Just coming back to this now… And didn’t get very far I’m afraid.
What is the source audio and where does it originate? If the source file is already a 16bit 44.1kHz pcm audio file then it’s not an ideal test file for evaluating the AD IMHO. I do not know how well any theories back up my experiences, but IME the first generation of AD that occurs is the most defining conversion stage, and all conversions after that are less significant/defining…
ideally one would need to have a hiqh quality analog source for AD conversion quality tests. But the problem would then become, how do we evaluate the results in a way that we can share across the www? We cannot exactly send each other analog audio can we…?
I believe this is why evaluating AD conversion is such a mess on the interwebs… We are trying to discuss transitions from one world to another, but can only demonstrate the effects from one side…