Exploring Digital Audio Myths and Reality Part 1
The first part of a look at what is true and what is folklore in digital audio: sample rates, bit depth, and the arguments that will not go away.
Digital audio
10 articles.
Writing
Issues with 0dBFS+ Levels On Digital Audio Playback Systems
Why signals that exceed digital full scale between samples clip in the reconstruction filter, how much headroom players actually leave, and what it does to the sound.
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Dynamic Comparison SACD vs CD - Part 5
The last of the series: SACD against CD on the same titles, and a look at whether the format or the master is doing the work.
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Dynamic Comparison of LPs vs CDs - Part 4
Turning the same measurements on vinyl: LP transfers against their CD counterparts, and where the audible differences really come from.
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Dynamic Comparison of CD, DVD-A, SACD - Part 1
Recording the CD, DVD-A and SACD releases of one album through the same converter and comparing what came back — waveforms, levels and ultrasonic content.
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Dynamic Comparison of CD, DVD-A, SACD - Part 2
The second part of the format comparison: spectral analysis of the same three transfers, and what the ultrasonic energy above 22kHz actually contains.
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Dynamic Comparison of CD, DVD-A, SACD - Part 3
Closing the three-format comparison with the dynamic range figures, and what they say about mastering rather than about the formats themselves.
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Distortion on the Denon AVC-A1SE+
A short measurement note: harmonic distortion that turned out to belong to the amplifier rather than to any of the players feeding it.
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Experiments with 0dBFS+ levels on various players
The first version of the 0dBFS+ work: what six players and one amplifier actually did with peaks that exceed digital full scale.
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Comparing Audio Tracks on Music DVDs
Why most of my music DVDs did not sound as good as my CDs, traced through the waveforms of the same recordings in every format the discs offered.
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