High Bit/High Sampling Feature

[Gov]

My new Pioneer SC-05 has this feature and its default is off Anyway the manual says that it creates a wider dynamic range with digital sources like CD's and DVD's taking 16 bit PCM or 20 bit compressed audio signals to 24 bits.
Would this be a worthwhile feature? I am not sure of its meaning in terms of actual SQ

Thanks

 

[fmw]

Simply dithering 16 bits to 24 bits does nothing at all to the sound quality of a red book CD. It doesn't add any dynamic range because the dynamic range is what it is on the original recording. 24 bits would provide for an increase in potential dynamic range over 16 bits but you would have to record with a 24 bit depth to realize any of that potential. You would also have to play it back with a 24 bit depth.

Understand that CD's are all 16 bits by definition so there isn't any 24 bit content on them at all. My guess is that the feature is there for "future proofing" purposes. You can't make any use of it with red book CD's. The trend in recording seems to be reducing dynamic range rather than increasing it so I would view the future they are trying to address as pretty far away.

It doesn't cost anything to turn it on to see what, if anything, it does. Try it out. Then your curiosity will be satisfied.

 

[Gov]

I have played around with this feature a bit, and I detect no difference. Maybe I just don't have those golden ears . For now, I am leaving it off

Fwm,
Would the same apply to DVD's? How are those recorded, 16 bit also?

 

[fmw]

I don't know so I'll let someone better equipped to answer handle it. I know there were some 24 bit "CD's" that had to be played on DVD players several years ago. I don't know whether they played back in 24 bit or whether they were dithered to 16 bit. Some of the newer video disc formats may provide for a higher bit rate than 16. I just don't know. Nor do I really care.

I can tell you this. Recording engineers argue constantly about 24 bit vs. 16 bit recording. Arguments aside, I know bias controlled tests have been conducted with no audible difference between 24 bit and 24 dithered to 16. I would bet if you conducted the same kind of test in a recording studio you wouldn't hear the difference betwen 24 and 16 bit played back at the native bit rate. I'm not aware of any bias controlled tests of this. Virtually all of them record 24 bit just in case.

16 bits provides more dynamic range than you will ever hear on a CD or movie sound track. Most music is compressed to well below what a 16 bit recording can produce in order to make the music easier to hear on car radios and Ipods. In the case of pop and rock music, the limiting and compression is so severe these recordings have very little dynamic range at all. You can read about the "volume wars" on these forums.

I guess what I'm saying is that the original designers of the red book CD pretty much nailed it. People have been trying to improve on it for nearly 30 years and we still have red book CD. The improvements generally have provided measurable but not audible differences.

 

[fmw]

I did a little research. From what I can tell, DVD audio and even the new HD soundtracks are 16 bit. That means the 24/96 discs that were sold a few years ago were actually dithered to 16 bits and downsampled to 44.1 khz. In other words, they don't sound any different than they would have if they had been recorded in 16/44.1 in the first place.

I guess it has become a numbers game like amplifier power. Much ado about very little. Take care.

 

[Gov]

Thanks, basically, this is a useless feature then.