What's the use of 20 and 24 bit DACs with CDs?


Many standalone players and modern DACs are now using 20 and 24 bit DACs. Is there a significant advantage to doing so with a 16 bit recording? Are these players and DACs doing upsampling on the original 16 bit signal to take advantage of the DAC or are we just looking at extra bandwidth that is being squandered for the sake of advertising? To me, the extra bandwidth doesn't seem to be merited unless there is upsampling or HDCD involved. Opinions?
cjcerny

Showing 1 response by sean

I think that you guys misunderstood Sugar. If i'm reading him right and the fact that he agreed with Craig, he was trying to say that total performance as compared to basic functionality is a key factor. That is why someone would want to "upgrade" rather than stay with something that "works". This is just a guess, but i don't think that he was advocating taking the cheap or generic route. I do however think that he ( along with I and many others ) are great fans of products that offer big bang for the buck. Sean
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