Tilpo
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2011
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I didn't know 20x the amount of information (analog) was inferior to a small 1/20 snapshot that is digital...
And you contradicted yourself where I bolded
I don't see how I have contradicted myself. The signal path does not provide any coloration. Whatever you do at the source is an issue aside.
And you should know that the amount of information available is defined by the smallest discernible change. In both analog and digital systems this is defined by the noise floor. e.g. if an analog source has a noise floor of -84dBFS then that is equivalent to having 14 bits of information.
This is a fundamental concept in sampling theory, and has been mathematically proven.
With digital systems it is a lot easier to achieve a low noise floor than it is with analog systems, and therefore there is actually more information present.
A 24-bit system has with dither a theoretical maximum dynamic range of 138dB. That is a number so huge that it is practically impossible to achieve with even the best audio equipment, whether it is analog or digital.
And since it is easier to achieve lower distortion with digital than it is with analog systems, digital audio provides more information than analog does.
Additionally there is the issue of sampling rate. You should read up on the Nyquist frequency.
The sampling theorem shows that aliasing can be avoided if the Nyquist frequency is greater than the bandwidth, or maximum component frequency, of the signal being sampled.
That means that if you have a sampling rate of 44.1kHz you can reconstruct signals containing frequencies up to 22.05kHz. This covers the entire auditory range. Having higher sampling rates does not mean the frequencies are better represented.