dCS 974 User Manual

Manual for Software Version 1.0x

dCS Ltd

May 2001

Noise shaping on its own is not perfect. It relies on a small amount of noise in the input signal to generate the frequency shaped correction signal, and if there is very low noise in the input signal, this mechanism can break down. In reality, such a situation can only occur with test signals, digitally generated signals31, or silences introduced in editing. If one of these situations may arise, any chance of a problem can be completely removed by adding a dither signal as well as using noise shaping. The noise shaping shapes the dither in the dCS 974 architecture. If Noise Shaped Triangular dither is used, then there is very little weighted degradation in the final signal, although the quite high level of total noise power now present means that the process should be carried out after major editing.

There is another option not supported by the dCS 974 – generate the dither independently of the signal and frequency shape it prior to addition, but do not add it in an error shaping loop. This seems to dCS to combine the worst of all worlds – the high noise floor in the 0 - 6kHz area of straight dither, and the high total noise of noise shaping. However, some people use it.

What does it look like?

Figure 48 gives the spectra of 16 bit truncated 44.1 kS/s signals with a –90dB0 sine present, for two dither only signals (Top Hat, Noise Shaped Triangular), a 10th order noise shaped32 signal, and a 10th order noise shaped signal with added Noise Shaped Triangular dither. The equivalent simply truncated spectrum is shown in Figure 49, separately because it is so revolting. In it, we can see that at the signal level shown (-90dB0) error power from the quantising/truncation is beginning to pile into the fundamental, which is showing an amplitude error of +1.3dB. This would show up on a conventional linearity plot, although the sign of the error could be either way.

31for example, from synthesisers

32for comparison with the table, 10th and 9th order noise shaping are very similar.

Manual part no: DOC1241121A1

Page 106

Document No: OS-MA-A0124-112.1A1

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