Ok, I got hung up on the original 'truncated' description, taking it as if you were just dropping the least significant bits.

This makes more sense as a more valid comparison -- but is still not quite the same as comparing a 16 bit track versus a true 24 bit track.

Quite right, but I wouldn't be able to use a CD as a distribution vehicle otherwise, and a lot of people wouldn't be able to hear it. The test is still valid as a comparason between the bit depths represented. I do have many 24 bit, multi-channel master copies of music scores for a lot of films I've worked on, and ones you probably have on DVD.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited October 10, 2002).]

Sure yah could -- encode one track as DTS w/ 24 bit depth, another as PCM audio

Holy crap... thank god I did not ask for any shorti;err; shor; err; halteri; .. anyway... I pray no-one says anything about truncate, ever again.

Yes, I won't ever mention that is (*) truncated, but -not by truncation.

* Please note that the word "is", used in this context _is_ not to be interpreted as meaning that it _is_ in fact truncated, or that truncation _is_ what in fact what has taken place, if in fact that assumption is made by a 3rd party or parties. No implication _is_ therefore expressed for the word _is_ in conjunction with any truncation that has, or has not taken place, at any time, by any party attached thereto. Your milage may vary.


[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited October 10, 2002).]

Seems in the past people talked about telephone quality versus AM radio quality versus FM radio quality versus CD quality.

And to further confuse, there's PCM versus other encodings and besides the number of bits (4, 8, 12, 16, 24) there's the sampling rate in Hz. According to my PC's sound recorder (using PCM):

8 bits at 8 kHz being is 7 kb/sec,
8 kHz at 16 bits is 15 kb/sec,
8 bits at 12 kHz is 11 kb/sec,
16 bits at 16 kHz in 31 kb/sec,
16 bits at 22 kHz is 43 kb/sec.

By the way, the source CD I used for this experiment was the newer 20 bit remastered version of "Kind of Blue", Columbia/Legacy - catalog # CK 64935, in case anybody has it, or wants to pick it up to compare.

I didn't even go there!! The CD is at the original sampling rate of 44,100hZ.

Anybody for 4 bit, 3Khz sampling rate?

This is using current AM and FM, not the just-approved digital AM and FM approved by the FCC recently: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_digitalradio020131.html

Here's a story I related awhile back about Dolby Digital.....

"One interesting story you might be interested in regarding Dolby digital. When I am on the dubbing stage after all the final mixing is done on a feature film, and am doing my final paperwork, they are usually making the Dolby Digital master of the final film soundtrack. As I am working, I have more than a few times snaped my head up suddenly and said "what is _that_ shit!" The mixing engineers always respond: "Oh, we're playing back the Dolby Digital master to check it" I say "oh" and go on with my work........ "

In my experience, DTS is better, but not hugely so, as it still throws away data; just not as much. I don't know how many people know this, but on most DTS movie soundtracks on DVD, the bit rate is _one half_ as high as it is in regualar DTS, as on DTS CDs and in a movie theater. They do this so as not to hog the available total bit pool, and sacrifice video quality in the process.

By the way, almost all movie soundtracks are originally produced and mixed as 24 bit, 48kHZ (actually 47,952 hZ) these days. All-digital mixing consoles are becoming the norm also. On films I work on, after recording the orchestra, usually mixed directly to digital workstation, the sound never sees an analog stage until it is played back in the theatre, or on DVD at home.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited October 10, 2002).]