AUDIO FORMAT
PCM 32-bit / 384 kHz (Reference Mastering)
Specifications
| Family | PCM |
|---|---|
| Bit depth | 32 |
| Sample rate | 384,000 Hz |
| Bit rate | 24.576 Mbps stereo |
| Lossless? | yes |
| Extensions | .flac, .wav |
| Specification | — |
| Developer | industry standard |
Overview
32-bit / 384 kHz PCM — the upper end of consumer PCM delivery. Bandwidth covers 20 Hz – 192 kHz; the 32-bit depth is largely a mastering-engineer convenience for headroom-without-thinking (the underlying signal is still ~24-bit-equivalent SNR limited by the analog stages of any DAC).
Sampler frequency is well outside the human hearing range (>96 kHz at -3 dB) so the audible benefit in playback is essentially zero versus 24/192. Useful when the source material is mastered at this rate and you want bit-exact passthrough.
Supported by the reference portable DAP and the desktop reference DAC.
Typical use cases
- DSP intermediate format
- DAC upsampling target