Audibility & Preference of DA Overload Associated with True Peak : Investigation of claims made against overload prevention

Sammanfattning: The conversion of audio from the digital to analog domain has the potential to result in distortion due to converter overload. This occurs because some peaks in the signal cannot be defined digitally and only become problematic during the conversion into the analog domain, exceeding the level that can be represented by the converter, causing it to overload. Although True Peak limiting and metering can prevent and monitor this issue, some professional mastering engineers choose not to do so. The study tested claims made against overload prevention, including the adequacy of headroom in modern D/A converters and the inaudibility of the distortion caused by overload. Preference was also added to the audibility claim. Measurements show that there is not enough headroom in modern D/A converters to avoid overload, but the distortion created by overload is generally inaudible in an uncompressed WAVE format hard rock song. Additionally, there is no clear preference. The measurements found that overload only occurs when the device's volume is raised to its maximum output.