[LAU] digital voodoo: master fader should be set at 0db

[Jörn Nettingsmeier]

On 04/10/2010 08:50 PM, Atte André Jensen wrote:

> I didn't get why it should be better to have the master fader fixed at 
> 0db. 

i guess the reasoning is that any multiplication introduces rounding
errors. i'm a little out of my depth here, so there may be errors, but
my own private reasoning is as follows:

we have 32 bit floats, with 23 bits of mantissa and a sign, which gives
us 24 bits of precision, pretty much regardless of value range, thanks
to floats being floats.

multiplying two floats will introduce a rounding error in the least
significant bit. that means it adds noise. at a level of -144dBFS.

that means people will lose significant imaging clarity of the two
mosquitoes fucking on their mike windscreen during the recording of that
starting space shuttle. end of the world!


bit transparency is all very cool as a tool to validate your signal
chain is behaving, and there is not much reason not to be
bit-transparent when everything is set to "bypass".

in actual practice, it's another "oxygen-free" discussion perpetuated by
people who buy cables with a preferred signal direction and 6k€ cd drives.

if all those cable and bit transparency fetishists knew how reference
classical recordings are produced, the whole discussion (and large parts
of the high-end market) would go down in flames.

best,

jörn