[sdiy] Taking a Step towards Digital Synthesis?....

[Colin Hinz]

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004, Jay Schwichtenberg wrote:

> No you are right 24 bits is a lot better. What I'm saying is that 24 bit
> converter give you about 20-21 bits of real audio. 20-21 bits is
> considerably better than 16 bits. Let's take the 6 db per bit rule and look
> at reality. Ideally a 16 bit converter will give you an ideal 96 db of
> signal and 24 bit 144 db. In the real world most prosumer 16 bit converters
> give about 85-92 db of signal. For a 24 bit prosumer converter it is
> typically around 90-105 db of signal. Some even claim 110 to 115 db. And yes
> those bits make a big diffence in audio quality.

That was my understanding of the matter. Looking at the "dB" numbers
instead of the "bits" numbers gives a more accurate representation
of the quality -- in a part which costs only a few dollars, the LSBs
are going to be pretty fictitious.

- Colin Hinz
  Toronto, Canada