24/96 or 24/192?

[Machinemessiah]

Hi, not been on here for a good while but would value opinions on the following as I am about to embark on ripping some blu ray audio discs I have been collecting and purchasing some hi res downloads.

I have recently read in an equipment review of a dac in Hifi News (I think, can't remember the name of the dac now sorry!) that the inputs had been set at a maximum bit rate of 24/96 as opposed to 24/192 as the extra processing required to go to 192khz rather than 96khz would increase noise and that would affect sound quality. I presume the same ethos would also apply to higher sampling rates for DSD too if this was actually the case? From this then are we to assume that 24/96 and DSD 64 are the "sweet spots" for sound quality for hi res audio and higher sampling rates are not going to be any better and just take up more disc space?

The only practical knowledge I have had in the past with something similar is when I recorded CDs onto a Sony DAT recorded I had some years ago. The 48khz sampling rate of DAT did seem to sound better then the 44.1khz of the CD, or so I thought at the time.

I will of course be testing the 96 v 192 theory myself (proof of the pudding and all that....) but I am very interested to hear others thoughts/experiences on this one. Maybe someone has also read the same article and can actually remember more about it than me!

Thanks.

 

[The_Lhc]

Leaving aside the fact that it's all nonsense, what format are the recordings on the blu-rays? Just rip it at the same resolution, there's no point ripping at 192 if the original recordings are only 96.

 

[Machinemessiah]

I'm interested to know why you think it's all nonsense? There are various sample rates on the discs but I am more interested in what to buy for the downloads i.e 96 or 192?

 

[abacus]

Pro studios use 24/96 for mixing and mastering (None use 192) as it gives extra headroom for the processing, however it is pointless going above 16/44-48 for playback, as this is already beyond what the human ear can differentiate. (Live music/instruments also fall well within this rate)

The 192 is purely to get more money from the gullible Hi Fi buffs who believe they have golden ears. (The names used in the pro (real) world for these are quite a bit stronger)

AS has been said above, rip them at the same resolution as they already are, and you will have a 100% accurate copy. (Assuming you are using a lossless format)

Hope this helps

Bill