Pros & Cons Recording 16 bit Verses 24 bit; 44.1k verses

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 3:04 pm

I assume there have been ample discussions of this in the past, but I cannot find any applicable threads to read using the search feature of this forum. Can anyone point me to these discussions?

If for whatever reason the discussion gets restarted here, these are my thoughts/assumptions:

I assume that higher resolution means better sound quality.

I disseminate my music on CD(16 bit/44.1k)/mp3(close to 16 bit/44.1k sound quality wise).

Much of my music uses samples of the Native Instrument VSTi which I assume are mostly at 16bit/44.1k.

If I record at 24/96, I assume there will be a loss in quality when I dither back down to 16/44.

I assume that recording at 24/96 is a greater cpu strain and I know it takes more disc space (which is not a problem) which means more throughput needed from the hard drive (which I assume could be a problem). Overall I assume more computing power is needed.

I don't know how A/D D/A operates under these circumstances i.e. will I have more/less latency/dropouts/etc with my VSTis using my Lynx L22 card.

All and all, like the post says, I was wondering about the Pros & Cons of Recording at 16 bit Verses 24 bit and 44.1k verses 96k

BTW, I run a PC P4 3ghz, 2 gigs ram, Cubase SX2, Lynx L22 card.

Cheers,
John

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 4:15 pm

Hello!

Recording at 24bit will yield a wider dynamic range (more headroom). often helpful when recording sources which have a highly variable dynamic range (vocals, drums etc) Alwaz dither to 16bit, during mixdown.

Sample rates are/were highly debated. I stick to 44.1@24 and am quite happy. Higher sampling rates usually results to a lower operational latency but higher CPU strain. Dropouts are mostly to do with CPU overloads. The system is taxed at higher sampling frequencies. Some software software audio processors are also said to perform better at higher samplerates.

Cheers!

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 4:51 pm

The number of stair steps in 24 bit recording is much greater than 16 bit

16 bit: 216 = 65,536 steps

24 bit: 224 = 16,777,216 steps

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 4:53 pm

Correction: That is 2 raised to 16 and 24. For some reason the subscript didn’t transfer.

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 7:36 pm

I would recommend keeping sessions at 24/48 even if the final destination of your recordings is 16/44.1

SIDHU is correct about the extended dynamic range 24bit affords you.

It is much better to dither/downsample from higher bit rates and resolutions than to upsample.

24/48 is ok. I only use 24/96 on solo classical sessions when I can afford the 2x file size of 96k tracks.

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 3:44 am

Have a look at this thread (which was very recent) for a few opinions.

http://www.recording.org/ftopict-41737.html

This topic sponsored by: