Let me start by saying I'm not an audio purest. I believe is doing whatever is necessary to achieve the best possible sound, even if it means DSP, upmixing/upscaling, or whatever. That being said, let me break down your posts and answer them piece-by-piece. This is getting interesting, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.
There are two reasons why I think you maybe noticing a difference. There is some interpelation done by the s/w that adds extra bits or your mind is fooling your ears into hearing it as better. Auditory memory is a human's weaker abilities. Also, preconceptions that each one of hold towards what is being listened to also comes into play and distorts what we hear.
I'm aware of the weaker aspects of auditory memory in humans, but everything is relative, is it not? Especially for one as proficient in the audio world as I'm sure you are, you probably know this truth better than anyone. Taste is something that cannot be recommended-- As they say, "to each his own." If it sounds better to me, is that a problem?
I'm not saying your going mad/crazy. Its a phonemna of us humans.
I appreciate your saying this, lol. It made me smile.
There is no hidden potential to be unlocked. You'll have a much larger file with essentially the same information as before.
Perhaps there is no hidden potential, you may be correct on that. However, space isn't a problem for me in the slightest, so either way, I don't loose.
I currently have over 3.5TB of hard drive space in my desktop, and plenty of resources to expand that if needed.
Increasing the bit depth does nothing but use more bits - the value of the sample stays the same. Resampling at a higher rate involves interpolation or intelligent 'guesses' to add more sample values between the existing ones.
This is true, I am aware of this. But even as "guesses" they still have a positive effect. Like I said at the top of this post, I'm not an audio purest. If I think it sounds better then I'm all for it. It may not sound the way the original audio engineer intended, but I have no real problems with that. I'd say better than 90% of the population does not even have the equipment to accurately reproduce the sounds anyway.
Think about scaling a 480i video signal to 1080p - does the image get 'better'?
Yes. It does. For this example I will use Bleach. Bleach is an anime that has been airing for 7 years now, and largely the animation style and quality hasn't changed. Other than being switched to widescreen, it is still aired in the same old SD quality that it was 7 years ago. However, unlike back then, now most of us have HDTVs, and like to watch HD anime on HDTVs in the glory of HD that
most anime are aired in these days.
But not Bleach. Bleach looks crappy on an HDTV. Because of this, may fansubs have popped up releasing Bleach in an upscaled 720p version.
Now, when you look at the original and the upscaled version in their respective sizes, for the most part they look largely the same. Sure, like that there is no difference at all, I'll give you that. However, when you blow those images up into a 1080p (or even a 720p) HDTV, the difference is like night and day. It becomes so vividly obvious.
So yes, there is in fact a difference. It does in fact become "better."
