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Topic: What's the benefits of high resolution audio? (Read 3014 times) previous topic - next topic
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What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

If we humans can hear up to 20 kHz, then why there are digital download albums in 24 bit / 192 kHz for example?

Years ago, a man said about this subject: "You also don't hear frequencies below 20 hertz, but you 'feel' the bass on your body."

I found this answer meaningful.

Let's say it's okey in low frequencies, but how about in "high frequencies" ? Do we feel anything above 20 kHz?

Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #1
"With 24bit music you can listen to silence much louder!". (c)
sales of "feels" bring quite real money. maybe high frequencies required for production.

Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #2
But, if it's recorded on analog system anything can go including 32bit.  ::)


Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #4
There are benefits. Unfortunately it's mostly to the profit margins of the companies selling the stuff. If they can convince you to pay a premium for it or to re-purchase content that you already own, that's a benefit (to their profits). Some Hi-res content might be from a higher quality original, in which case there is a real benefit but that's not due to it being Hi-res.

P.S. most adults cannot hear as high as 20kHz. Hearing normally degrades with age and many other factors, like shooting guns and using heavy machinery and such like.

Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #5
@antz answers the OP's question: to convince you to buy the same music - once again, or possibly also "rather from us in this format [at a premium] than elsewhere".

Bigger numbers look more impressive, but at this resolution, all that you get will be bigger numbers to look at. A TV with ultraviolet capability won't make you see better, but it can equip you with "bigger numbers" to read, if the user manual is more exciting than the movie ...


Years ago, a man said about this subject: "You also don't hear frequencies below 20 hertz, but you 'feel' the bass on your body."
That is inaccurate but irrelevant. Irrelevant because even low-bitrate lossies handle sub-20 anyway. Inaccurate as disproven in lab experiments (and for that matter, I could hear twelve on my in-ears myself) - there is really no other basis for the "20 Hz" quote except that it came about at some time when you couldn't reproduce sub twenty ... and "20 to 20k" being ten octaves and easy to memorize.

Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #6
Nice fishing weather
Loudspeaker manufacturer

Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #7
There are benefits. Unfortunately it's mostly to the profit margins of the companies selling the stuff. If they can convince you to pay a premium for it or to re-purchase content that you already own, that's a benefit (to their profits). Some Hi-res content might be from a higher quality original, in which case there is a real benefit but that's not due to it being Hi-res.

P.S. most adults cannot hear as high as 20kHz. Hearing normally degrades with age and many other factors, like shooting guns and using heavy machinery and such like.
Well -- the customer also gets the advantage of having a copy of the digital control signal noise and the noise reduction splats above 20kHz.  Maybe someone likes the sound of those?  (That is, if they could hear them.)  There really isn't all that much material above 20kHz unless a recording is made to produce those frequencies (something that is -60 -70dB down isn't very audible.)  The signal would have to be much higher level to be very audible at 20kHz (for those with good hearing), and above that -- nada.

The major audible difference in signals above 20kHz is more in the analog domain (nonlinear digital processing can also make the side-effects of those frequencies audible also.)  SO, when there is significant signal of some kind above 20kHz, there is more opportunity for intermod into the audible frequencies.

IMO, FOR LISTENING, the higher sample rate is more of a burden than a real help.
My own opinon is that 48kHz would be nicer to normally use -- 44.1k is just an ugly frequency.  The Nyquist frequency is too close to audible that certain kinds of NONLINEAR digital processing can run into trouble.  That extra few kHz for 48k sample rate is a real help in certain cases...

For LISTENING only, 44.1kHz,48kHz, 72kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz,176.4kHz,192kHz, 384kHz, etc -- are pretty much the same for humans.  It would be nice to have 17bits - might as well be 24bits, instead of 16bits, but 16bits is a good choice for LISTENING.

Even the most critical listening, 44.1kHz is good enough.  There might be very few cases where more than 16bits or 48kHz might be helpful, but not normally.  Most transducers have much more error than that of a properly dithered 44k/16bit signal.

However, 96k or 192k FEELS better, and 24bits FEELS better than 20bits which FEELS better than 16bits.  'Feeling better' is okay, but isn't a driver for the pure engineering/scientific requirements.

John

 

Re: What's the benefits of high resolution audio?

Reply #8
[...] 'Feeling better' is okay, but isn't a driver for the pure engineering/scientific requirements.
religion