🎶 Understanding Digital Music: Bit Rate, Sample Rate, Bit Depth and Hi-Res Audio Explained

[@carravagio16]

It can get a bit confusing, IMO CD quality is good enough. i think the recording makes a bigger difference than anything else

[@trekkis]

From base physics laws - cd quality is absolute perfect.

[@AudioAdvice]

It can be, we would just suggest you try to compare the two on music you know and trust your own ears. Thanks for watching

[@chibbyylol]

3:42 text shows MB (megabytes) but he says megabits (Mb)

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for the catch, should be MB.

[@onchuner]

@@AudioAdvice apart from this very well explained

[@dawaynecleckley8673]

This is one of the most approachable explanations of digital audio that I've heard. 👍🏾

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@jimwilliamson7798]

Bravo. Very concise explanation that hit the mark in explaining these terms.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@allenfields9058]

This was a very detailed explanation. I applaud your employee's precision, his clear speaking, and mostly his professional presentation. He could teach some of the current National News Broadcasters a lesson or two. I think I'm pretty technical savvy for someone old enough to have seen AC/DC with Bon Scott, Lynyrd Skynyrd with Ronnie Van Zant, and Pink Floyd tour the "Animals" album, but I have to admit that understanding how digital music "works" baffles me 😂. Then again, I remember being absolutely puzzled at how a spinning vinyl discs full of grooves could send sound out of speakers when a little diamond-tipped stylus ran through the groove 😅.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks so much! Yes it is all just magic!

[@Up27am]

Awesome! Thank you

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks, glad you liked it

[@scottmuhlbaier4231]

Interesting video. I just took my CTS exam & all the bit rate information was on it, in addition to where that 44.1 came from. BTW... I was intrigued to find out where the "44.1" comes from with the original 16-bit Red book standardI. t's the Nyquist double oversampling theorem of what typical human can hear...20k. Double that and adding a little extra headroom gives you the 44.1K of a redbook CD. Cool :) Even though I have Qobuz as my service (and a great Bryston streamer). I'm still not convinced that digital still matches analog--at least for the main listening components. My system is still 100% analog, anchored with superb Audio Research and Conrad Johnson preamp& amp. My only digital capability is an Oppo 205 which has an HDMI input--but unfortunately that 2017 player way ahead of its time then is starting to have compatibility issues--athough it is still absolutely no slouch for a DAC with a ESS Pro chip. Another big issue is I'm locked into an admittedly great sounding 5.1 system iny 11x14 room, because I have no digital expansion capability. It's only matter time before I'm going to have to go to the digital world but every time I put on the superb sounding DVD-Audio of Aaron Neville's Devotion and hear "Morning has Broken" kick in...I continue to hold off as long as I can :-)

[@allenfields9058]

I agree with you regarding analog sound -- especially vinyl. I remember when CD's were first introduced to the market. To me, they sounded very "mechanical" and "industrial", lacking in the warmth and soul I heard in vinyl. That was 45 years ago. Newer CD's and CD Transports/Players sound better to me, but still it seems like something is missing. I added streaming to my system a few years ago, and I enjoy the convenience. But I still prefer pulling out my slabs of vinyl when I want to do serious listening. My son started helping me enter all my collection into Discogs, and it has been a wonderful trip back to the 1960’s and 1970's as I play albums that haven't been played in 50 years, albums I forgot I had, or albums I just overlooked. Have a great 2025.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the analog vs. digital debate!

[@dannelson6980]

It should be pointed out the typical human cannot hear 20k at safe SPL levels. There is 19k pilot tones in airport paging systems and things like ultrasonic sensors that no one ever notices. Ultrasonic levels should be monitored for safety. I find devices screaming HF all the time, ironically the last one was a mixing console likely the screen driver.

[@nickrich6968]

Great explanation! The difference between CD quality and 24/192k is subtle, but there is an audible difference (with correct playback). It's great to see the trend of music streaming services moving closer to the original recording quality.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes it is, thanks for sharing

[@scottmuhlbaier4231]

It's actually not at all subtle if you have decent hearing and decent equipment (depending on the recording of course).

[@dannelson6980]

@@scottmuhlbaier4231 If it is audible something is broken and I take it apart to find the problem.

[@trekkis]

Perfect example of voodoo placebo effects. And of course you are using one bit dac, to create even more "sense". Why not.

[@martineyles]

The difference you are hearing is probably the difference between two different masters.

[@robg8963]

Thank you!

[@AudioAdvice]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@johan.mp4]

High bit depth really matters while recording and mixing multiple audio tracks. It gives you better dynamic range to work with. For playback, 16 bit is enough. Anyone trying to convince you otherwise, is just snake oiling. 16 bit gives you a dynamic range of 96 dB.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[@trekkis]

Exactly true.

[@takeiteasy6154]

until they take the life out of music with compression ,which means they might as well work with 14 bits!

[@martineyles]

@@takeiteasy6154 That depends who is mastering it. Perhaps you will find someone who hasn't been infected by the loudness war

[@chibbyylol]

If one's DAC has the capability to switch to 32bit, 176.4 / 192 or 352.8 / 384, should it be set to the highest multiple of what one's listening to? 176.4 / 352.8 for 44.1 stuff etc

[@AudioAdvice]

It should switch automatically based on the incoming signal.

