DIY 24bit Mic level A/D -> SPDIF out?

[scott wurcer]

I didn't find much seaching around (just a well known one based on some Cirrus chips). I was dismayed to find most low cost portable field recorders use 92-96 dB max dynamic range cheap (24bit?) A/D's. I would like to be more lazy about setting input level and worrying about wind noise and use post processing on the files. Many mics routinely do >110dB DR. Battery power a must.

Another question - SPDIF has 24 spaces for bits but I've come across devices that only take 16 of them. This was a long time ago, do most devices now recognize them? Forgive my ignorance, this digital stuff is not my game

[s_volkovoy]

96dB is aproximaly 16bit, 24bit depth teoreticaly can achieve 144dB, but it is very hard to do(usualy 6-4LSBs is noise).
SPDIF can transmitt both 16 and 24 bits per frame!! if you have 16 bit from 24 maybe your recording system is limited to 16.