[sdiy] Digital ADSR - perceivable staircase?

[Tom Wiltshire]

On 15 Feb 2011, at 21:07, David G. Dixon wrote:

> Think about it: 16-bit accuracy for a lousy envelope!  Talk about hammering
> a nail with a pile driver!

I've helped build some excellent 16-bit envelopes (one example below). You can get the sample rates up to audio-quality too, and the output is essentially identical to an analogue envelope. The differences are undetectable. The advantages of a digital envelope over an analogue one are that you can get very fast, very accurate envelopes simply, and also get very smooth very slow envelopes out of the same unit. You can modulate any stage time or level, independently, or with others. You have complete control over the curve shapes, and can easily choose between several different arbitrary curves.

In short, the pile driver has many bells and whistles the hammer never even dreamed of.

T.

http://www.modcan.com/bseries/ahdbdsr.html