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From: ed@mtxinu.UUCP (Ed Gould)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: CD Reflections - 44.1k?
Message-ID: <277@mtxinu.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 29-Jan-85 13:14:21 EST
Article-I.D.: mtxinu.277
Posted: Tue Jan 29 13:14:21 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Feb-85 21:22:34 EST
References: <15100001@hpfcmp.UUCP> <3411@mit-eddie.UUCP> <1420@hplabs.UUCP> <755@clyde.UUCP> <258@petrus.UUCP>, Re: CD Reflections - 44.1k? Tue, 29-Jan-85 13:14:21 EST
Organization: mt Xinu, Berkeley, CA
Lines: 34

> 	"The answer seems to be that the theory that generated that
> 	theorem wasn't completely correct. Maybe the Nyquist theorem
> 	shouldn't be regarded as gospel, either."
> 
> The answer *in fact* is that when you "studied" information theory you
> didn;t learn anything, and you've apparently spent the last dozen years
> polishing your ignorance while wholesaling your groundless opinions.

As various people have pointed out, some necely, others not, my
recollection of the Shannon theorem was faulty.  However, what I was
really remembering, and this recollection is *not* faulty, was that
there were practicing professionals in the communications business who
*believed* that one couldn't stuff more than k bits per second through
a k Hz channel (yes, I mean bits, not baud).

My point with the Nyquist theorem is that even though it is correct (I
have no reason to disbelieve the result itself), peoples' understanding
of what it *means* shouldn't be taken as absolute.  If I can hear the
difference between a 44 kHz sample and a 50 kHz sample, then Nyquist or
no, the fact is that the music comes out different.  Since it's the
music I care about, not the theory that makes for "good enough"
designs, I'll give up this discussion with a saying I saw some years
back:  "If 'good enough' were really good enough, there wouldn't be any
need to convince anyone."

(I couldn't resist a bit of vilification.  Someone pointed out in this
voluminous discussion that the Nyquist theorem holds for *perfect*
samples.  Since 16 bits [or 14 as some systems use] isn't perfect [it
might be "close enough"], maybe we shouldn't assume that the theorem is
gospel, after all!)

-- 
Ed Gould		    mt Xinu, 739 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA  94710  USA
{ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed   +1 415 644 0146