It's not an apples to apples comparison, really. Tape is desirable for its nonlinear (read: saturation) characteristics, and those can't really be measured in a

It's not an apples to apples comparison, really. Tape is desirable for its nonlinear (read: saturation) characteristics, and those can't really be measured in a very comparable manner by taking a regular digital domain bit depth analysis and dropping it in the tape world using the background hiss and 0dB as a clamp. It's an OK talking point, but it's easily oversimplified. Hiss is variable, too. When calculating the low end of the range from the background hiss, do we consider a -80dB hiss above ~2000Hz affecting the "bit depth" more than -80dB hiss below it? The hiss is nowhere near white noise either, so some frequency ranges are more affected than others.