Paul, for years now I’ve understood digital to be 1s and 0s. But this is the very first time I’d even thought of each digital device needing its own interpretation or language in how it utilizes those 1s or 0s. Thank you
Another gotcha probably then: those 1 and 0 are represented as voltage variations once the 1 and 0s are transported. It is not 1s and 0s coming out as some people sometimes seem to think.
I thank you for your well thought out explanation of these abbreviations. Digital continues to become part of today's audio . We need to educate ourselves so that we understand. 👍
I think this is the way I understand it now: DSD and PDM is similar. The output consist of pulses that varies between 0 and 1, so the density of 1’s increase for high amplitude. The higher frequency of the pulses (sampling rate), the more precise sound. PWM is a little different. The ratio between 0 and 1 is modulated within a cycle of the signal instead of using pulses. I fail to see why one is better than the other. If high enough samplerate it will be good either way. I would think PWM would be the easier to implement. In many ways they all seem to be the same. A variable density of 1 filtered by a lowpass filter. Am I missing something?
Despite having traveled the world, Paul continues to make these parochial comments and jokes about places he’s never been or can’t pronounce. Apologies on behalf of America for the not infrequent cringy comments you’ll find here.
Awesome video as always Paul. It’s going straight in my hifi & audio playlist as I’ll never remember it all. Super interesting all the same… we certainly do use the middle finger sign language back in Blighty 😂
Hey Paul, Gotham (pronounced "goat-um" is a village near Nottingham (my home town). It was famed for its village idiots. Washington Irvine stole the analogy for New York politicians in Salmagundi. Years later, Batman writer Bill Finger pulled the name of a such-named business out of a New York telephone book, and the rest is history 😊
Gotham is a village on the outskirts of Nottingham. Daring the reign of King John the inhabitants were believed to be insane .They feigned insanity to avoid the King's men building a highway through the village and impose taxes( insanity was believed to be contagious at the time). The King and his men avoided the area for obvious reasons. It's believed that every citizen of Gotham was also an audiophile. 🤣 p.s. It's pronounced " Goat - um" around that part of the country.
Paul the following is more the true meaning why and how to pronounce Gotham While Gotham village is pronounced goat-em, stemming from "goat town", the pronunciation goth-am was adopted for Batman. The link with Nottinghamshire has only been acknowledged by Batman writers in recent years.
i get the whole bit rate and sampling rate having to do with loudness in the amplitude of the sinewave , but where does the musicality of all the different instruments come from?
Hi Paul thanks for the explanation. And the ability to play DSD through a low-pass filter is fascinating. But this glosses over one thing - that would result in a mono signal - how are two channels derived? Is it interleaved somehow?
You can also take the bits of PCM and add them together, weighted, and get sound out. If this is at a merely adequate sample rate you'll need more than a simple cap to get rid of the noise but at the root that's all a basic DAC is. You can convert the PCM to a one-bit converter but I'm still don't understand the advantage of storing a one-bit stream in its native format.
Ah ok, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard these formats explained in detail. I guess this is why PS Audio uses DSD (PDM) because of the much higher sampling rate and doesn’t require a computer to decode like PCM. Maybe the computer introduces “noise” in the process?
A useful primer. It helped me understand the difference between what the w, d, and c mean but all in terms of volume. I didn't get how the frequency is coded or decoded so more reading required. Or just press the button and listen.
DSD is using 1 bit PDM. Class D amps are using PWM. Everything else (almost) in digital audio is using PCM. And all of it can run at speeds and resolution higher than human perception.
@@net_news Class D amplifiers are using transistors to digitally switch on/off current rather than regulate current as analog level. The benefit of switching transistors on/off like a light switch on your wall is that the transistor behavior is either close to near infinite resistance (near no loss in transistor) or near 0 Ohms (also near no loss in transistor). This very low loss in the transistors means very high power efficiency and ability to get a lot of power out of a relatively small amp not creating much heat. The problem with digital switching is of course you need to filter it to allow your speaker cones to move smoothly. The filtering is somewhat equivalent to how a DAC filters the output from digital jumps to analog in that you have to low pass filter the output using capacitors and inductors.
@@ThinkingBetter thank you so much for you answer (and your posts in general are always super interesting). In your opinion, would you consider class-D amplifiers digital?
