Editing Audiophile (section)

=== Sound sources ===
Audiophiles play music from a variety of sources including [[phonograph record]]s, [[compact disc]]s (CDs), and [[audio file format|digital audio file]]s that are either uncompressed or are [[lossless compression|losslessly compressed]], such as [[FLAC]], [[Direct Stream Digital|DSD]], [[Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless]] and [[Apple Lossless]] (ALAC), in contrast to [[Data compression#Lossy audio compression|lossy compression]], such as in [[MP3]] encoding. From the early 1990s, CDs were the most common source of high-quality music. Nevertheless, [[Phonograph#Turntable technology|turntables]], tonearms, and [[magnetic cartridge]]s are still used, despite the difficulties of keeping records free from dust and the delicate set-up associated with turntables.

The 44.1&nbsp;kHz [[sampling rate]] of the CD format, in theory, restricts CD information losses to above the theoretical [[Nyquist limit|upper-frequency limit]] of [[human hearing]] – 20&nbsp;kHz.  Nonetheless, newer formats such as FLAC, ALAC, [[DVD-Audio]] and [[Super Audio CD|Super Audio Compact Disc]] (SACD) allow for sampling rates of 88.2&nbsp;kHz, 96&nbsp;kHz or even 192&nbsp;kHz. Higher sample rates allow fewer restrictions on filter choices in playback components, and some audiophiles upsample from the source rate to higher rates to achieve different filter properties.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Robjohns|first1=Hugh|title= MQA Time-domain Accuracy & Digital Audio Quality|url= https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mqa-time-domain-accuracy-digital-audio-quality|website=soundonsound.com|date=August 2016|publisher= Sound On Sound|archive-date=10 March 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230310175409/https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mqa-time-domain-accuracy-digital-audio-quality|url-status=live}}</ref>

CD audio signals are encoded in 16-bit values. Higher-definition consumer formats such as [[High Definition Compatible Digital|HDCD]]-encoded CDs, DVD-Audio, and SA-CD contain 20-bit, 24-bit and even 32-bit audio streams. With more bits, more [[dynamic range]] is possible; 20-bit dynamic range is theoretically 120&nbsp;dB—the limit of most consumer electronic playback equipment.<ref name="HuberRunstein2005">{{cite book |title=Modern Recording Techniques, Sixth Edition |last=Huber |first=David Miles |author2=Robert E. Runstein |year=2005 |publisher=Focal Press |isbn=0-240-80625-5 |pages=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mounFTvtYOQC }}</ref>

SACDs and DVD-Audio have up to 5.1 to 6.1 surround sound.  Although both high-res optical formats have failed, there has been a resurgence in high-res digital files.  SACD can be stored as a DSD file, and DVD-Audio can be stored as an FLAC or ALAC file.  FLAC is the most widely used digital format for high-res with up to 8 channels, a maximum depth of 32-bit, and 655,350&nbsp;Hz sampling rate.  Uncompressed formats such as WAV and AIFF files can store audio CDs without compression.