Bit Depth Question

[admin_exported]

If CD's are 16 bit and 44.1 kHz and I rip them with EAC (using auto FLAC), I'm assuming my resulting .flac files are also 16 bit and 44.1 kHz...? If so, what's the point in getting a 24 bit DAC, as shirley you can't magic the missing 8 bits?

I'm curious as I finally got round to putting the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 back into my work computer and using FLACs rather than MP3s. The difference between this and the Sound Blaster Live! with MP3s is amazing. I'm now just wondering if the Pro-ject USB Box/Head Box combo would be just as good as the Beresford as they would both be getting fed a 16 bit source...?

Cheers,

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, when ripping to lossless formats such as FLAC, the flac files are 16bit/44.1KHz. If using iTunes, you can click on Get Info and it will show you this information in the summary tab. There are a few reasons to get a 24bit capable DAC, first of all and perhaps most importantly, you can buy 24bit/96KHZ songs online now from LINN and HDtracks amongst others and if your DAC inside your computer or connected to your computer is not able to handle 24bit music it will be downconverted loosing the benefit - you never want your computerÿdown-samplingÿ(orÿup-samplingÿeven) your music as it makes a mess of it, a computer has other things to worry about that take priority. In addition, good quality external DAC's canÿup-sampleÿ16bit/44.1KHz songs and depending on the DAC, it can make a difference for the better.ÿ

ÿThat being said, if your interest lies in playing your music on your computer hooked up to computer speakers and you're only ripping your own CD's then the benefits of a 24bit DAC is not going to be all that important. An external DAC is almost always better as it doesn't have to operate in the incredibly noisyÿenvironmentÿof a computer but as you've pointed out, the better PCI sound cards like the Audigy (2) are now impressively good - plus they give you a lot of options like optical out if you don't already have one in addition to superior surround sound decodingÿetc.

 

[Anonymous]

I think it will be quite some time before these high def music download sites start providing for my music tastes... ;-) Besides, I'd rather have physical media that I can touch rather than some download, call me old fashioned.

I'm tempted by the Pro-ject stuff as it would be portable and not require a sound card in the computer, so I could take it with me if I travel etc. The USB Box only has a 16 bit DAC, hence why I was asking if it really makes a difference when all you're doing is ripping CDs.

The main issue I have with the Audigy 2 in my owrk computer, is that is upsamples to 48 kHz out of it's 3.5mm mono jack digital output, evidently you can't turn this off. I must admit I'm really tempted by the Beresford, but the portability of the Pro-ject USB box is appealing.

Cheers,

 

[Anonymous]

I think you'll find this article helpful, especially the very bottom of this page as it talks about (in the normal Stereophile long-winded manor) your concern. From what you've said, I think the USB Pro-ject sound card would be a good fit. Since you're using Windows, I'd also draw your attention to the part of the page that says Windows Vista handles audio better than XP. Once you have a USB sound card working, make sure you turn off any audio enhancement features in iTunes or whatever audio program you are using.ÿ

http://stereophile.com/computeraudio/1008servers/ÿ

 

[PJPro]

I'd like to echo mcd0234's (hey that name really rolls off the tongue ) comments. You really don't want the PC doing anything other than managing and playing files.

I've gone to great efforts to ensure that my PC simply opens the audio file and passes the audio signal out to the DAC via the soundcard with no processing applied.

Should point out here that the actual changes made to my PC were actually minimal and took a handful of minutes to apply. The bulk of the effort was spent researching what could be done.