24-Bit

Will the M6 play back 24-bit FLAC or OGG files? Has anyone tried this?

thx,

M6 spat the dummy with 24-bit flac, .ogg conversion I had no 24-bit setting so used 32-bit IEEE Float and it played fine.

Wow, so it played 32-bit float. Very interesting!!
Thanks,

I just tried some 24-bit 88.2 kHz FLAC's. It played, but it was stuttering and distorting like hell. I converted it to ogg vorbis aoTuV BETA5 at quality 7, and it played perfectly like it does any other song.

Not surprised. I would guess that 24bit 48khz would be the best the M6 could achieve....which is fine. I realize that 88.2 is twice the normal 44.1, but I don't think the processor in the M6 can handle those kinds of rates....probably barely 48khz.

I will try different variations of 24/32 float files, but I'm between computers presently and cannot yet do the conversions.

Originally Posted by Lexridge

Not surprised. I would guess that 24bit 48khz would be the best the M6 could achieve....which is fine. I realize that 88.2 is twice the normal 44.1, but I don't think the processor in the M6 can handle those kinds of rates....probably barely 48khz.

It does handle the 88.2 kHz samplerate perfectly in the ogg, it just doesn't keep up with the complexity of FLAC at that samplerate. Which is OK for me, FLAC takes up far to much space, and I don't hear any difference in to the original FLAC at quality -q 7. (The FLAC's of 1 CD were near to 1 GB in space.)

The FLAC's of 1 CD were near to 1 GB in space

I am a litte disappointed. As far as i know flac it is a lossless compression codec. i don't think that it will boost a 700 mb original audio cd up to 1024 MBs. mostly my flac CD are around 350 megs...

1) for what purpose are 88 Khz samples (other than scientific) ?
2) why would anybody EVER want to play professional 24-Bit material on a non-professional device like the M6 ?

Originally Posted by tERROR

I am a litte disappointed. As far as i know flac it is a lossless compression codec. i don't think that it will boost a 700 mb original audio cd up to 1024 MBs. mostly my flac CD are around 350 megs...

The source was NOT CD, the source was 24-bit audio with a 88.2kHz sampling rate.

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

1) for what purpose are 88 Khz samples (other than scientific) ?

They're studio masters. Everything in a studio is recorded with a 88.2kHz (2x44.1) or 176.4kHz (4x44.1) samplerate.

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

2) why would anybody EVER want to play professional 24-Bit material on a non-professional device like the M6 ?

Sound quality of 24-bit 88.2kHz material is far greater. :P

I see the necessity for professional recording, no doubt about the advantages. But with a Meizu ? The human ear can't even hear 25 Khz sounds. Nobody would be able to hear the difference between 44KHz/16-bit and 88KHz/24-bit or even more with earphones.

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

I see the necessity for professional recording, no doubt about the advantages. But with a Meizu ? The human ear can't even hear 25 Khz sounds. Nobody would be able to hear the difference between 44KHz/16-bit and 88KHz/24-bit or even more with earphones.

Lol, okay you mix some things up here. Sampling rate is not the same as audio frequencies. The sampling rate is roughly said, how many times a second a change in the audio is recorded. The fact that vinyl records sound better to some people, is because it doesn't have a samplerate. CD's offer more quality, but because of the limited sampling rate frequency changes can not be saved that perfectly. The successor to the CD, the SACD (Super Audio CD) virtually has no sampling rate as well because of the extremely high sampling rate of 2822.4 kHz.

i have to agree with mfb - there is a real difference between a cd record and a vinyl record in terms of audio quality. whoever had the plesure to listen to vinyl will agree with that.

BobbyQ. Try this: change your computer screen resolution to 16 bit, then look at a picture with a nice color spread. See the banding? Now change it to 24 bit, notice the banding is gone.

Same thing with audio. 16 bits really is not enough bits for transparent audio.
This is why many people feel that vinyl records sound better than CDs. Vinyl is warmer, and not harsh. 24 bits has enough bandwidth to return the warmth that 16 bit lacks. Plus, the extra headroom is sweet too.

