Well, properly dithered, a -24 dBFS sine wave at 12 bit will sound just fine, although the noise floor will be noticeable.
But that's not really my point, rather it is that in these days of 24 bit DACs, 12 bit is often classed as decidedly "lo-fi". But properly managed, it can sound fine, as many older digital instruments prove. I'm not suggesting that they sound better than modern systems, just saying that a 12 bit DAC could sound fine in 1983, and it can in 2020 too if needed.
