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Bhaveshpa

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32-bit does not produce 'more accurate' sounds, it does provides a greater dynamic range above the noise threshold though. I believe that 32-bit files are also usually built using floating-point encoding rather than the fixed-point (integers) used for 16 and 24 bit formats, but I could be wrong there. Whatever, unless you are listening to something that needs to be played back louder than a jumbo jet on take-off, you won't need more dynamic range than 24-bit provides. I believe internally PA's audio engine uses 64-bit floating point arithmetic, but I could also be completely wrong there too. These are questions for Max really.

Out here in the real world, you won't hear any difference between 24-bit and 32-bit output on a phone, and if you do perceive a difference then it's more than like down to small changes in volume rather than underlying audio accuracy. 

https://www.sounddevices.com/32-bit-float-files-explained/ 

Andre

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I think the main point is that for equipment that supposedly can deal with 32bit, why not use it. Doesn't matter if its a god tier thing or a measly phone, if it says it can deal with it then give it. It does fall perfectly in line with Poweramp main thing which is playback of local files as good as it can.

Although I believe the main difference we can feel between 24 and 32bit files comes from the increased bitrate, it would still be a very nice thing to have altogether.

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30 minutes ago, ScarletNeko said:

Although I believe the main difference we can feel between 24 and 32bit files comes from the increased bitrate,

There is no difference it bit rate (that is frequency). There is a different in bit depth though.

24-bit can resolve 16,777,215 separate volume steps between silence and the loudest noise (yeah, I know it's a +/- sine wave, and is algorithmic rather than linear, but in general terms). I challenge anyone to hear a discernible difference if you raise the volume level by one on a scale of zero to 16 million! 32-bit storage can resolve 4 billion positive integers - but 32-bit float gives somewhere in the region of 1038 which is just crazy-talk in terms of discrete sound levels.

However that's not to say that it wouldn't be nice if the hardware/firmware combination (in this case Xiaomi and MIUI I believe?) supported 32-bit output throughout an audio chain. My cheap A-series Samsung does via its built-in headset socket if to select a frequency of 284kHz for example, although there's no audible difference to my ears at least. But as I said, earlier, this would be down to @maxmp to provide more detail.

Andre

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If you encode something at a said sample rate at 24bit and another one at 32bit, the second one will have a higher bitrate, same goes for other depths as well like 16 or 8 (which eill have less of course) or 64 (which will be even higher), the sample rate is the same but the bitrate will vary. And higher bitrates do a world of difference, though outside of testing, the source file has to have this high bitrate to start with of course.

Ever since I got this phone which says it can do 32bit (including on the audio policy file, I guess at least) but Poweramp hard locks to 24 no matter what, I've been thinking about that. And to me there is something different about the stock player, it's hard to explain but something just feels different, it's a very precise change but you can easily find it once you spend enough time getting used to it, and it only happens with 32bit files and DSD streams.

This might be getting annoying but I still think it's less about if it's "right or wrong" and more about using all the supposed capabilities of the hardware.

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As I mentioned earlier, it comes down to the hardware and what the manufacturer has permitted as far as bit depth and sample rate combinations go. I have a digital audio player from iBasso (DX160), and it can and does play 32/192kHz direct using Poweramp. Other devices that cannot play these have been restricted by their firmware. If you feel this should be addressed, you can try to get an answer directly from the manufacturer of your device. Ultimately they are holding the cards here. The quad DAC from LG sounds good (I have a G8thinQ) but it pales in comparison to the DAP that was specifically designed as an audio player.

Even if you do get the decoding resolved, you are still at the mercy of the headphone amplifier in your device as well. I doubt most have anything more than 120dB of headroom there, so again the dynamic range offered by 32bit processing is lost once you get past the DSP stage. This will only be a benefit if you are bypassing the headphone and DAC stages in your device and connecting by USB to a better external DAC/amp combination. At which point Poweramp will likely be able to give you the 32bit capability again, assuming the DAC supports that and reports it back to Poweramp when connected.

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