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Breaking the Sound Barrier: Mastering at 96 kHz and Beyond
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Moorer, James Anderson |
| Copyright Year | 1996 |
| Abstract | The possibilities of the forthcoming high-density disks has generated considerable interest in recording and mastering of audio material at rates higher than 48 kHz and wider than 16 bits. One of the proposed high-definition audio formats is 96 kHz using 24bit PCM. The difference in the processing required is not simply one of bandwidth: the signal processing itself must be carefully analyzed for its suitability as well. Additionally, Sony DSD offers another mastering format with even more technical challenges. Part of the attraction of DSD is that it could be viewed as a Lingua Franca of mastering formats since it can be converted to any release format with no additional degradation. This paper discusses the technical challenges involved in preparing audio material in these formats and proposes some solutions employing today’s technology. DVD has a number of standard audio formats, both compressed and uncompressed. The uncompressed formats are PCM at bit widths of 16, 20, or 24, and sampling rates of 48 kHz and 96 kHz [1]. If we wish to take advantage of the possibilities of this new format, we must record and master music at the highest and widest values, which is 24-bits and 96 kHz. Other formats (such as 16-bit, 44.1 kHz) can be derived from any of the DVD PCM audio formats, if sufficient care is taken in the conversion process. "Direct Stream Digital", or DSD® is another mastering format [2, 3, 4]. There is not a corresponding release format at this time. In DSD, the signal is recorded directly from the 1-bit stream coming out of the delta-sigma converter without going through the corresponding digital decimation to multi-bit PCM. This produces a 1-bit signal at 2.8224 MHz. By tapping into the bit stream at this stage, one avoids any possible degradation from the decimation process (and the required interpolation process at an oversampling D/A converter). One advantage that DSD has is that it has even higher bandwidth than 96 kHz PCM, and it can be converted to any standard format. Again, care must be taken in the conversion process to preserve as much of the original audio quality as possible. This paper explores some aspects of these formats that relate to the implementation of systems for mastering in these formats. BANDWIDTH AND STORAGE AT 96 KHZ 1 DVD doesn’t stand for anything. 2 Note that the audio specifications referred to are part of the DVD video specification. The DVD-Audio specification is still under discussion. 3 DSD is a registered trademark of the Sony Corporation. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.jamminpower.com/pdf/breaking%20the%20sound%20barrier.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
