BAASnotes.com – Bay Area Audiophile Society

Can High-resolution Digital Cause Distortion? Yes!

This past March, I wrote about a controversial article posted to the Xiph.org web site. Take a moment to scan that article.

In my piece, I was just a bit dismissive that capturing ultrasonic content could actually do harm. I’ve since eased my stance a bit.

You see, I actually downloaded Xiph’s test files and played them on my system. And low-level distortion products appeared. These were manifest as an occasional tic or pop. No wonder folks say that hires digital sounds analog! LOL.

Granted, my Goldmund amps have a rather large bandwidth (3 Mhz). But still.

Try the test yourself and let us know via the comments what you hear. The files are about a third of the way down in a section labeled “Intermod Tests.”

[Note that these occasional tics were down more than 40dB, and would likely be benign in a typical listening session.]

Bob