First of all, things above 22kHz aren't picked up by ordinary mics... Even the ultra-high-end Neumann U87Ai only claims 20-20kHz frequency response (http://www.neumann.com/mics/u87ai.htm)
Secondly, most speakers won't crank out those high frequencies without a severe falloff in response: the high-end Genelec 1038A triamped monitor gets you 33-20k Hz (-3dB). (http://www.genelec.com/products/1038a/1038a.htm)
Also not true. Unless there is a low-pass filter to prevent sending higher-frequency signal to the tweeters, most amplifiers, speaker wire, and drivers will gladly play sounds upwards of 100KHz. Whether it is necessarily FLAT is another story, as most people don't optimize (or even measure) flatness above 20k.
The best reason for Super CD (or DVD or whatever) is higher bit depth, NOT higher sampling rate; going from 16/44.1 (CD quality) to 24/44.1 takes just 50% more space, for nontrivially better quality, while going from 16/44.1 to 16/88.2 brings minimal benefit at a 100% space penalty.
This is probably true, except that "minimal" may be too harsh a term. Have YOU ever done a careful comparison between a 16/44.1 recording and a 16/88.2 recording? (I have!) On a somewhat-related note, it is remarkably interesting what effect a more accurate clock signal has on the quality of a 44.1KHz recording. The human ear can distinguish playback when the timing of these samples being played back varies by as little as 10^-10 seconds!
The reality is that the human ear's ability to differentiate is remarkably more subtle and complex than the market (and marketeers) would have you believe.
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Far from true. The mikes used in this paper, "There's life above 20 KHz!", certainly were capable of this.
Secondly, most speakers won't crank out those high frequencies without a severe falloff in response: the high-end Genelec 1038A triamped monitor gets you 33-20k Hz (-3dB). (http://www.genelec.com/products/1038a/1038a.htm)
Also not true. Unless there is a low-pass filter to prevent sending higher-frequency signal to the tweeters, most amplifiers, speaker wire, and drivers will gladly play sounds upwards of 100KHz. Whether it is necessarily FLAT is another story, as most people don't optimize (or even measure) flatness above 20k.
The best reason for Super CD (or DVD or whatever) is higher bit depth, NOT higher sampling rate; going from 16/44.1 (CD quality) to 24/44.1 takes just 50% more space, for nontrivially better quality, while going from 16/44.1 to 16/88.2 brings minimal benefit at a 100% space penalty.
This is probably true, except that "minimal" may be too harsh a term. Have YOU ever done a careful comparison between a 16/44.1 recording and a 16/88.2 recording? (I have!) On a somewhat-related note, it is remarkably interesting what effect a more accurate clock signal has on the quality of a 44.1KHz recording. The human ear can distinguish playback when the timing of these samples being played back varies by as little as 10^-10 seconds!
The reality is that the human ear's ability to differentiate is remarkably more subtle and complex than the market (and marketeers) would have you believe.