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In Reply to: Re: Well, even distortion isn't so clear :- posted by John Elison on September 27, 2005 at 17:47:54:
Just realized there was one important typo...corrected in bold
First, though: remember that I am not anti-digital; I was simply responding to a massive over-simplification re the capabilities of 44.1/16. In one of the posts on this thread I did state that I thought something like 24-bit >92kHz digital should be able to do everything vinyl can do....That said, I find it fascinating that so many people have reported better sound from CD copies of LP than from commercial CDs. One possibility is that the process of creating a commercial CD involves manipulation that creates the "CD signature", as opposed to the inherent AD-DA process itself.
I have tried a few experiments using my Meridian processor that digitizes all incoming signals for processing and then recreates analog for output. Matching levels as closely as possible, I find that the feed that has been through AD-DA conversion is very slightly drier and flatter than the original. Less sense of space and reverb. Obviously, since this was not double-blind testing it's not proof of anything at all......
So, back to the distortion question....
Isn't -60dB roughly 10 bits down? That leaves 6 bits, right? 64 possible levels....
I haven't tried looking at the distortion spectrum of a digital signal at this level, but I suspect it's pretty ugly, and composed of lots of high-order harmonics. (Unfortunately, my spectrum analyzer is in storage for another 6 months or so due to remodeling, so I can't try it right now..)
I wonder what the distortion spectrum of your AT OC-9 would look like at an equivalent level? It's quite possible it's THD is WAY lower than 0.15%, and dominated by low order harmonics.
At these levels, my money is on vinyl for lower distortion. The real question is how musically relevant this is....
Interesting discussion!
Peter
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Follow Ups
- Corrected: Yes, that is interesting... - Commuteman 10:50:19 09/28/05 (2)
- Re: Corrected: Yes, that is interesting... - Werner 23:15:32 09/28/05 (0)
- Re: Corrected: Yes, that is interesting... - John Elison 18:05:17 09/28/05 (0)