Port 16 bit on S2 Amazon

Ultra HD is 24-bit according to https://support.sonos.com/en-us/services/amazon-music

What specific content are you trying? And what makes you think it is 16-bit?

My digital pre-amp shows data rate and bits per input. Shows sources other than Sonos go to 24/48 for example then back to 16/44.1.

Sonos never changes from 16/44.1…. Nor can you here any difference.

My content was Amazon Ultra HD and Qobuz….thinking my Port is to old??

There’s only one version/generation of the Sonos Port? I appear to be getting 24-bit on the Sonos Port here (called ’Media Port’ in my setup), that’s according to the badge on the ‘Now Playing’ screen in the S2 App. See attached.

Perhaps see this earlier thread about the Sonos Port’s S/PDIF (coax) audio output as it looks like it’s limited to 24-bit/44.1kHz …

So you perhaps may find that the audio tracks from Amazon with higher sample rates are maybe ‘falling back’ to 16-bit/44.1kHz (not that I would personally be able to hear the difference).

It all sounds the same in a blind test, so if you have made a split system for yourself by doing the above move to S2 for just more bits, you have shortchanged yourself. IMO.

I do see the badges like in the attachment….thank you.

I remember reading a thread somewhere that Ports produced before 2017?.. where not 24 bit. Can’t find it now though. I also do not remember when I purchased mine. 

I have done a number of A B compares between 16 and 24 bit and there are subtle changes in imagery and depth. I cannot hear any difference in sound for sample rates over 44.1/48 though.

Thanks for your input.

Internally, SONOS products have been 24bit since inception in 2005.

Are you then suggesting that it does not matter if S1 or S2 is in use? Even in theory?

In well conducted blind testing there is no difference between 16 and 24 bit streams. In terms of hardware processing, 24 bits is less likely to introduce unfortunate artifacts. During a test, once it becomes known that ‘A’ is 24 bit and ‘B’ is 16 bit, ‘A’ always sounds better. SONOS has used 24 bit because some potential nasty sounding internal math/hardware issues are easier to deal with.

Studios use 24/192 or higher in order to minimize artifacts introduced during extensive pre release processing. For final distribution there is no need to go beyond 16/44.1. 16/48 would be slightly more convenient because it better aligns with professional standards, but in 1980’s technology 44.1 was the physical limit for the CD format. A very significant consideration was that Beethoven’s 9th Symphony would fit on one side of a CD. 
 

Yes, the 24/96 releases sometimes sound better, but it’s because of better pre release processing, rather than bits. Commercial releases are highly processed so that they sound better out on a noisy street or in a car. This is where music is sold. This processing is not appreciated by ‘us’ in a quiet home environment on good equipment, but there are fewer of ‘us’ than ‘them’. Basically, we are paying more to have less studio processing.

With respect to the music services, we don’t know if the 24 bit stream actually originated from a 24 bit master. At best, up converting a 16/44.1 source, then sending it out as a 24 bit stream accomplishes nothing for the audio team, but it allows the marketing team to sell the same recording again.

Would this apply if the hardware being used was a Port, regardless of whether that Port was working in S1 or S2? 

What does a Port in S2 actually do, that is more or different than what the same Port would have done in S1? Leaving aside the question of whether what more it does in S2 translates into a difference that can be picked in a. blind test.