Entertainment For Lively Minds
ATM - 24/96 WTF?
Posted by bigsteviecook on 14 August 2011 - 9:56pm.
I meant to ask this a while ago but forgot, so -
a few months ago, Steve Earle's latest offering landed on my doormat...the deluxe version with DVD. The DVD has a short film of interest to fans and....Code 24/96 High Resolution Audio Mix Of Entire Album.
John Hiatt's latest deluxe package came last week. On the DVD, again a film(I haven't seen it yet) and....*24/96 High Resolution Audio Mix Of Entire Album.
What's this? I don't really understand. A high resolution mix coming out of my TV speakers?? Do I need special equipment to play this? Why is the CD not a high resolution mix?
Both are on New West...
...help!
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Digital audio terminology
Digital sound is a stream of numbers, and the 24/96 relate to how fast that stream goes and how many possible values it can have.
Normal CD is recorded at 44.1kHz., (44,100 samples per second) and 16 bit (each sample can be any one of 65,536 different values). 24/96 is 24 bits at 96kHz., - 96,000 samples per second and 24 bits give a possible 16,777,216 for each sample.
There's lots of theory in this which doesn't quite work the way it should in practice for all kinds of technical reason: in theory with a higher sample rate you can record higher pitches of sound more accurately, and with a higher bit-rate you have a lower signal to noise ratio. You hit technical limits depending on how it was recorded and played back, and most people don't have good enough hearing or listening environments for a massive audible difference.
It's almost like how 45rpm sounded better than 33 1/3rpm on vinyl, how 30 inches per second sounds better than 7.5ips on reel-to-reel tape, or how faster frame rates in film look more realistic.
Actually the film comparison is probably the best one.
I would disagree that there isn't much difference
Playing recordings back-to-back on a digital audio workstation the difference is remarkable. Even upping the rate to 48kHz makes a difference. It's a classic case of launching a technology a bit too quick. If they'd have held off another year or two the results would have been much closer to analog fidelity and the format would not have become as redundant (although at 30 years it's had a pretty good innings).
Not trying to be clever,
but I might point out that around 99.9% (I'm guessing) of people will play the music on a thing called a "stereo".
What's more, a significant percentage will listen via ghastly little earplugs to an MP3 copy they've ripped via their PC soundcard.
24/96 is, to all intents and purposes, redundant for most consumers.
Agree with Dr Yang
Just to add, it doesn't stay at 24/96 though. It has to be turned back into 44.1/16 bit to play on a CD player by the process known as dithering. It's to do with how it was recorded rather than how you play it back.
Really good free download telling you more than you'll ever want to know, though in understandable terms, about dithering here:
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/OzoneDitheringGuide.pdf
Thanks folks...
...for taking the time to explain.
I still don't understand...and don't know if I want to.
The cynic in me thinks that they're just filling up space on a DVD...
...or that they're trying to invent yet another format to sell the same music to us all...again!
I hate free stuff. Keep yer feckin' free stuff and reduce the price of the item I want. Shit!
Sorry.
Strange
I was actually considering starting a thread on the pros and cons of 5.1 mixes after a day in with my new system and the last four Nick Cave re-issues with DVDs.
It doesn't make a whole lot of difference
if you're recording and playing back computerised/synthesised/drum-looped/metronomed noise, but it does make a difference when recording and playing back acoustic music. Even 24/96 recorded acoustic music, when played back at CD rate of 44/16, has a more open, 'breathable' sound, and more and more people with more sophisticated equipment, the new generation of hi-fi listeners, are wanting 24/96 files that can be played back at 24/96. More and more 24/96 files are being downloaded and listened to at that same rate. Real Player will play 24/96.