@@net_news Yes, class D is digital by the amp transistors being either on or off. A perfect class D amplifier will output an amplified analog version of the input signal but the internal operation is still digital.
@@net_news some people (who are super picky 😁) will argue that PWM is only digital if the rise/fall transitions are synchronised to a clock, so the pulse widths are discrete instead of continuously adjustable. Whatever your take, clock-synchronised PWM will sound horrible!
Although yes because of physical response time limitations, feeding a highspeed series of pulses will get averaged out into the changing analog signal. It will still be a very high level high frequency pulse. Unless specific low pass filtering is available for the tweeter, it has to dissipate an extreme amount of high frequency signal energy. Far more than in any analog signal.
This can all make sense if you work as an engineer or technician five days a week. You can lose sight of these different forms of digital signals working with them. You may possibly want to become an electronics DIY builder of electronic kits as a start and then you will get the feel for these different types of digital signals overtime especially if you try to build some small digital circuitry on a breadboard. If this is too much for you I hope you are better retention than I do.
So, as I understand, when you maintain the digital signal format and only change it's bit or frequency rate (up sampling/down sampling), then the original signal integrity is preserved. Conversely and much less desirable, is when you change from one format to another (trans code), this is where I have read that undesirable artifacts are inherently introduced. I get that DSD by nature is not editable however, does trans coding from DSD to PCM and then back again (regardless of keeping the math equivalent) for editing purposes, not cause at least in theory some loss of quality?
Paul, you completely confused me on my understanding of how these systems work. I understood that the different ways of collecting the information of the sample, whatever the speed, to create a defining word was the difference in the systems. Your explanation seems to be at the other end after the particular word is defined. I guess i really don't get it.
PCM is a coded signal, ergo needs a "decoder" , in order to be decoded into a functional analog signal. Most CD-players come with a built-in DAC, able to decode the signal. You might very well call that a sort of "computer", as it requires "computing", in order to do this decoding. 😁
Cd players contain a microprocessor and usually a DSP that does a lot of stuff just getting the digital signal to the DAC. Display, working the transport, reading the table of contents, error correction, etc. Of course now you could get a better computer for $3.
First of all the outro was gangster😎😎. Secondly I have noticed a marked improvement in recent videos on several levels, including honesty, the quality of explanations, spoken with more confidence and more to the point with less bull💩. Is it just me?
It comes and goes. One thing you can always count on is a parochial, ugly American comment or joke regarding places he’s never heard of or can’t pronounce.
Class D amplifiers and DSD are not truly “Digital”. They work by handling a stream of electrical pulses. It is confusing and misleading to think these pulses are zeros and ones . They are not Binary Digits (Bits). PCM is truly digital as the zeros and ones represent numbers that are then processed by a computer on replay to give the analog signal. This is why DSD recordings cannot be edited without converting to PCM.
For years it's been 1st lacquer disc direct recording, then magnetic tape machines and finally digital. Technology is endless and I'm waiting for the day for a crazy "real analog" recording. Just a crazy thought I've had for a while since actual analog is really only live as we are speaking, singing or playing an instrument at that precise moment. I know this is a nutty statement but in this unbelievable world of technology you just never know what could pop up out of nowhere and blow everything up. Hey everyone can dream. I think..🤔
That was one of the best "Paul Explains" videos I have seen on this channel. Clear and informative--nicely done.
Thanks Paul very helpful video you're the only one I can understand exactly what you're saying
Explained the matter very well, Thanks to Paul Sir
Paul, for years now I’ve understood digital to be 1s and 0s. But this is the very first time I’d even thought of each digital device needing its own interpretation or language in how it utilizes those 1s or 0s. Thank you
Another gotcha probably then: those 1 and 0 are represented as voltage variations once the 1 and 0s are transported. It is not 1s and 0s coming out as some people sometimes seem to think.
I thank you for your well thought out explanation of these abbreviations. Digital continues to become part of today's audio . We need to educate ourselves so that we understand. 👍
I think this is the way I understand it now:
DSD and PDM is similar. The output consist of pulses that varies between 0 and 1, so the density of 1’s increase for high amplitude. The higher frequency of the pulses (sampling rate), the more precise sound.
