> Early CDs sound bad not because of the 16 bit samples, but lack of > dither, bad recording and mixing techniques, etc. Good RedBook can > sound very good, and average SACD and DVD-A is not inherently better.
I mainly agree with that, in fact some early AAD CD's sound fantastic as the analogue noise inherent in the recording acts as highly effective dither to the A-D transfer process. That said I don't feel that 16 bits is adequate and in my view it's CD's greatest limitation. The pursuit of greater bandwidth is folly in my view and makes the bulk of the engineering much harder (although there are potential engineering benefits that have been highlighted to me that make the A-D process that bit easier). I'll always claim though that you cannot hear above 20k, but note I'm not saying that things above 20k don't matter, as I feel they do, but only in as much as they affect the performance <=20k. It's obvious to me that effects at the LSB of 16 bit audio are easily heard and that engineering changes at levels around here or below have audible effects. Andy. -- Andrew L. Weekes _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
