Audio Application Notes

This myth goes something like this:

"DSD provides a simple and direct digital path between the A/D and D/A."

"DSD is simpler than PCM."

"DSD is not PCM."

While DSD can provide spectacular audio performance, all of the statements above are false.

There are many wonderful DSD recordings, but the quality is not due to any virtues of the DSD format.

Direct Stream Digital (DSD) seems like a simple and attractive system, but it absolutely fails to deliver a "direct" path between the A/D and the D/A.

- John Siau

"Low-Resolution Hardware Cannot Deliver High-Resolution Audio"

The music industry is struggling to define High-Resolution Audio or "HRA". In doing so, most have focused on the delivery formats - analog vs. digital, 24-bits vs. 16-bits, 1X vs. 2X and 4X sample rates, PCM vs. DSD, uncompressed vs. compressed.

But, High-Resolution Audio is much more than the delivery format ...

"High-Resolution Audio Requires High-Resolution Performance at all Stages of the Recording and Playback Chain"

- John Siau

This myth goes something like this:

"Analog audio has infinite amplitude resolution."

"Digital audio is limited to a finite number of steps."

"24-bit audio has more resolution than 16-bit audio."

While it is true that digital systems quantize the amplitude of the audio signal to the nearest step in the digital encoding system, this does not necessarily mean that digital systems cannot have infinite resolution. Contrary to popular belief, digital systems can provide infinite amplitude resolution if they are properly dithered.

- John Siau