DIGITAL SOUND QUALITY
What determines the quality of the sound?
The vast majority of modern devices use digital technologies to play audio content. The list of parameters that affect digital sound quality includes many items. Below we have highlighted the most important ones.
Audio format. It is a kind of way that a sound file is presented.
The player you plan to use to listen to music.
DAC is a device for converting a digital signal into analog.
Amplifier of a sound signal.
Acoustic system or speakers.
Cables used to connect the elements of the system to each other.
Power quality.
A little theory
To build your home audio system more consciously, you need to have a basic understanding of the nature of analog and digital sound. The most visual representation of the difference between these signals is given by their graphic representation. An analog sound wave graph is a smooth sine-like line. The digital signal appears as a jagged line on the image. To digitize analog (or continuous) sound, an ADC, an analog-to-digital converter, is used. The conversion process consists of three stages. In the first, the original continuous signal becomes discrete when a smooth line on the graph is divided into points between which there is a certain interval. The smaller this interval, the higher the sampling frequency, which means that the original signal is repeated more accurately.
Format
All audio formats are divided into three types.
No compression. This includes WAV, AIFF, CDDA, and others. Audio tracks recorded in these formats have impeccable quality and sound as close to the original as possible. Its disadvantage is a lot of weight: a minute of recording can take up to 10 MB.
Lossless compression. This category contains FLAC, ALAC, APE formats. In this case, the sound is recorded with the same quality and takes up less space than in the uncompressed format. It is much more convenient to store such files, for example, on a personal computer.
Lossy compression. These are MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis formats, when, to reduce the amount of data, some information is cut, for example, about frequencies that are beyond the limits of human perception (the average person hears sounds in the range of 20-22,000 Hz).
Turntable
Today, the market offers a wide variety of digital audio track players. It is important to have a clear idea of how you will listen to music and compile your music library: on a player, computer, using headphones or in some other way. That is, whatever is most convenient and affordable for you. According to most experts, anyone, even a very high-quality digital player, is inferior in saturation of the sound transmitted to vinyl players and even reel-to-reel tape recorders. And yet among digital technology, it is quite possible to choose a device with more than decent sound. It can be a CD player (like the Harman Kardon HD 990/230), a home computer, or a portable audio player. Using a computer or laptop in a home stereo system attracts because of its compact and inexpensive size. The external module is interesting for those
Signal converter
To convert a digital signal to analog, you need a DAC: digital to analog converter. The device can be integrated into the player or be a separate module. Integrated, as a rule, loses to modular in technical characteristics. The external DAC provides a separate, built-in power supply – it is powered from a common source with the player. As a result, interference arising from the playback device may affect the built-in converter. A separate module frees itself from these risks. The best practice is to use an external DAC when listening to content recorded in lossless formats. Such recordings are mainly distributed over the Internet, and if the computer is equipped with a low-end sound card, the sound will be mediocre. To get a good sound
Amplifier
If you have decided on the format and type of player, have bought a good DAC, it is time to move on to the choice of an amplifier, a device whose main function is to increase the level of the analog audio signals that are supplied to you. The amplifiers are tube and transistor. The former give a smoother iridescent sound, while the latter are sharper and more detailed. Which option is right for you, it is best to determine by evaluating the sound of each of them. Both tube and transistor amps have feedback and non-feedback models.
