Why 24bit/48kHz/96kHz/
Reply #36 – 2005-12-30 18:58:34
Regarding clipping and samplerate: according to a paper i read recently, a higher samplerate can indeed lower the amount of *analogue clipping*. But this can just as well be achieved on 44khz if its recorded with proper level meters (thus, not overcompressed AND then normalized to the maximum). So, the higher samplerate simply acts as a safeguard against malicious mastering practices. Notice that this will only lower the amount of clipping - dynamics will still suffer from overcompression. Explanation is as following: even if the digital representation of a signal does not clip, it may still clip when its converted back to analogue. As you know, a digital representation of a waveform can simply be visualized as evenly spaced dots. So, only "snapshots" of the signal are stored, not lines or curves. When this representation goes through the DAC it is reconstructed to the real analogue wave - this however does not simply happen by connecting the "dots" with straight lines - instead it is a spline curve. The implication of this is that even if your signal peaks at 100% in the digital representation, it may still go "over the top" when its reconstructed - because the peak values of the digital snapshots are not equal to peak values of the resulting *analogue* signal. A higher samplingrate can lower this effect - but if proper level meters would be used during mastering, then this wouldn't be necessary at all...... of course, that would mean lowering the loudness a bit.... so.....