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16 bit vs 24 bit vs 35 bit vs 36 bit vs 64 bit DAC sampling

I have limited knowledge about DAC's, but as I understand it, a typical CD player used to have 16 bit sampling, and supposedly no one was supposed to be able to hear the difference between anything more than 16 bit sampling; however, I recently purchased an Esoteric K-01X, which has 35 bit sampling (why 35 bits? no doubt only to differentiate it from their then top of the line 36 bit sampled Grandioso series).  

Now I can hear a big difference between my old Musical Fidelity kW DM25 DAC with 24 bit sampling (circa 2005), and the newer Esoteric DAC with 35 bit sampling, although I'm not supposed to, although maybe there are some other electrical programs playing with the sound besides the sampling rate.  

Now, there are 64 bit sampling DAC's, and I'm wondering how much the ear actually does hear from the sampling, or if it's something else entirely that's making the digital sound better?  

Any insightful opinions or perspectives?  

Thanks.
drbond

Showing 4 responses by audioman58

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,878 posts
 
20 actual bits in digital is all that is possible ,with  turntables 12.5 bits Schiit audio Mike Moffett 
has extensive knowledge base,over 25 years, on digital and what is actually possible ,and all other bits are  estimated in reading ,it gets very technically involved ,but very much worth the read.

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,878 posts
 
Read this about digital 20 true bits is all that is currently possible 
Ben at Mojo Audio knows his digital and builds a very good dac .
https://www.mojo-audio.com/blog/the-24bit-delusion/
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,878 posts
 
Everyone has a opinion ,Peter at Audionote is far from a expert 
on digital he is far from a digital engineer.
i know AN well I lived in the U.K for over 10 years 
tubes have their own bloom ,Aqua Lascala for example I feel better balanced hybrid are great ,Lampi too has their Tube fans 
With Mosfets and Multibit dac chipsets you can get a lot of the tube goodness ,without the tube artifacts , that’s why we all have 
choices. 

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,878 posts
 
The actual true limit in bits is 20 for digital , the recast are extra bits that fillin a guesstimate , there are plenty of high tech white papers from Mojoaudio , Schiit Audio that explain in-depth 
dontget caught up in  that it’s engineering  quality makes much more of a difference and dac type many prefer the older Multibit 
Dac chip , which-are a form of a R2R  but on one  big chip 
and werel laser trimmed , like Burr Brown 1704, or Analog devises 1955, for example. Tom dacs have 2-3 linear power supplies 
and excellent filtering and pre and post regulation , noise is jitter 
and the better dacs have all this and a bunch of other parts in the engineered design , but it isnot cheap, also many quality dacs 
are now starting to implement a seperate streamer module 
that is also filtered and has linear power supplies.
high quality cost $$.

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