PWM is a little different. The ratio between 0 and 1 is modulated within a cycle of the signal instead of using pulses.
I fail to see why one is better than the other. If high enough samplerate it will be good either way.
I would think PWM would be the easier to implement.
In many ways they all seem to be the same. A variable density of 1 filtered by a lowpass filter.
Am I missing something?
This grandpa knows how to teach. Thank you very much.
Do you call everyone 'grandpa' who is older than you? What would Mrs. Manners say?
@@andymill8552Oh Miss Manners would have a field day with plenty of things Paul says. Let’s call it a draw.
🙋♂️🤗THANKS PAUL FOR EXPLAINING FOR US COMMON PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND 🧐💚💚💚
Gotham is in Nottinghamshire, the Wiki page is an interesting read. By the way, we do know what a middle finger is in England 😉
Despite having traveled the world, Paul continues to make these parochial comments and jokes about places he’s never been or can’t pronounce. Apologies on behalf of America for the not infrequent cringy comments you’ll find here.
Yeah, because we've seen lots of American movies!
@@edd2771We are soooo sorry you are offended, poor little sensitive thing.
Grow a pair and let them thank us for even having a country.
@@pnichols6500 Not offended, just a bit embarrassed for him, so no need to apologize.
Excellent explanation! Thank you for sharing and God bless!
brilliant! you sir are a friend and an educator.
Awesome video as always Paul. It’s going straight in my hifi & audio playlist as I’ll never remember it all. Super interesting all the same… we certainly do use the middle finger sign language back in Blighty 😂
Hey Paul, Gotham (pronounced "goat-um" is a village near Nottingham (my home town). It was famed for its village idiots. Washington Irvine stole the analogy for New York politicians in Salmagundi. Years later, Batman writer Bill Finger pulled the name of a such-named business out of a New York telephone book, and the rest is history 😊
Gotham is a village on the outskirts of Nottingham. Daring the reign of King John the inhabitants were believed to be insane .They feigned insanity to avoid the King's men building a highway through the village and impose taxes( insanity was believed to be contagious at the time). The King and his men avoided the area for obvious reasons. It's believed that every citizen of Gotham was also an audiophile. 🤣
p.s. It's pronounced " Goat - um" around that part of the country.
Paul the following is more the true meaning why and how to pronounce Gotham While Gotham village is pronounced goat-em, stemming from "goat town", the pronunciation goth-am was adopted for Batman. The link with Nottinghamshire has only been acknowledged by Batman writers in recent years.
i get the whole bit rate and sampling rate having to do with loudness in the amplitude of the sinewave , but where does the musicality of all the different instruments come from?
I have been enjoying this channel. Vert informative. If I ever get some spare coins, I would love to buy some PS Audio Equipment.
It makes a lot of sense.Thank you.
Hi Paul thanks for the explanation. And the ability to play DSD through a low-pass filter is fascinating. But this glosses over one thing - that would result in a mono signal - how are two channels derived? Is it interleaved somehow?
You can also take the bits of PCM and add them together, weighted, and get sound out. If this is at a merely adequate sample rate you'll need more than a simple cap to get rid of the noise but at the root that's all a basic DAC is. You can convert the PCM to a one-bit converter but I'm still don't understand the advantage of storing a one-bit stream in its native format.
aaaah, so that’s how it works! Thanks Paul.
Ah ok, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard these formats explained in detail. I guess this is why PS Audio uses DSD (PDM) because of the much higher sampling rate and doesn’t require a computer to decode like PCM. Maybe the computer introduces “noise” in the process?
A useful primer. It helped me understand the difference between what the w, d, and c mean but all in terms of volume. I didn't get how the frequency is coded or decoded so more reading required. Or just press the button and listen.
The frequency is encoded in how quickly volume goes up and down.
The best way to understand PDM is playing Flappy Bird.
DSD is using 1 bit PDM. Class D amps are using PWM. Everything else (almost) in digital audio is using PCM. And all of it can run at speeds and resolution higher than human perception.
so Class D amps are digital amplifiers. Why people deny it? PWM is digital.