[@jean-francois8547]

Qobuz avec Roon ça fait du bon son

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for watching!

[@kevinl6231]

You’re also limited by the quality of your internet coming into your house so you have to check your plan.. When you have an outage you’re up the creek.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, but you only need about 25 down to stream High Res Audio. Physical media does have a place when the internet it down. Thanks for watching

[@marcgigliotti9637]

Great video and explanations! Unfortunately, these high resolution tracks are downsampled by the AVR when room correction systems like Audyssey or Dirac are employed. Though, most audiofiles likely don’t use room correction anyway. What do you recommend in those scenarios?

[@trekkis]

Room correction is uncomparably, on totally different level of importance than fake hi res. There is no any real "audiofile" who would choose fake hi res above real room correction. Even harmful resampling is not so important. But in every good, even cheap system peq (room correction is simply peq in practice) is lossless, there is no any resampling. Output after peq / room correction is still unchanged hi res even on cheapest systems on the market. Some phase / timing errors can be introduced, but dirac has corrections for such errors bulit in. Besides, every sound from one bit dacs always have inherent timing errors already. One bit systems which are also using additional resampling, shouldn't be allowed to be on market in modern times.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thank you, glad you liked our video. That is a good point, but you are still starting with the best possible source and we feel in most cases room corrections offers a lot of improvement.

[@David_F579]

v interesting - great job - thk u.

[@AudioAdvice]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@RalphPantuso]

I sure hope that the audiophile kool-aid tasted good because you sure drank a lot of it.

[@AudioAdvice]

We guess that is why Neil Young, who is by no means an audiophile, opened up a high res download store for his own music because he wanted people to experience it as close as possible to the real thing which still is thriving ten years later www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-to-launch-21st-century-music-service-ponomusic-this-week-53656/

[@RalphPantuso]

@@AudioAdvice Actually what prompted me to write such a troll-like comment was the inclusion of those totally incorrect stairstep sin waves in the background of your video. Stairsteps just a marketing tool and do not accurately represent what is happening in a digital audio reproduction. If you understand the science than you would know that stairsteps are nonsense but if you are drunk on kool-aid well.....

[@petercelestion7661]

Hi res streaming is mostly useless also downloading hi res is many time a no go Why? The majority of the files are up sample ones from a 44.1 or 48k master a program called music scope can show some interesting results Secondly i doubt if the flac files presented by quibus or tidal are for real and instead being upsampled from the mp3 files already in the database with this i am very sceptic One of the later albums of "the weekend" has a drop above 24k beyond there there's nothing Recording an album from olivia newton john soul kiss there's information even above 60khz Infact all the albums from the 80's show this even erase frequenties from the erase head of the master recorder can be found Nothing of this in modern recordings

[@trekkis]

Quality of file is depended from artists. No any artist with any meaning on market would use fake file. Streaming service do not have impact on file - if flac was uploaded, output is exactly the same flac - which can be proved by null test, and also checked by waveform and spectrum analysis. There is no any resampling on steaming service level.

[@petercelestion7661]

@trekkis it's the producer or engineer who decides how the file is uploaded not the artist Comparison between the files is almost impossible unless you have a downloaded file wich can be played on any other device Meaning a file downloaded from Spotify can only be played again with Spotify same for tidal or quibus You must use the same app or program to do this You can't play these with for instance foobar Also some independent artists already have shown on yt that the file they uploaded isn't the one they are getting back when streaming

[@trekkis]

It is possible, you can upload your file and make good quality recording from dac output (with proper high sampling, proper recording quality gear). This method is working without any problem. Null test is null test. You can perform it even without recording - even using basic cheap oscilloscope comparison - one channel set to your file, second channel set to steaming (with proper sync and volume normalization and the same dac model and mode of course) and also with null math operation. If wave is the same, result is zero. If there are differences, result is not zero. This test can also compare any gear if there are differences in gear quality. File compression is also Instantly visible, especially on prepared test tones.

[@AudioAdvice]

We decided to go to the source and sent Qobuz your statements. It took a few days but we got this back. This was there response- they are the real deal as we have always felt We get our files directly from the labels and rights holders. We have certification from The Japanese Audiophile Society to use the Hi Res logo. Qobuz is the only streaming service with this honor and they don’t pass it out without heavy verification. We do not upsample of manipulate any file in any way. From time to time, a label will send a 320mbps file. We simply request the high res version. When a high res version becomes available, we’ll typically get it. Example, Pink Floyd was 16/44 until a year or so ago. When the labels released the Hi Res version, it was sent in this format to us and we added them. Lastly, we actually sell the files, so any engineer could easily see if they were manipulated.

[@petercelestion7661]

@@AudioAdvice i said i was sceptici about it But no matter what the only real thing they gain for is to collect money nothing else they don't really matter how the product is presented and don't do high efforts to give the customer the best they possibly could get If the really cared almost 80% of new released music should have been banned because of high autotune pitch correction brick wall limiting you name it