Why Do Some Devices Support High Resolution But Resample To A Fixed Rate At The Output?

Question

In case an example is needed

Source is 24 Bit / 96kHz

DSP: 96kHz

DAC: 96kHz

Output: 24 Bit / 192kHz

I know this doesn’t apply to everything, I just wish to know why some devices do this, relatively new to High Resolution Audio.

In: 1

Answer 1

It’s possible this is resampled but as described, this is quite sketchy for basic audio reproduction. 96k is pretty significant overkill and 192k is even moreso.

In things like sound design, or sound capture higher sample rates can actually help. But there are very effective software sample rate converters out there, some of which are free. A real time resampler in firmware is likely expensive.

There’s significant … truth-stretching in audiophilila; the best thing to do is learn the theory so you can sniff it out. One key thing to remember is that for end-user purposes, CD ( 44100 x 16 bit ) is almost always good enough. I’d say “always” but there may be exceptions.