Doubtful this spec alone will guide you.
I'm curious, are there any DAC's which can do 192/16 but NOT 192/24??
I'm curious, are there any DAC's which can do 192/16 but NOT 192/24??
DAC Output 192/16 vs. 192/24 Will I Hear A Difference
op, I do not have the "ear" that many of the established long time members here have. My system is resolving enough for me to clearly hear quite a difference between standard 16/44 and 24/96. At my skill level the move from 24/96 to 24/192 is much harder for me to pick out. That is my honest answer. I am 54 and do not have the ears of a 30 year old anymore. I think the original source material plays a large part. IMO a quality DAC with an excellent analogue stage is a very wise decision. Money well spent. Cheers. |
The sample rate and size is about the digital signal. For instance: 44.1 kHz / 16 bits. A DAC has to take a digital input, but outputs an analog signal for which the terms sample rate and bit depth no longer apply. So, when you read the spec's of a DAC, it's talking about what kind of sources it can support, but the output is always going to be analog. Streamers are a little more complicated as the input is some network attached service and the output is either (or both) a digital signal you can feed a DAC, or if it is a Streamer/DAC an analog signal. In any event, if you exceed the specs of your DAC you won't get a good sounding signal. :) |
Found a great article on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_bit_depth Pay particular attention to the dynamic range section, you can see that the dynamic range of the 24 bit data exceeds 144 dB, which is hard to actually do in real life due to typical noise issues. At this point it's just bragging rights. |