Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] virtual sampler
From: xk (xk_AT_myrealbox.com)
Date: Fri Mar 22 2002 - 01:51:55 EET
> Actually, I think floats offer less precision than fixed point math.
> if you think about it, a float has only 23 bits for a real value while
> fixed point uses the full 32 ones. This is because the kind of increment
range (1/frequency) is known and can be easily controlled (unlike other
applications where fixed point can be really annoying) . Natively, the fpu
is also slower than than working with integer math. And this is in any
architecture that i can think of. MMX helps a lot for moving the data around
and calculating in 64bits without the worry of some overflow.
> And with the upcoming of 64bits systems, i see using fixed point even more
worth it.
From what I know float multiplies at least 3 times that integer multiply
since the days of good old Pentium I.
23 bits is more than enough precision for digital audio, so this is not an
issue.
And with floats you don't have to wory about overflows and you can finally
exceed clipping range in a chain of plugins and just put a limiter at the
end. This is a real time saver.
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