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RE: What about 32 bit DACs

There are two "purposes" for a 32 bit DAC:

1. Specsmanship. The measured SN of DAC chips are getting close to the 24 bit limit and by sending in artificial signals for measurement purposes at 32 bits the same DAC can pickup an extra dB or so of SN. Of course this noise is irrelevant in practice for reasons that Thorsten pointed out.

2. Flexibility for DSP in the computer. If the computer uses digital volume control and throws away bits one loses information in those 24 bit files if the computer attenuates, and having a few extra bits prevents this. There might be audible distortion added if the computer had to dither to 24 bits and chose not to do so, and doing so will add noise and increase processing required. In the case of sigma delta DACs there is no extra cost to supporting the extra 8 bits so this (questionable) benefit comes for free.

IMO I would not pay more for a 32 bit DAC vs. a 24 bit DAC. I would go on sound quality, features and reputation rather than 32 bit word length. In the case of the SABRE chip based DACs like my Mytek there is no benefit to 32 bits all, since the filters and modulator in HQPlayer provide better sound sending DSD128 to the DAC, rather than any PCM format supported by the DAC.

Tony Lauck

"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar


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