So that being said..whats the point of 192/24 processors built into the 950? You dont need that for CD's since they are 48 or 44/16. So what do the higher bit rate decoders do for us? A question Ive wondered before when all the manufacturers were scrambling to add 96/24 decoders.

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The analog waveform that our amp wants to see is produced by the DAC's (Digital to Analog Converter). If you think of a DAC doing a similar operation to calculus (i.e. using infinitely small slices to approximate curves etc) then the higher the bit rate and bit size would allow for a more precise approximation of the analog waveform in the time domain. Imagine a staircase: If you had a 10 foot rise and used 10 steps at 12" high to get there, you could easily discern the steps. But if you used 120 steps at 1" high, it would look very similar to a smooth surface. That's why (I think) the better your DAC is, the better your analog output to the amp would be. The specifics of DAC design (successive approximation, oversampling etc) are a bit (no pun intended) beyond me for sure.

Where is the limit of human hearing? I have no clue, but the better a signal is, the better it could sound, even if we couldn't hear the difference.

That's my understanding at least. If there’s a DAC designer out there, I’d love to hear his/her take and a correction to anything I may have misstated.

S.

hmmm I'd been thinking along the lines of decoders working for specific bit rates as in the one for cd's was specific to cd's 48/16 and that oversampling was used to refine that process.. and if you had a 96/24 source you would use a 96/24 decoding algorythm in the dac etc..not sure if Im explaining this correctly but if you use encrypted code as an example you need the correct key to decript the code and that one was specific to each type of signal...lol I should probably stop before I confuse myself..your point being higher resolution dacs can enhance the sound quality of all signals passing through them as a wider frequency response amp say 0 to 100K can enhanse the audio spectrum 20 - 20K

<<48/16. . . 96/24 etc>>

I agree with you there. But I think that is just the digital processor being able to interpret the digital signal. I think that the processor can't decode the 96/24 DTS signal, but that is just a design (and price) decision, I think. I don't think the DAC comes into play until very late in the game, i.e. right before being pre-amp'd to go out to the power amp. Up to that point, I've always assumed that the signal is completely digital, but interpreted differently by the processor.

You've got me thinking a bit more, though. I could be off base. I'll try to research it and pass along anything of interest I find.

S.

WooHoo!
Finally what I've been waiting for. No more octopuss out back. Just think of all the money that can be thrown back at the Outlaws newest hardware(i.e. dlp projector, dvd v/a) instead several c-notes spent on interrconnects.

With 192/24 DACs, will the processor do any "smoothing" of a 48/16 signal, such as linear interpolation, or curve fitting, to make use of the extra sampling frequency available, or will the DAC simply run in a 48/16 mode?

Mathew

Thanks thats more or less the question I was asking..you managed to ask it better and simpler..and I have to admit that I dont know enough about dac's and there processes to ask it intelegently...Im hoping that the 192/24 processing actually does something more than just be a spec they can advertise. as the oversampling spec was a few years ago

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Without some kind of smoothing, then having higher frequency DACs is no good whatsoever, since nothing the 950 can currently process will produce a sample rate that high. Unless, I guess, maybe it's used to sample analog inputs at a high rate.

Can anyone out there shed some light on this?

I don't really know a lot of the details of the recent generations of high-bit-rate DAC technology like 96/24 and the like, but that last bit you mentioned caught my attention. If you want to use any sort of digital bass mangement or signal processing on analog inputs, you'll need to perform an A/D conversion and D/A conversion. Higher bit rate DAC's could minimize the losses involved in that process.

Maybe I need to go hunting for info on the real benefits of 96/24 and such in general application. Might make it easier to actually speak knowledgeably...

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Gonk

Well today I went out and found a 96/24 Terry Evans dvd by Chesky records. My current system does 96/24 on either the DVD or the processor...sounds pretty damm good..so I guess thats one use..I wasnt aware there were such beasts out there..maybe there is going to be 192/24 audio discs that aren't DVD-A