@flipflop Thanks for getting back to me. Wrt HA, I would not expect you to go through the entire site, but a quick search through the Listening Tests section should yield some good results:
https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/board,40.0.html
Masking is a funny, but real thing... The link to Ethan's test files should give you a good idea of level of masking if you check them out.
As mentioned, if you have JRiver Media Center, you can easily and quickly test your audibility threshold with the bit depth simulator:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74999.0
Matt, who is one of the principals writing the software did better than I did at 13 bits, but only if he turned the volume up (cheating
but, as folks will find out. somewhere between 12 bits and 13 bits, under "normal" or "reference" level listening conditions I mentioned in my previous posts, is typically the limit. Once an (any) artefact is below -80 dBFS, for most folks it is simply inaudible... regardless of the type of artefact...
One more point to ponder for folks performing audibility testing in a home listening environment using speakers, which also has a noise masker or noise floor. For my room it measures about 45 dB SPL broadband noise with a rise at the low frequencies. If my critical listening level is 83 dB SPL, at what level can I hear below the noise floor of my room before the noise masks the signal?