Originally Posted by mfb

Sampling rate is not the same as audio frequencies

in A/D conversion the highest recordable frequency is equal to the sample rate. If you have an audience that is capable of hearing/sensing 44 KHz at best (I repeat that 22-25 KHz is the highest sound normal people can hear), it brings absolutely no benefit to use a sample rate that is higher than that. 44 KHz or better 48 KHz are considered transparent, that's why it is the standard for consumer audio.
The bandwidth determines how bad the unwanted aliasing is. 16 bit is considered standard for consumer audio, 24-32 bit is used for professional mastering.
2^16 Bit = 65,536 different recordable frequencies (consumer standard)
2^24 Bit = 16,777,216 here begins transparency, which is btw about the same transparency limit as with color reception.
I don't think that I mix something up here. Oh, and vinyl is analogue technique, that is hard to compare with digital technique. Even Vinyl has its (physical) limitations. It's only transparent in theory.

But I didn't want to teach someone here, I just don't see the need to use 32 bit 88.2 KHz samples on a Meizu M6 while 16 bit 44.1KHz sounds the same for a mortal audience.

I agree with BobbyQ, especially when you use CrossRoads MylarOne Classics or Sony MDR-EX71 earphones, which are not the goodest ones !

I just don't see the need to use 32 bit 88.2 KHz samples on a Meizu M6 while 16 bit 44.1KHz sounds the same for a mortal audience.

I agree 32/88.2 is overkill. But I will argue 24/44.1 or 24/48 as being a valid difference all day!

I mentioned 24/44.1 only because it seems this format is actually becoming very common in the pro studio world for a few reasons, but the biggest being the conversion to dithered 16 bit seems to work best if one doesn't have to also convert the sample rate.

I always record personally using 24/48, and it sounds amazing.

Now I'm confused. Can someone tell me why the heck DVD-Audio uses a sampling rate of 96kHz or 192kHz, and SACD even uses 2.8224MHz?

Doesn't a higher sampling rate mean smoother transitions in audio?

Originally Posted by xx-c

I agree with BobbyQ, especially when you use CrossRoads MylarOne Classics or Sony MDR-EX71 earphones, which are not the goodest ones !

Hey, I love my MylarOne's, and they're the best sounding I've experienced so far. There are better ones though, I agree on that, but they are not by far low-end sounding.

I do not own a DVD-A player, but I know somebody (on the internet) who does. When I asked him if it really sounds better than a CD-A he answered with a clear "yes, if you have the equipment". I believe that beyond "hearing" comes a kind of "sensing" or "feeling" or even "warmth" that your brain can still process while you can't clearly describe what is going on. With a very good receiver and extraterrestrian speakers this can apparently be transported to the ears of some extraordinary listeners. Let's call this just "high end" and stop debating about it. The people who spend $20,000 or more on it seem to know what they're doing.
But we should also mention that the Meizu M6 is clearly not a device of that kind. I even doubt that the M6's D/A unit can decode more than 18 bit because that technology costs much more money than a mainstream D/A converter chip. 32 bit get downscaled on the M6 for sure. Ask the developers or look up the chips.

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

I even doubt that the M6's D/A unit can decode more than 18 bit because that technology costs much more money than a mainstream D/A converter chip. 32 bit get downscaled on the M6 for sure. Ask the developers or look up the chips.

The M6 uses this chip from NXP: http://www.nxp.com/acrobat_download/.../UDA1380_4.pdf

24-bit data path for Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC
and Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)

Supports sample frequencies from 8 to 55 kHz for the
ADC part, and 8 to 100 kHz for the DAC part.

So it does support 24-bit audio with a sampling rate up to 100 kHz. And I've never heard of 32-bit PCM, and I doubt it would make any difference over 24-bit.

Amazing information ! I might eat my words if this turns out to be not only "on paper". Unfortunately I don't call a high-end receiver my own to test the true quality of the M6.
Anybody here who does ?