recording quality

[xoRockstarxo]

Hi guyz....
i would like to ask for sum advice.
when recording vocalz and guitar wat's the best format example like:

(wav , mono , 8bit)

. wat should i save it in ?

and the same for recording guitar.

thnx Bruce

[Kevin Deschwazi]

You might get a few different opinions on this but here's what I do:

Record and mix all sources at 44.1/24.

Then dither to 44.1/16 and save the stereo mixdown as .wav file, this is the necessary sample rate, bit depth and file format for burning to CD so that it will play on most commercial CD players.

Most things I record in mono but there are a few things which sound nice when recorded in stereo like acosutic guitar and large instruments like piano, particularly if those sources are the main instrument in a sparse mix. This is really a taste thing though and depends on the type of music, sound you're going for etc.

Of course your setup might not allow recording at 44.1/24 in which case it might be an idea to let us know what gear you're using.

[LemonTree]

8 bit for the vocals

4 bit for the guitar will give you more distortion

[Halion]

I'd also go for 24 bit 44.1khz.

[xoRockstarxo]

Originally Posted by LemonTree

8 bit for the vocals

4 bit for the guitar will give you more distortion

My recording quility setting cant go that low as 4bit .The lowest is 8bit.

but thnx everyone for giving me advice.i was really needing to know more about this !!

thnx Bruce

[Halion]

Originally Posted by xoRockstarxo

My recording quility setting cant go that low as 4bit .The lowest is 8bit.

but thnx everyone for giving me advice.i was really needing to know more about this !!

thnx Bruce

Just for the record, he was beeing sarcastic. Don't ever record anything in under 16 bits unless you're going for "that" sound.

[modson]

44.1 / 24Bit is standard for small personal prjects (cuz this is the sample rate for CD's) The pro's use up to 192KHz / 24 Bit

I always record @ 24 bit just because it gives you more headroom and the signal doesnt need to be as hot! though its still advisable to set levelsa properly.

Type Linear Pulse Code modulation into google for more info!

Hope this helps

Chris

[LemonTree]

Originally Posted by modson

44.1 / 24Bit is standard for small personal prjects (cuz this is the sample rate for CD's) The pro's use up to 192KHz / 24 Bit


Chris

there's a LOT of missinformed people giving out bad advice on this board.

The standard for Red Book CD is 44.1/16Bit. You have to DITHER down to 16 Bit from 24Bit after recording......best left to a mastering engineer that knows what he's doing (especialy if you think standard CDs are 24Bit)

[Reggie]

To be fair, he did just say "cuz this is the sample rate for CD's." So technically he is right; but yeah, misinfo is rampant around here.

[tourettes5139]

Originally Posted by Reggie

To be fair, he did just say "cuz this is the sample rate for CD's." So technically he is right; but yeah, misinfo is rampant around here.

I doubt he knew that 16 bit isn't the sampling rate. He got lucky.

[BigRay]

It doesnt take an engineer to Dither. Its simple as clicking a button.
standard CDs arent 24 bit??? Wait, so this 24 bit mp3 cd is fake!!bastards!

Originally Posted by LemonTree

there's a LOT of missinformed people giving out bad advice on this board.

The standard for Red Book CD is 44.1/16Bit. You have to DITHER down to 16 Bit from 24Bit after recording......best left to a mastering engineer that knows what he's doing (especialy if you think standard CDs are 24Bit)

[LemonTree]

what I ment there was.....if you're gonna have your tracks mastered, it's best to leave them at 24bit for the mastering process THEN dither down..... sure you can do it yourself but...

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by BigRay

It doesnt take an engineer to Dither. Its simple as clicking a button.

Just like any other component in the chain from microphones to reverbs, there are varying qualities of dithering processors as well. The dithering done at most mastering houses is of higher quality than most of the stock dithering algorithms that come with NLEs. Plus, you'll want to leave it at 24-bit to take full advantage of the ME's converters as well, which are also a grade or two above what most of use have in the project studio.

Originally Posted by BigRay

standard CDs arent 24 bit??? Wait, so this 24 bit mp3 cd is fake!!bastards!

All standard audio CDs are 44.1kHz/16bit. There are NO exceptions. Even the ones that are called "20bit super CDs" are really only standard 16bit; that 20bit name is just an ignorant marketing ploy referring to the fact that they're using 20-bit converters and proprietary dithering algorithms. But it's still 16-bit when it comes out the ass end.

Your MP3 disc is a data disc, not an audio disc, even though many players now days will play its files. The only advantage is the amount of data you can get on there. Unfortunately the fact that MP3 throws out over half of the music data in order to compress the files to such small size makes MP3 sound quality far inferior. Giving an MP3 to a mastering engineer is like giving an Oscar Mayer hot dog to Julia Child.

G.

[SonicClang]

Oh man... if you even have to ask if 8 bit is good for recording vocals I think you've got some reading to do. Unless you're going for a lo-fi sound, or you're trying to replicate something from the 1920's.

Most people in home studios will get away with 44.1khz at 24 bits and you won't get too many complaints about quality. If your card can't go up to 24, record as high as it will go. If it doesn't go higher than 16, consider getting a new one before recording anything you want to sound good.

[Reggie]

Well......actually a lot of mastering engineers use the same dithering as most of us have available: UV-HR22, POW-IR, or whatever the names are. But their expertise can come into play with which one to use in a certain set of circumstances.

Speaking of delivery formats, one of my clients was going to take his stuff to be mastered by a guy(former national band musician) who required the songs to be delivered in Ogg Vorbis format. I couldn't figure the logic behind that one at all. So of course I talked them out of using that guy.

And hey, my Nintendo™ is 8-bit. Are you saying its sound isn't good enough!

[legionserial]

Question relating to this

Is it actually worth it then recording music at 96khz?

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Originally Posted by legionserial

Question relating to this

Is it actually worth it then recording music at 96khz?

There's been lots of discussion on this if you try a search.

Personally I choose to stick with the target sample rate, mainly because several people who know quite a bit more than I do about the subject have concluded that there's no great benefit recording above 44.1 (for audio). In his white paper on sampling rates Dan lavry (who knows a thing or two about A-D conversion) even concluded that recording at really high sampling rates can actually degrade the audio.

Bit depth is another matter, 24 is much easier to work with than 16.