Should I record in 16 or 24 bit?

cloudstrife · Post by **cloudstrife** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:29 pm

I know that the standard format for CD audio is 16 bit, 44 kHz.
My audio interface (Toneport UX2) lets me choose 24 bit and 48 kHz. Should I record in 24 bit/48 kHz,
since I'll probably have to convert it back to 16 bit when rendering the audio?

Will there be any audible difference when recording in 24 bit/48 kHz?

Thanks in advance!

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:38 pm

24 bit is better.

48 KHz will sound better until you have to convert to 44.1. Then you'll probably be worse off, as that's quite a difficult conversion process... If you can record at 88.2 or 196, that'll improve things, though at the expense of disk space, memory and CPU requirements.

I sometimes use 24 bit as I feel that does make a difference, but I never use higher than 44.1. Not that I can't tell a difference, just that... I don't.

Hope this helps!

synnack · Post by **synnack** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:42 pm

cloudstrife wrote:I know that the standard format for CD audio is 16 bit, 44 kHz.
My audio interface (Toneport UX2) lets me choose 24 bit and 48 kHz. Should I record in 24 bit/48 kHz,
since I'll probably have to convert it back to 16 bit when rendering the audio?

Will there be any audible difference when recording in 24 bit/48 kHz?

Thanks in advance!

Keep in mind that the higher the bit rate, the larger the file size. If hard drive space is an issue, go lower.

zeepster · Post by **zeepster** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:53 pm

You know, i know 24bit is better than 16bit, and i've been producing many years. But i never work in 24, only 16. Not for any particular reason really, i just never found the need to require a better quality for dance tracks..

cloudstrife · Post by **cloudstrife** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:02 pm

I wonder if recording in 24 bit will make any difference in the end.
It might sound better in the .wav format, but when I render audio,
I convert it to 16 bit as that's the standard CD audio format.

Still, I'm reading an interesting book about digital mixing
and the author recommends to use 24 or 32 bit if possible,
even if you'll end up converting it to a 16 bit file.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:28 pm

24bit, always.

zeepster · Post by **zeepster** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:31 pm

Does 24 have any benefits with regards to headroom?

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:11 am

Well, kind of. It's more a benefit in terms of noisefloor though. So you could record at lower levels without worrying about bringing up the noisefloor as much later on, and thus it nets you some headroom in use I suppose.

Only 32 bit float files have for all intents unlimited headroom though, there's still an upper limiter that you need to watch out for with 24 bit files.

cloudstrife · Post by **cloudstrife** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:43 pm

So specifically, how does it make an audible difference since
most audio gets finally converted to CD-compatible 16 bit?

I also heard that 24/32 bit are more resistant to clipping, is that true?

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:06 pm

cloudstrife wrote:I also heard that 24/32 bit are more resistant to clipping, is that true?

Can't see how that would be. The wave still moves between -1 and 1, the bit depth is just how many steps are in between, so to speak.

BassTooth · Post by **BassTooth** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:56 pm

tempus3r wrote:
cloudstrife wrote:I know that the standard format for CD audio is 16 bit, 44 kHz.
My audio interface (Toneport UX2) lets me choose 24 bit and 48 kHz. Should I record in 24 bit/48 kHz,
since I'll probably have to convert it back to 16 bit when rendering the audio?

Will there be any audible difference when recording in 24 bit/48 kHz?

Thanks in advance!
Keep in mind that the higher the bit rate, the larger the file size. If hard drive space is an issue, go lower.

+1

why bother? if all your meticulously crafted mixes are gonna get mixed down into 128kMP3 form and listened to on some kid's Ipod earbuds,(not even CD quality,44.1khz/16bit)why bother?

not to mention compressing the living daylights out of it, to get it to sound as loud as all the shit on the radio.

abletonian · Post by **abletonian** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:38 pm

there is no problem that you can fix if you cant fix it in the mix.

fück bitrate! i still bang on c64 snes and other rom tunes.

konichiwa bytchez!

(i b gangsta)

laird · Post by **laird** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:53 pm

16 bit: you better record close to 0dB as you can, or you'll end up with bad signal/noise or with de-facto 12-bit files or other ugly artifacts. But don't clip.

24bit: don't worry about peaks, in fact, record at levels that are garunteed not to clip and feel safe knowing you've got extra amount of wiggle room in the detail area should you need to boost volumes later.

going above 44.1kHz: hmmm, you better be sure your sample rate conversion algorithm is not adding artifacts, making your recording sound WORSE while increasing file size & CPU load. in fact, why not just stick with 44.1 kHz?

cloudstrife · Post by **cloudstrife** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:03 pm

laird wrote:16 bit: you better record close to 0dB as you can, or you'll end up with bad signal/noise or with de-facto 12-bit files or other ugly artifacts. But don't clip.

24bit: don't worry about peaks, in fact, record at levels that are garunteed not to clip and feel safe knowing you've got extra amount of wiggle room in the detail area should you need to boost volumes later.

going above 44.1kHz: hmmm, you better be sure your sample rate conversion algorithm is not adding artifacts, making your recording sound WORSE while increasing file size & CPU load. in fact, why not just stick with 44.1 kHz?

Thanks!

Yhtomit · Post by **Yhtomit** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:34 pm

24bit, 44khz here. Always have been. No need to change

Should I record in 16 or 24 bit?

Should I record in 16 or 24 bit?

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Re: Should I record in 16 or 24 bit?