16-bit or 24-bit DAC for CDs

[Levi Kudrna]

Ok people I am a little confused on all the new DACs the are putting into cd
players. A lot of them are equiped with 24-bit DACs now and was trying to
figure out how it is possible to do that. A CD is recorded at 16-bit
resolution, so how can a 24-bit CD player make it sound any better? 16-bits
cannot be converted to 24-bits for better sound quality. What's up with
that?

[Arny Krueger]

"Levi Kudrna" > wrote in message


> Ok people I am a little confused on all the new DACs the are putting
> into cd players. A lot of them are equipped with 24-bit DACs now and
> was trying to figure out how it is possible to do that.

These days pretty fair 24/192 DACs cost $1 or less in production volumes.

>A CD is
> recorded at 16-bit resolution, so how can a 24-bit CD player make it
> sound any better?

It can't.

> 16-bits cannot be converted to 24-bits for better sound quality.

Right.

>What's up with that?

Someone's saying their player is *better* because its got bigger numbers
associated with it.

[Pooh Bear]

Levi Kudrna wrote:

> Ok people I am a little confused on all the new DACs the are putting into cd
> players. A lot of them are equiped with 24-bit DACs now and was trying to
> figure out how it is possible to do that. A CD is recorded at 16-bit
> resolution, so how can a 24-bit CD player make it sound any better? 16-bits
> cannot be converted to 24-bits for better sound quality. What's up with
> that?

A. Oversampling creates 'best guess' samples that weren't in the original. To
recreate this - you need may need a higher bit resolution.

I'll add that I didn't buy a CD player until oversampling became available.
Denon 1710. Much better than a Sony CDP 101 ( where reverb tails - for example -
faded falsely and terminally into the resolution floor ).

B. 24 bit conveters convert 16 bits far more accurately than 16 bit
converters. The bottom few bits on any converter are seriously of 'questionable
quality' for the most part.. Using a higher bit depth converter avoids this
problem.


Graham