s/pdif 20 bit or 24bit?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

hello,

i saw some things on the net that says s/pdif is 20bits of audio with
the other 4 bits used for data information.

is this true, or can you get a full 24 bits of audio like you can with
aes/ebu?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1124223176.009998.73250@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> genericaudioperson@hotmail.com writes:

> i saw some things on the net that says s/pdif is 20bits of audio with
> the other 4 bits used for data information.
>
> is this true, or can you get a full 24 bits of audio like you can with
> aes/ebu?

This is a minor can of worms, but the answer is easy - yes, people do
it every day.

S/PDIF (actually it's IEC version of the specification) doesn't say
how many bits are for audio data, so sending 24-bit audio through it
is perfectly kosher. AES/EBU (and it's IEC version) specifies 20 bits
for audio, but people use four other bits (reserved for some things
that nobody really needs) for audio.

I'd give you the IEC spec numbers in case you wanted to buy them
(there are no free copies on the net that I've been able to find) but
all I can remember is IEC-958. I think there's two more digits in
front of the number now, and I can't remember which (AES/EBU and
S/PDIF) is Type 1 and which is Type 2.


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