Bit Depth, Hi-Res and Digital Volume: What the Numbers Actually Change, and Where Resolution Is Really Lost

A two-page guide that separates four things often muddled together: bit depth, sample rate, "hi-res" and digital volume control. It explains how bit depth sets the noise floor (about 6 dB per bit), how sample rate sets bandwidth, where resolution is genuinely lost when volume is lowered in software, and how much digital attenuation 16-bit and 24-bit output paths can take. It also shows how a frequency spectrum reveals whether a "hi-res" file contains anything above CD bandwidth, and why an audible difference should be confirmed with a blind test. Two free tools from The Audio Stuff cover the guide: the Bit Depth Calculator for digital volume loss, and the FLAC & Hi-Res Audio Checker for spectrum analysis. More free browser-based audio tools: theaudiostuff.com/tools/.