Yes the digital spdif is bit perfect until you are at <16 bits. And the digital volume works with 24bit resolution. So 6dB per bit gives you -48dB before the bits runs out . (of course the increments are smaller than 6dB )
I have no idea what it represents is these 100 squeezevolume units ? That are not even the same in all players . So no signal degradation in the spdiff out itself at >16 bit levels ok. The interesting part is what happens next, this is often debated in the audiophile forum search treads there, interesting read. If you got an old 16bit or 18bit dac never use the digital attenuation the spdif standard is such it discards the lower bits in the incoming data if it cant handle it. Yes the Touch is outputting 24bits at 100% volume even if play a 16/44.1 file, but the bottom 8bits are padded with zero's . Also if you are feeding a digital HT preamp or reciever with the spdiff you should also keep the volume at 100% as this device's has a lot of processing and it's own digital volume control Also no practical dac is 24bit if they for example has 120dB S/N ratio a very good number, but 120dB it is 20bit of data, so the rest is buried in the noise so this -24dB before you are down at 20bit ok . And no dac is linear so they are not the same even in the usable 20bits . So in a practical application you get more noise and distorsion out of the external dac as the volume goes down, everybody is in agreement here. Then opinions differ here,from that this effect can always be heard, to that it does not matter because the volume is much lower so you won't hear that its is "bad" anyway. There are users that has abandoned the preamp and uses a squeezebox with it's own dac's and passive attenuators to get a "decent" listening level, and uses the upper range of the digital volume to do daily adjustments, they will of course have some increased noise etc at lower levels, but they are trading this against the noise and distortion of an analog preamp . This is of-course not night and day differences ,given small adjustment at higher levels. You got to have a decent setup to hear this or to imagine that you hear it ;) (imho placebo works even better in an high end rigg because then you have a higher level of expectations, regardless of the so called high end stereos real performance, some components can be worse than a chinese dvd player even if they cost you dearly, but the speakers are often always better.) You welcome to the nitpicking at our audiphile forum and to roll in the mud with us other audiophiles, but do not take the proceedings to seriously this is a hobby and we are on the internet. -- Mnyb -------------------------------------------------------------------- Main hifi: Touch + CIA PS +MeridianG68J and assorted amps SiriuS, Classe'Primare and Dynadio speakers (including a pair of Contour 4 ) Bedroom/Office: Boom Kitchen: SB3 + powered Fostex PM0.4 Miscellaneous use: Radio (with battery) I use a Controller various ir-remotes and a Eee-PC with squeezeplay to control this ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mnyb's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4143 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=79143 _______________________________________________ Touch mailing list Touch@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/touch
