What's the use of 20 and 24 bit DACs with CDs?

I think that you guys misunderstood Sugar. If i'm reading him right and the fact that he agreed with Craig, he was trying to say that total performance as compared to basic functionality is a key factor. That is why someone would want to "upgrade" rather than stay with something that "works". This is just a guess, but i don't think that he was advocating taking the cheap or generic route. I do however think that he ( along with I and many others ) are great fans of products that offer big bang for the buck. Sean
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I've owned the ARC DAC 2, then changed and used the Perpetual Technologies P-1A, P-3A combination and it sounded much more open and revealing. I had Dan Wright do a level I modification to the P-3A and I felt it was truly worth the money. I've since sold them to purchase and try other DACs. I then purchased an EVS M-2 (which was nice, but not as nice at the Perpetual gear. Ric was nice enough to allow me to return it (great person). Recently I've purchased the new Kora Hermes 24/192. It is a tube DAC and I've replaced the 2 tubes with the Seimens NOS E88CCA pair and the sound is as wonderfully transparent and anything I've tried to date. I know that many new digital formats are right around the corner, but until the industry cuts us audiophile a break and settles on one format (which will never happen), I think I've found my DAC.....

But like everything....that's just my opinion!

Good luck in your search.

Settle down boys and girls. I was only posting how some people think, not me; ie, why buy a Turbo 24 bit when a 16 bit produces sound. The 4 cylinder people buy Bose.

I remember when Primare first came out with the 24 bit CD player. The dealer sure made a big deal about it. I think his words were "higher resolution" and "more detail."

At the time it made sense to me. I thought if a video source can benefit from a line doubler which enhances the video resolution, then a faster processor that translates bits into audio signals should benefit the quality of the sound as well by enhancing the audio resolution.

Do we all hear the "higher resolution" benefitted by having more bits? If not, then how do we harness the full potential of high resolution CD players? That's what I want to know.