J-Pop: How Low-bit Can You Go?

In a previous article where I explored Japanese pop singers who sound like robots I mentioned Aira Mitsuki having a strangely trashed sound which has little to do with poor quality Youtube sound: On further listening I’m sure what’s going on is bit-reduction, sometimes called bit-decimation where hi-fidelity sound, meaning 16 bit audio or higher, is processed down 8 bits of audio info. A bit (ahem) like vintage computer games with only 256 colors.