Filter reconstruction and program material characteristics mitigating word length loss in digital signal processing-based compensation curves used for playback of analog recordings

Abstract

Renewed consumer interest in pre-digital recordings, such as vinyl records, has spurred efforts to implement playback emphasis compensation in the digital domain. This facilitates realizing tighter design objectives with less effort than required with practical analog circuitry. A common assumption regarding a drawback to this approach, namely bass resolution loss (word length truncation) of up to approximately seven bits during digital de-emphasis of recorded program material, ignores the reconstructive properties of compensation filtering and the characteristics of typical program material. An analysis of the problem is presented, as well as examples showing a typical resolution loss of zero to one bits. The worst case resolution loss, which is unlikely to be encountered with music, is approximately three bits.