Streaming vs CD...όλη η αλήθεια

[elias84]

Καλησπέρα παιδιά. Κάτι ετήσια προγράμματα tidal που βλέπω σε ηλεκτρονικά καταστήματα και κοστίζουν κάτω από 30 ευρώ γνωρίζετε αν είναι αξιόπιστα; Έχετε κάποιο συγκεκριμένο να προτείνετε;

 

[g.kar]

Καλησπέρα παιδιά. Κάτι ετήσια προγράμματα tidal που βλέπω σε ηλεκτρονικά καταστήματα και κοστίζουν κάτω από 30 ευρώ γνωρίζετε αν είναι αξιόπιστα; Έχετε κάποιο συγκεκριμένο να προτείνετε;

Υποθέτω ότι πουλούν παρανόμως family συνδρομές κάτω από το ίδιο parent account, χωρίς να το γνωρίζει ο τελικός πελάτης.

Επίσης υπάρχουν και άλλοι τρόποι, αλλά είναι confidential και προφανώς απαγορεύεται να τους χρησιμοποιήσεις

 

[Ν.Κ.]

How much dynamics do you need?
Dynamics in audio practice
16, 24 or 32 bits. How many bits do you need to listen to music at home in the best quality?

While the first digital recordings were made with 14 bits, including by the Swiss recording pioneer Jürg Jecklin, 16 bits was defined as the resolution for CDs. But today, streaming formats with 24 bits are standard, and some recordings can even be downloaded with 32 bits. How can we use the maximum dynamics generated by the high bit rates? Does a 32-bit recording have any advantages in practice?

The number of bits is crucial for the dynamics
The maximum dynamics can be easily calculated roughly. Bit depth multiplied by 6 gives an approximate result of the theoretically usable dynamics. Calculated here for the most important bit depths: 16 bits = 96 dB, 24 bits = 144 dB and 32 bits = 192 dB. In comparison, our hearing has a maximum dynamic range of around 130 dB, which at first glance seems to be a considerable value. Without further knowledge, one would say that 24 bits are a must. But as is often the case, the situation is a bit more complex. But the hearing cannot easily handle the entire dynamic range, and neither can a hi-fi system.

Practical hearing
At the lower end of the dynamic range, the noise level plays a significant role. The average perception begins at 0 dB at 1 kHz (= reference sound pressure). But if you look at the noises in a "quiet" room with a sound level meter (e.g. on your cell phone), you will notice that there is a constant 10 to 30 dB of sound pressure. At the other end, most readers will probably agree with me that listening to music (at home) becomes unpleasant at more than 110 dB. This leaves about 90 dB of usable dynamic range. Since our hearing does not perceive the sound pressure as being equally loud across the entire hearing spectrum, to be precise, you would have to look at low, medium and high frequency ranges separately. For the sake of simplicity, we will ignore these for now.

More resolution?

Let's take a closer look at resolution. 24 bits means that theoretically 224 different values are possible, which is over 16 million. With 16 bits, that's 216, so only 65,500 values. So there we have it: much more resolution! That's true in theory, but in practice? More resolution means that smaller levels can be reproduced cleanly. For example, at -100 dB or even -120 dB, even the smallest signals can be displayed (relative to the digital reference point 0 dB).

But unfortunately that's no advantage if a) our entire playback system can only reproduce a maximum of 100 dB and b) these quiet signals are not perceptible at all because the background noise in our room covers up these minimal signal components. To create clarity, you can overlay the scales of the signal source (e.g. a streamer) and the entire music playback system. You can see this in the figure below. If the level ratios are correct, the maximum level should also be present in the digital range at the maximum sound pressure (in our case 110 dB), which is defined as 0 dB. This is because a digital level does not exceed this fixed point, but is "cut off" there due to the digital technology. In the analog range, signals can also be louder than the reference level. The signal is then also distorted, but usually cut off somewhat less abruptly, depending on the analog medium.

This means more or less that over 30 dB of the supposedly better resolution disappears in the background noise of the system or the ambient noise and thus remains inaudible(!). This is why there are excellent-sounding CDs that only have 16 bits available for dynamics (96 dB). In most cases, it will be difficult to even achieve 90 dB dynamics for the reasons mentioned above.

