argentino_sf

Thank you for all explanations. It was all very prolific. Just want to ask a couple of questions. If I were to design a DAC with a digital volume attenuator (in order to connect it directly to a power amplifier without any active or passive preamplifier), would it be better to deal with 24bits files (allowing more attenuation without dynamic compression)? Then, what about 32bits files? If some pc processors nowadays work at 64bits word depth, would it be any beneficial for audio purposes?

Did I say something wrong? Or really stupid?

I suppose that during the recording, an orchestra volume goes from 50dB to 70dB (macro-transients). How dac and amplifier know that is going from 50dB to 70dB? I know you are going to say something like dealing with dynamic range in the digital media (CD, max. 96dB?; SACD, 120dB?; vinyl?) and voltage/current transformations in the dac and amplifier, but what I would like to know is how the amplifier faithfully reproduce the correct amplitude if the volume knob is fixed (read user not controlling the volume). Just reading the dynamic range recorded in the media? I know that single ended outputs have an "standard" power output (2V Rms), but that does not mean that every dac has the same peak to peak. And differential outputs are usually higher, lets say 6V Rms, but again, not sure about peak levels. I also know that we are able to set a comfortable (on average) volume level with an attenuator when we hit play and the DAC starts (but which average level is the right one to choose? how do I know the average level during the recording?). I think the dynamic range that is fixed in any media and the dac+amplifier gain do not explain how to faithfully reproduce the amplitude in headroom occurring during the recording (the lows and peaks), because dac's and amplifiers do not have an standard gain (the level achieved during full scale output, dBfs). If an amplifier have "low gain/headroom", that real orchestra 50dB to 70dB will be at speakers/headphones, I don’t know, perhaps 50dB to 55dB. If you have "high gain/headroom", are we going to have 50dB to 90dB in our headphones (I presume your not clipping at -0dbfs)? Is more headroom going to be more faithful to reality? Once I visited an audiophile and he had a huge amplifier. Every time I gave him a CD he asked me if it had some volume variation. I thought they hadn’t. Then he was always slowing down the volume at peaks, because we were going deaf. They were audiophile recordings. Therefore, they might have not compression at all during the mastering (but that's just speculation). I would like to hear more opinions about that. p.s.: one post about the same subject http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f113/stax-thread-new-223263/index772.html#post5895823.