You may or may not hear very soft artifacts, depending on their makeup and what else is playing at the same time. But you can measure them, and you can ask people to identify them in a blind test. So again, this is not unknowable or even difficult to sort out. Yes, it is just barely possible to hear certain combinations of tones when one is 80 dB below the other, but not at 90 dB as far as I know. So if we measure artifacts (including aliasing), and they’re at least 90 dB down, then nobody will ever hear them. Again, with most digital gear such junk is 110+ dB down. But I said 80-90 dB down because it requires a very special contrived test to hear -80. Heck, even -40 can be difficult in many cases due to masking. Have you ever done tests like this? I have, many times. I wish more people would! Here’s one that plays a very nasty harsh noise under gentle classical music, and then under a synthesizer based pop tune:
http://ethanwiner.com/audibility.html
All the other stuff you said about why people believe [whatever] about digital audio could be resolved in a single 5-minute blind test. (Likewise for isolation platforms.) These tests have been done. Many times. There is no legitimate dispute. There’s only willful ignorance by the Geoff Kaits and Dave Cockrums of the world.
http://ethanwiner.com/audibility.html
All the other stuff you said about why people believe [whatever] about digital audio could be resolved in a single 5-minute blind test. (Likewise for isolation platforms.) These tests have been done. Many times. There is no legitimate dispute. There’s only willful ignorance by the Geoff Kaits and Dave Cockrums of the world.