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RE: Jriver Internal Volume transparency

Before getting confused by others and their anti-JRiver agendas, it is important to know how a digital volume control works. This is an oversimplified simplified description for PCM. Basically, you have 24-bit audio words going in succession for each sample into the most significant bits, the leftmost bits, in a 64-bit memory register. So, bits 25-64 are random noise. To decrease volume, bits are shifted to the right one bit at a time dropping the least significant bits, which are just random noise, as stated. But, volume has to be reduced by 40 bits before any of the significant 24 bits in the input signal are truncated by reducing volume.

If your audio output is 24 bits, yes, there will be a truncation down to the 24 most significant bits, now shifted to the right depending on the degree of volume attenuation, since only the most significant 24 bits would be output. If your output is 32 bits, then at least 8 bits of volume attenuation would be needed before any of the least significant bits in the original signal are truncated.

Incidentally, 24 bits delivers a signal/noise ratio quite far below audibility and far below the residual system noise of most any recording and playback equipment available today. Use of a 64-bit engine is total overkill, but it completely eliminates the possibility of losing sampling rate resolution in the volume attenuation process.


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