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> A DAC is a sampler that sends digital audio to your computer No, DAC means digital-to-analogue convertor. It comes after the computer. Sampling before a comp

> A DAC is a sampler that sends digital audio to your computer No, DAC means digital-to-analogue convertor. It comes after the computer. Sampling before a computer is done by an ADC. > The signal chain is that simple. No, the software signal chain is not simple.

Flankk 4y ago
I know the difference, I'm an engineer. I assumed you were talking about recording since quite obviously you can get a bit-perfect signal from the digital side. It's maybe not so obvious going the other way. There is a persistent myth that digital audio is inferior in some way. The signal chain is not doing any processing. Quantization noise is not audible and can be removed using oversampling. On the other hand analog recording introduces flutter, distortion, and noise that cannot be easily removed.
ratww 4y ago
Parent poster clearly means ADC. The rest of the post is absolutely true. > No, the software signal chain is not simple. While the software itself might be complex, the grandparent is right: digital audio data coming out of the ADC doesn’t get transformed in the way you suggested above. There’s no secret compression, transcoding or resampling going on without the knowledge of engineers, as it would add noise and interfere with production techniques. Even things like dithering have to be added separately.
- grumpyprole 4y ago
  Again, I was speaking generally about digital audio, the average consumer has no idea what happens when using audio playback software, USB DACs, AirPlay, Chromecast etc. Even a few of the downloads I have purchased have been resampled (more fraud than secret in that case).
  - ratww 4y ago
    Alright. That's totally fair and true, but that's not within the context of this thread, the first post specifically said "music production wise" and this is what all the corrections refer to. Consumer audio, even (or especially!) when things are 10x more expensive than pro products, is definitely a bit of a garbage fire.

Flankk 4y ago

I know the difference, I'm an engineer. I assumed you were talking about recording since quite obviously you can get a bit-perfect signal from the digital side. It's maybe not so obvious going the other way. There is a persistent myth that digital audio is inferior in some way. The signal chain is not doing any processing. Quantization noise is not audible and can be removed using oversampling. On the other hand analog recording introduces flutter, distortion, and noise that cannot be easily removed.

ratww 4y ago

Parent poster clearly means ADC. The rest of the post is absolutely true. > No, the software signal chain is not simple. While the software itself might be complex, the grandparent is right: digital audio data coming out of the ADC doesn’t get transformed in the way you suggested above. There’s no secret compression, transcoding or resampling going on without the knowledge of engineers, as it would add noise and interfere with production techniques. Even things like dithering have to be added separately.

grumpyprole 4y ago
Again, I was speaking generally about digital audio, the average consumer has no idea what happens when using audio playback software, USB DACs, AirPlay, Chromecast etc. Even a few of the downloads I have purchased have been resampled (more fraud than secret in that case).
- ratww 4y ago
  Alright. That's totally fair and true, but that's not within the context of this thread, the first post specifically said "music production wise" and this is what all the corrections refer to. Consumer audio, even (or especially!) when things are 10x more expensive than pro products, is definitely a bit of a garbage fire.