[Bulk] Re: snd_envy24{,ht} recording support?

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Wed, 2013-03-20 at 12:44 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> I don't like consumer SPDIF, but this is OT now [snip]
> Yes, if SPDIF should work, it should be without loss, even for those
> on-board devices. There anyway could be quality issues [snip]

You even can't discuss this issue among professional audio engineers, so
it for sure is useless to discuss it on a mailing list for an OS, that's
not known for it's audio production abilities.

I had loss when coping from one consumer DAT 48KHz recorder to another
consumer DAT 48KHz recorder using SPDIF, when I was a professional audio
engineer, so you can assume that the cable wasn't defect. Theoretically
there shouldn't be loss, imagine it would be executable binaries and not
music that digital copied would have loss. Those binaries would be
borked and you couldn't run them anymore.

But as Lev already explained _you never know what brilliant idea they
implement to a consumer device_, e.g. at lest resampling is needed if
there are different sample rates. Even if it is done correctly, to lower
the sample rate is audible, but if you simply use the signal from _good_
analog IOs and you connect it to a good consumer HiFi amp (you don't
need high end or professional studio gear) than the sound quality will
be much better, than 44.1 KHz are able to provide. Note that regarding
to matching filters most devices perform best at 48 KHz, even if they
should provide higher sample rates. Regarding to sound quality
professional studios use 48 KHz only, because higher sample rates even
with matching filters aren't needed for the human ear.

Professionals use higher sample rates, if they need lower latency on
stage.

To choose 48 KHz as a default is a good choice. It's also better to
produce using 48 KHz and to resample to 44.1 KHz later, than to produce
with 44.1 KHZ. The 44.1KHz were a compromise, when they invented the CD,
that's not needed nowadays. Sample rates higher than 48KHz only make
sense regarding to latency, not regarding to audio quality. It's likely
that even very expensive gear will perform less good regarding to sound
quality at higher sample rates, caused by filters that match to 48 KHz.

Regards,
Ralf