cliveb;539812 Wrote: > This is true: analogue attenuation after a DAC as opposed to digital > attenuation before the DAC preserves more of the DAC's resolution. But > the point I was trying to make was in the context of turning down the > playback loudness when listening to music... > > Let's say you're listening at a peak level of 96dB SPL. And to simplify > the sums lets assume an ambient noise level in the listening room of > 0dB. That means you're hearing a 96dB dynamic range, the equivalent of > 16 bits. > > Now turn the loudness down so the peak level is 72db SPL (a reduction > of 24dB). The maximum dynamic range you can now hear is 72dB, > equivalent to 12 bits. Let's suppose you've used analogue attenuation > to do this. You will have preserved the full 16 bits of resolution, > which of course is fine. But the bottom 4 bits will now be below the > threshold of audibility and you can't hear them anyway. > > But now let's suppose you've used digital attenuation: you'll have > thrown away 4 bits of resolution. Sounds pretty dire, right? BUT THESE > ARE THE FOUR BITS YOU CAN'T HEAR ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU'VE TURNED THE > VOLUME DOWN. I don't understand why this basic simple fact is so hard > to grasp for so many people (not you, Phil - I realise that you > understand this). > > Bottom line: when you turn down the playback volume, the low level > details drop below the bottom of the audibility envelope. Doesn't > matter whether you use analogue or digital attenuation. Digital throws > away the bits you can't hear anymore. Analogue preserves them, but you > can't hear them anyway.
Very clearly said and exactly right, it's something I spent many posts trying to get across to some here. I don't think I succeeded... -- opaqueice ------------------------------------------------------------------------ opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=77725 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
