24 Bit Really Sound Any Better Than 16 Bit

[DarkFriend]

I'm currently using the 16bit version. Wondering if the 24bit version makes any real sonic difference.

Anyone care to comment or provide audio examples?

THANKS!

[TimOBrien]

To me it's much quieter and deeper (I keep saying it's like going from an office hallway to a quiet booth).

When I went from an SBLive 16-bit card to an Echo Mia 24-bit, my VU meter went down from -53db to -70db....and when I record using S/PDIF from my J-Station it goes down to -100db.

But the question is, what kind of music are you recording? If you're playing hard rock with a much smaller range in dynamics it may not be worth it and you won't get anything for the money and extra disk space. I'm playing light jazz with lots of space and dynamics where you can really hear the reverb working the room and for me 24-bit is now neccesary to my ears.

Just depends on what you do and how it sounds to you.

[Gidge]

16 bit vs 24 bit is a long argument that can go back and forth...a card with awesome 16 bit converters is better than a card with crappy 24 bit converters....but comparing aplles to aplles, 24 bit is definitely better......

for any type of music, 24 bit has the big advantage when you start applying DSP effects...each time you process digital audio, you lose some resolution...so if you start with a 16 bit signal, and do a good bit of processing, even though you still have a 16 bit file, the quality is not anywhere near CD quality.....

[Rusty K]

DarkFriend,

24bit no question! If you are new at it and you don't have a 24bit card then I'd say wait a while and work around with what you've got.

I'm new at it but I have musicians ears and wanted the best quality to work with. Now whether or not I'm extracting all that quality out of it yet .....well that's a question better left for more experienced folks than I.

I have posted songs for critique....and the comment I get most is "pro quality". Now since I know it's not my mixing genius I'm thinking it's the 24bit.

Rusty K

[getuhgrip]

Ok, so the deal is that starting at 24bit gives you a margin to whittle down to CD's 16bit res?

Makes sense. I've wondered what the 24bit hype was since burning to CD reduces res to 16bit.

[Gidge]

its more technical can that, more to it than i can explain.....but in a nutshell, thats what it boils down to.....

if you start at 24 bit and process and process you are still at 24 bit, but youve lost some quality, depending on the quality of your effects.......