Jay - atldigi wrote:
White Sawn's satement seems to indicate that the extra bits are within
the same dynamic range, thereby giving you greater detail within that
range. You can't into the trap of viewing digital audio like it's
digital imagery. Unfortunately, 24 bits leaves the top 96db range of 16
bit alone, but lowers the noise floor and allows the recording of audio
events that are even smaller, at a lower level, i.e. below -96dB.
Arny Krueger wrote:
24 bits puts 16 extra levels between each pair of levels that exist with 16
bits. Thus, the resolution is increased at any level, not just the smallest
one.
In article , (Scott
Dorsey) wrote:
Not really. It gives you more dynamic range, which is often wasted
anyway. 96 dB is an awful lot.
Scott's not arguing what you're arguing there, Jay. He's just
curmudgeoning about the fact nobody's going to use the available
dynamic range anyway. Which is a different discussion altogether.
Arny's right on this one.
While it's true that the additional bits tack your extended resolution
onto "the bottom" of the dynamic range, it clearly increases the
resolution at all levels. You can have a -100dB component to a -1dB
signal, and you still want to hear it.
The simplest way to think about this is to imagine a digital audio
recording that contained two simultaneous sounds: One a -1dBFS and the
other at -111dBFS. It should be clear that in a 16-bit recording, the
-111dBFS sound will be buried in the noise floor and will not be heard,
while in a 24-bit recording it will be above the theoretical noise
floor.
Now, suppose I told you that the -1dBFS signal was my guitar; and the
-111dBFS signal was some subtle overtone of that guitar sound. Maybe
it's some fret buzz, maybe it's some room reflection. Now it should be
obvious that whether or not you hear the -111dBFS signal will affect
the level of detail you hear in the -1dBFS signal.
Once again I present my favorite digital audio analogy, cash
denominations: Having some pennies in your pocket allows you to pay a
more precise amount even if you're spending thousands of dollars.
ulysses