[linux-audio-dev] Paper on dynamic range compression

[Steve Harris]

On Tue, Oct 17, 2006 at 04:43:39 +0200, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 17, 2006 at 09:59:10AM -0400, Paul Davis wrote:
> > On Tue, 2006-10-17 at 11:56 +0200, Fons Adriaensen wrote:
> > 
> > > 'THE SAMPLES ARE NOT THE SIGNAL'. The real peak level of a
> > > signal when converted to the analog domain can be several
> > > dB above that of the highest sample.
> > 
> > indeed. there are people who are coming to believe that this "error" is
> > responsible for a significant part of the audible difference between
> > digital and analog playback when the levels in the source material are
> > high. 
> 
> It could be. OTOH, most DACs today would upsample and filter before the
> real conversion takes place, and could allow for this. But maybe they
> don't, and just clip at that point.

I've actually measured this with an oscilloscope (because I'm that sad,
and to settle an argument), and at least the DA converters I tested did
respect the fact that the peak voltage was obove the INT_MAX voltage level.

It was a few years ago, so I cant remember what I tested, but one thing
was a yamaha digital desk.

- Steve