@@net_news Class D amplifiers are using transistors to digitally switch on/off current rather than regulate current as analog level. The benefit of switching transistors on/off like a light switch on your wall is that the transistor behavior is either close to near infinite resistance (near no loss in transistor) or near 0 Ohms (also near no loss in transistor). This very low loss in the transistors means very high power efficiency and ability to get a lot of power out of a relatively small amp not creating much heat. The problem with digital switching is of course you need to filter it to allow your speaker cones to move smoothly. The filtering is somewhat equivalent to how a DAC filters the output from digital jumps to analog in that you have to low pass filter the output using capacitors and inductors.
@@ThinkingBetter thank you so much for you answer (and your posts in general are always super interesting).
In your opinion, would you consider class-D amplifiers digital?
@@net_news Yes, class D is digital by the amp transistors being either on or off. A perfect class D amplifier will output an amplified analog version of the input signal but the internal operation is still digital.
@@net_news some people (who are super picky 😁) will argue that PWM is only digital if the rise/fall transitions are synchronised to a clock, so the pulse widths are discrete instead of continuously adjustable. Whatever your take, clock-synchronised PWM will sound horrible!
Hi Paul, you're wrong. I live in London, England and am well aware of what 'flipping the bird' means!
Although yes because of physical response time limitations, feeding a highspeed series of pulses will get averaged out into the changing analog signal. It will still be a very high level high frequency pulse. Unless specific low pass filtering is available for the tweeter, it has to dissipate an extreme amount of high frequency signal energy. Far more than in any analog signal.
This can all make sense if you work as an engineer or technician five days a week. You can lose sight of these different forms of digital signals working with them. You may possibly want to become an electronics DIY builder of electronic kits as a start and then you will get the feel for these different types of digital signals overtime especially if you try to build some small digital circuitry on a breadboard. If this is too much for you I hope you are better retention than I do.
So, as I understand, when you maintain the digital signal format and only change it's bit or frequency rate (up sampling/down sampling), then the original signal integrity is preserved. Conversely and much less desirable, is when you change from one format to another (trans code), this is where I have read that undesirable artifacts are inherently introduced. I get that DSD by nature is not editable however, does trans coding from DSD to PCM and then back again (regardless of keeping the math equivalent) for editing purposes, not cause at least in theory some loss of quality?
Oh yes - "people in England" do understand what that (seemingly) inadvertent gesture means.
Paul, you completely confused me on my understanding of how these systems work. I understood that the different ways of collecting the information of the sample, whatever the speed, to create a defining word was the difference in the systems. Your explanation seems to be at the other end after the particular word is defined. I guess i really don't get it.
And what Equalizer is doing in pcm and etc
PCM doesn't require a computer. How do you think CD players work?
PCM is a coded signal, ergo needs a "decoder" , in order to be decoded into a functional analog signal. Most CD-players come with a built-in DAC, able to decode the signal. You might very well call that a sort of "computer", as it requires "computing", in order to do this decoding. 😁
a DAC is a computer my friend
Cd players contain a microprocessor and usually a DSP that does a lot of stuff just getting the digital signal to the DAC. Display, working the transport, reading the table of contents, error correction, etc. Of course now you could get a better computer for $3.
It's pronounced Go-Tam in the UK
First of all the outro was gangster😎😎. Secondly I have noticed a marked improvement in recent videos on several levels, including honesty, the quality of explanations, spoken with more confidence and more to the point with less bull💩. Is it just me?
It comes and goes. One thing you can always count on is a parochial, ugly American comment or joke regarding places he’s never heard of or can’t pronounce.
Class D amplifiers and DSD are not truly “Digital”. They work by handling a stream of electrical pulses. It is confusing and misleading to think these pulses are zeros and ones . They are not Binary Digits (Bits). PCM is truly digital as the zeros and ones represent numbers that are then processed by a computer on replay to give the analog signal. This is why DSD recordings cannot be edited without converting to PCM.
For years it's been 1st lacquer disc direct recording, then magnetic tape machines and finally digital. Technology is endless and I'm waiting for the day for a crazy "real analog" recording. Just a crazy thought I've had for a while since actual analog is really only live as we are speaking, singing or playing an instrument at that precise moment. I know this is a nutty statement but in this unbelievable world of technology you just never know what could pop up out of nowhere and blow everything up. Hey everyone can dream. I think..🤔
3rd! Bronze!
FIRST!!!!