megamatt425
New Head-Fier
What’s the benefit of having an amp that can produce 384kHz as opposed to say 48kHz? Both are well beyond the limit of human hearing
Amp discussion
- Thread starter megamatt425
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Thats a transfer speed, not a Hz rating. Quality level, not a sound
Usually artists will record at 88.2khz and then make changes to save as 44.1khz without dithering. For playback you're right, the Sony Redbook of 44.1khz 16 bit more than covers the whole range of human hearing. If you have a pet brown bear who likes to wear headphones and listen to dog whistle quartets, then maybe it would be handy to playback at higher rate...
ProtegeManiac
Headphoneus Supremus
Those specific freqs don't looke like they're the upper range limit on the amplifier, but the frequency at which the audio is encoded or decoded.
About two decades ago very high frequency sampling for regular Redbook (ie native SACD decoding is different) had people reporting that it sounds better, but somebody figured out what they were hearing as different was that it was noise and the driver distorting trying to reproduce that noise. Not sure if this is still a problem today sampling at well over 192khz ie 384khz.
48khz is basically DVD audio quality.
Personally if I can set where my DAC will sample it will be at whatever the native sampling frequency of each file is, and right now most of my music is in 44.1khz. Plus a few in 96khz.
tomb
Member of the Trade: Beezar.com
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I agree that you must be talking about music file resolution, because 384kHz is one of those magic numbers used for resolution limits. However, your question as paraphrased is worth a response - why is it important that an amplifier have a bandwidth greater than 20kHz?
It's because the nature of electronic amplification produces a bandwidth of response. In our subculture, that all-important bandwidth is 20 to 20 kHz. However, when looking at bandwidth of an amplifier, it doesn't fall off a cliff at the 20 and 20kHz ends. Instead, it usually produces a logarithmic curve. It's why amplifier bandwidths are specified in +or- dB variance from that line of 20 to 20kHz. Typically, if an amplifier bandwidth is 1 or 2 dB down at 20kHz, it's a half dB down at maybe 15kHz. That has a potentially audible effect. So, it's advantageous to push the ends of an amplifier response well beyond that audio band. That helps to ensure any effects of that response decaying down is well beyond what you would be able to hear.
It's because the nature of electronic amplification produces a bandwidth of response. In our subculture, that all-important bandwidth is 20 to 20 kHz. However, when looking at bandwidth of an amplifier, it doesn't fall off a cliff at the 20 and 20kHz ends. Instead, it usually produces a logarithmic curve. It's why amplifier bandwidths are specified in +or- dB variance from that line of 20 to 20kHz. Typically, if an amplifier bandwidth is 1 or 2 dB down at 20kHz, it's a half dB down at maybe 15kHz. That has a potentially audible effect. So, it's advantageous to push the ends of an amplifier response well beyond that audio band. That helps to ensure any effects of that response decaying down is well beyond what you would be able to hear.
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