I will leave it up to you to judge how useful 32 bits are for an audio data carrier. 32 bits are useful for digital processing (DSP), but make little sense for data transmission or data carriers. Of course, there is also the question of how many dB the music can actually be "captured" with. Values >120 are probably utopian, with the exception of a bass drum perhaps. Microphone amplifiers and AD converters also have a background noise in practice, and even in recording studios the quiet sound level is likely to be in the range of up to 10 dB.

Masking effect
What exactly is the situation with our hearing? Our hearing has been studied for over a century, and even today scientists are still gaining new insights into it. What has been undisputed for decades, however, is the masking effect. This occurs when more than one tone is present. For example, if a 1000 Hz tone is present in the room, an acoustic mask forms around it in spectral terms. This means that our hearing can only perceive tones close to (especially above) this tone at a certain volume.

This significantly limits the perceptible dynamics, especially in music, because music consists of a large number of different, mostly harmonious tones. In addition to simultaneous masking, there is also temporal masking, which occurs after (and before!) loud tones. Anyone who has ever been to a really loud disco will certainly be familiar with the long-term effect of this effect. After leaving such an establishment, you will quickly notice that your hearing feels pretty numb for a while.

It is easy to see that it is difficult to make an exact statement about how much dynamics our hearing can process when a more complex frequency spectrum is present. The perceptible dynamics depend on pitch, sound pressure, number of tones present (including harmonics), etc. This background also explains why a record can still sound good despite various limitations, including in terms of dynamics (approx. 35 dB/50 Hz or 85 dB/1000 Hz).

The perception threshold (or hearing threshold) is also shown in the illustration above. This means that perception is only possible above this black line. This means that higher levels are needed for low and very high frequencies in order for us to perceive a sound. This means that the maximum possible dynamic range of our hearing is limited to a range of around 500 to 8000 Hz.

This in turn means that in this range, too, disturbances such as background noise should be as low as possible so that they are not audible. Anyone who owns a record player can easily understand the masking effect. At the beginning of the groove, where there is no music information, you can clearly hear the noise, which is no longer audible as soon as the music becomes a little more prominent. Loud crackles, on the other hand, (unfortunately) always remain audible.

Findings
It can be said that the dynamics of a sound carrier or stream must first be implemented by a hi-fi system. Depending on the system, more or less dynamics can be generated. On the one hand, high dynamics require a listening room with as little background noise as possible and, on the other hand, a loudspeaker/amplifier combination that can generate a very high sound pressure with little distortion and noise, and as broad a bandwidth as possible. This is usually easier with headphones, as these help to dampen the ambient noise.

Conclusion
What does this mean for me as a music listener? I have personally found that the resolution or type of coding (PCM/DSD) plays a much less important role than the recording itself. So it is absurd to sell a production that has been mixed (i.e. dynamically mashed together) for the mass market as a high-res version. My music repertoire includes pretty much everything, but definitely a lot of it is in CD quality and, naturally, more and more as high-res versions because these are offered via streaming services. The important thing is that the music comes across well. And when I get goosebumps when listening to music, I don't care how many bits are on the way to the speakers.

Dynamik in der Audio-Praxis - Wie viel Dynamik braucht es?

16, 24 oder 32 Bit. Wie viele Bits braucht es, um zu Hause Musik in bester Qualität zu hören?

www.avguide.ch

 

[costas EAR]

Με καθυστέρηση καμιάς 10-ετιας, ανακαλύπτεις αυτά που έχει μαλλιάσει η γλώσσα μου να λέω.

Απορώ γιατί δε κάθεσαι να τα διαβάσεις, είναι και στα ελληνικά, εύκολα, κατανοητά.

 

[Ν.Κ.]

Με καθυστέρηση καμιάς 10-ετιας, ανακαλύπτεις αυτά που έχει μαλλιάσει η γλώσσα μου να λέω.

Απορώ γιατί δε κάθεσαι να τα διαβάσεις, είναι και στα ελληνικά, εύκολα, κατανοητά.

Πάλι για τον εαυτό σου μας μιλάς?
Λες και σε ρώτησε κανείς ή μας νοιάζει τι ανακάλυψες και πότε.

 

[editor]

The important thing is that the music comes across well. And when I get goosebumps when listening to music, I don't care how many bits are on the way to the speakers.

......
Με ποιους εχεις μπλεξει παιδι μου;

 

[g.kar]

Και πολύ νωρίτερα τα είχε όλα αποδείξει ο Nyquist στα Bells Labs της Αμερικής.
Οταν οι γονείς μας άκουγαν καντάδες και μουσική από γραμμόφωνα...