[castleofargh]

  I just wanna know if the marlin has any effect on frequency response.

no, it is balanced by the giant rabbit with horns on the left(yeah I'm a pro when it comes to animals).

 

[bigshot]

JACKALOPE!
 
In the back, I have a mugwump and a mars attacks alien that absorb stray cosmic waves!

 

[DiscoProJoe]

Great article. That was the one I found while googling a few months ago. The section I've copied and pasted below says it all. MP3s at 192 kbps rule!  

 
------------------------------------------------------------
When does 24 bit matter?
 
Professionals use 24 bit samples in recording and production for headroom, noise floor, and convenience reasons.
 
16 bits is enough to span the real hearing range with room to spare. It does not span the entire possible signal range of audio equipment. The primary reason to use 24 bits when recording is to prevent mistakes; rather than being careful to center 16 bit recording-- risking clipping if you guess too high and adding noise if you guess too low-- 24 bits allows an operator to set an approximate level and not worry too much about it. Missing the optimal gain setting by a few bits has no consequences, and effects that dynamically compress the recorded range have a deep floor to work with.
 
An engineer also requires more than 16 bits during mixing and mastering. Modern work flows may involve literally thousands of effects and operations. The quantization noise and noise floor of a 16 bit sample may be undetectable during playback, but multiplying that noise by a few thousand times eventually becomes noticeable. 24 bits keeps the accumulated noise at a very low level. Once the music is ready to distribute, there's no reason to keep more than 16 bits.

 

[limpidglitch]

  JACKALOPE!
 
In the back, I have a mugwump and a mars attacks alien that absorb stray cosmic waves!

 
Jackalopes are lame.
Wolpertingers are the real deal.
 

 

[castleofargh]

wow you guys! I'm so jealous. in france we're stuck with the dahu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahu


our creature is sooo lame compared to yours.

 

[bigshot]

Here is my Mugwump!
 

 

[mmeysarosh]

For the vast majority of consumers, its generally correct for a variety of reasons. In comparing 16 bit to 24 bit recording depth, people can hear dynamics beyond a the 16 bit level, only a limited number of playback devices are capable of resolving that data in analog performance. The iPhone 6 was Apple's first device that had enough performance from its headphone output to resolve 17-18 bits worth of data. All prior models really couldn't do more than 16 bit, if not slightly less.
 
The absolute top DAC devices on the market achieve at best 21 bits when measures 20Hz-20Khz. Even then, very few amps and speakers combos are capable of handling more than 18 bits of dynamic data while keeping distortion in check. Some of the most powerful home speakers ever built have no more than 118db, just below 20 bits of dynamic range. As for sampling rates above 48Hkz, its primary benefit is moving the roll off filters outside the audio band. Poorly implemented filters will affect phase response and have some audible effects in parts of the audible range. Modern filters have improved significantly in performance and up-sampling is no longer as necessary for good audio quality.
 
Engineers will often use regular home gear to listen to a finished product. You have to ensure that the majority of the target audience can playback the recording with no issue, and this means mastering the output to fit within the performance range of their playback device. Something that 16/44 does for the overwhelming majority of people. As for the audiophile group who actually own equipment that perform beyond the norm? Its far too small of a group of people to take the cost of mastering above 16 bit to be worthwhile. Recording at 24 bit does exactly as one had mentioned, provide more dynamic range to deal with issues later in the mastering.
 
Many consider vinyl recordings to sound better than their CD counterparts. Quite often, they are correct. The digital copy is mastered for the car or headphones, while the vinyl edition is mastered for a turntable paired to a complete stereo. Engineers understand and adapt their mastering process accordingly.

 

[bigshot]

People can't hear beyond a 16 bit level at the same time. Their ears shift sensitivity as volume rises and lowers. In practice, 40dB of dynamics is about the most someone could hear at one time.

 

[mmeysarosh]

Human impulse dynamic hearing can reach 120db. Granted you wouldn't want to do it all day, unless you really would like to eventually shut out the rest of the world.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Human impulse dynamic hearing can reach 120db. Granted you wouldn't want to do it all day, unless you really would like to eventually shut out the rest of the world.

No, the instantaneous dynamic range of human hearing is what Bigshot says. Basically, you're not going to hear much below about 40dB of what average levels are at the time.

se

 

[mmeysarosh]

While you will only be able to discern sound up to 40db below the RMS power of a track, you can withstand significantly more above that in a short impulse. Again, no one would use it as it has limited practical purpose. Another thing to note is that our hearing has significantly different dynamic response capability throughout the audio band as well. The limits of low level audibility is lower for a signal at 1Khz than it would be at 10Khz or 100hz.

 

[bigshot]

  While you will only be able to discern sound up to 40db below the RMS power of a track, you can withstand significantly more above that in a short impulse.

 
If you've ever been to a shooting range, you know what happens to your ears with loud short impulses. With the very first shot, they start to close down and you can't hear quiet stuff any more.
 
But it isn't about earsplitting transient peaks that make you flinch. It's about listening to music. Peak level for comfortable listening to music at a relatively loud volume isn't going to get anywhere near 120dB. Especially if you are working with an ambient room tone that is creating a noise floor of its own. 60dB is probably already into the range of overkill for music.

 

[castleofargh]

and it's a false problem anyway as recorded albums don't actually use all that much dynamic.

 

[RRod]

  and it's a false problem anyway as recorded albums don't actually use all that much dynamic.

 
Lowest RMS I've found in my music is -66dB (3s value, max peak normalized to 0dB).

 

[castleofargh]

yup I'm also in the 60/65db at best in my library.