Dissident Sound on Nostr: we were all lied to when they said 16 bit 44 khz was "perfect" ... we were told it ...
we were all lied to when they said 16 bit 44 khz was "perfect" ... we were told it has 20 khz bandwidth ... i always knew that was a lie. reality is 44 khz can reach 20 khz but starts to roll off from 11 khz, which is something they don't teach you in college or anywhere at all - it's a secret - only i know this. in college they told me you need two samples per cycle, but that doesn't take into consideration phase shift - you really need 4 samples per cycle, so a minimum of 20 khz X 4 = 80 khz but you also need room for low pass filter, thus 96 khz.
but 11 khz is frankly "good enough" because most microphones and ears begin to roll off there as well ... so in the end few people can actually tell that 44 khz is deficient ... and so is 48 khz ... you actually need 96 khz, which is why all pro equipment works in 96 khz ... there is 192 khz but it's just for bragging rights - nobody use it.
as for 16 bits that only gives 96 db of dynamic range but human hearing has 140 decibels of dynamic range - just not at any given frequency. at any given frequency hearing only has 100 db of range but sensitivity is much higher at 3 khz is 70 db higher than at 20 hz ! so OVERALL the loudest sounds we can hear ( at 20 hz ) are about 140 db louder than quietest we can hear ( at 3 khz ).
every bit is 6db, this is how 16 bit = 96 khz, but to get 140db you need 24 bit. 32 bit float is actually 24 bit with 8 bit volume information.
so 32 bit float 96 khz actually can capture what we hear. the standard 16 bit 44 khz can not. but it's used anyway because IN PRACTICE only teenagers hear the highest frequencies and bass is compressed in recordings and you simply use bass knob on your stereo to bring it back up.
of course 32 bit float 96 khz is just an ideal - it has to be implemented correctly to deliver on the potential.
as far as it sounding sterile - that can be affected by many things. you can warm it up with tubes, but also different kinds of microphones and speakers will have their own sound as well.
16 bit 44 khz is trash but 32/24 bit 96 khz is up to implementation, mics and speakers. the digital aspect of it in itself is not the problem.
remember basically 100% of all music today is mixed on 32 bit 96 khz studio equipment anyway so you can't avoid digital regardless. if you're going to convert signal to digital at some point the goal should be to convert it as soon as possible and keep it there as long as possible before converting back to analog at playback.
just don't use low bit depths and sampling rates.
You Get Glee (npub1sgl…seau) Low Information Voter (npub1494…zmp0) mikedilger (npub1acg…p35c)
but 11 khz is frankly "good enough" because most microphones and ears begin to roll off there as well ... so in the end few people can actually tell that 44 khz is deficient ... and so is 48 khz ... you actually need 96 khz, which is why all pro equipment works in 96 khz ... there is 192 khz but it's just for bragging rights - nobody use it.
as for 16 bits that only gives 96 db of dynamic range but human hearing has 140 decibels of dynamic range - just not at any given frequency. at any given frequency hearing only has 100 db of range but sensitivity is much higher at 3 khz is 70 db higher than at 20 hz ! so OVERALL the loudest sounds we can hear ( at 20 hz ) are about 140 db louder than quietest we can hear ( at 3 khz ).
every bit is 6db, this is how 16 bit = 96 khz, but to get 140db you need 24 bit. 32 bit float is actually 24 bit with 8 bit volume information.
so 32 bit float 96 khz actually can capture what we hear. the standard 16 bit 44 khz can not. but it's used anyway because IN PRACTICE only teenagers hear the highest frequencies and bass is compressed in recordings and you simply use bass knob on your stereo to bring it back up.
of course 32 bit float 96 khz is just an ideal - it has to be implemented correctly to deliver on the potential.
as far as it sounding sterile - that can be affected by many things. you can warm it up with tubes, but also different kinds of microphones and speakers will have their own sound as well.
16 bit 44 khz is trash but 32/24 bit 96 khz is up to implementation, mics and speakers. the digital aspect of it in itself is not the problem.
remember basically 100% of all music today is mixed on 32 bit 96 khz studio equipment anyway so you can't avoid digital regardless. if you're going to convert signal to digital at some point the goal should be to convert it as soon as possible and keep it there as long as possible before converting back to analog at playback.
just don't use low bit depths and sampling rates.
You Get Glee (npub1sgl…seau) Low Information Voter (npub1494…zmp0) mikedilger (npub1acg…p35c)