format was envisioned. The resolution is quite acceptable, holding its own against audiophile analog recordings. As digital decoding devices improved in successive generations, the net result is very nice indeed.
Somehow, something is being lost in translation, I guess. Today, we have a portable device capable of incredible resolution and sound quality, and we can even play the lossless wav format audio files on them. As SanDisk has (as well as other manufacturers of course) brought the price of flash memory storage down to Earth, we can now work with those huge data files.
The need to work with 24 bit audio files both puzzles and amuses me. Yes, we have more bit depth, meaning more steps between zero and maximum (the direction of which varies between layman’s terms and the engineer), but using that much more data is of dubious advantage. Ten years ago, it was unthinkable that we could have the entire digital image of a compact disc, never mind a collection of discs, stored in a device a few millimeters across, much less in a complete machine the size of a Sansa, capable of a whole day’s playback.
16 bit PCM is a very practical, quiet, and capable digital medium. I have heard it in its entire capability, as well as directly from the console in the studio, walking from the microphones themselves, then to session playback. Some of you understand this quest, it’s a very tough one indeed, getting the master to sound just right, never mind matching the musician’s ear.
I am in awe of the early machines, the Soundstream and dbx two track mastering machines. The dbx used sigma-delta single bit encoding at a sample rate over 450kHz. Successive multi-track machines are amazing, yet as we see, they so often misused.
I digress, sorry about that. Just don’t sell 16 bit short, as we are taking about uncompressed digital samples here. Mathematically, that equates to some tasty bandwidth. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that the intended output is a pair of wee earbuds, even a larger pair of Grados, for some of you lucky guys. (Talking about my favorite wooden beasties.)
Bob :smileyvery-happy: