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Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by Stratoscope on Tuesday December 02, 2014 @11:40PM (#8691939)
Oh sure, your rips may be perfect at the bit level, but how do you know that they're free of sub-bit quantization that isn't detectable by electronic circuits but can be heard by the human ear?

This sub-bit jitter and interference can travel along with a digital file and sneak right past your ordinary bit-level error detection and correction, no matter how lossless you make it. That's because these errors aren't visible in the bits. They occur at a deeper and more subtle level, in between the bits.

Even if you prove mathematically that two files contain the exact same bits, you can't prove that the human ear won't hear any difference, can you?

Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by jboggan on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @12:40AM (#8692078)
We've discovered digital homeopathy.
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by oaktowner on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @02:21AM (#8692331)
Funniest reply I've read all day.
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by the_solution on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @05:47AM (#8692966)
The decoder/player doesn't know how to read between the bits.

Same file -> same playback.

If you hear the same sound file twice (or two identical files) and hear something different, you software is broken or you're imagining things.

Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by Stratoscope on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @06:13AM (#8693045)
Ah, well, the human ear is a much more finely tuned instrument than your decoders and players. Think of the feelings you get when you hear the ocean waves, the birds sing, a thunderclap!

Can you turn this into mere "bits"? Of course not!

That's why it is so important to protect against sub-bit quantization errors, and this can only be done with proper interconnects. Ordinary cables allow the bits to travel willy-nilly until they jam up against each other creating a brittle, edgy soundstage. Quality interconnects are tuned, aligned, and harmonically shielded to keep those precious bits - and the all-important spaces between them - in a smooth flow.

And then, we can hear all of the things that make us human.

Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by eric_h on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @09:18AM (#8693814)
I'm very glad you stuck with the bit (har har) and didn't resort to just telling him he missed the joke. Well done.
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by andybak on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @06:36AM (#8693131)
Whooosh.
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by golergka on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @11:12AM (#8694464)
For a second I was terrified at the thought that you're being serious.

That comment is just perfect.

Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by psychometry on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @03:06AM (#8692465)
Flawless satire.
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by hueving on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:19AM (#8692651)
Something about it being on HN also makes you assume a post isn't a joke starting out so I read for a lot longer before I realized what was happening.
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by gpvos on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @06:28AM (#8693100)
That's also between the bits. See?
Re:24/192 music downloads are silly by black2night on Wednesday December 03, 2014 @04:17AM (#8692642)
Thank you so muuuuuuuch for the uncontrollably laugh i'm having now