16 or 24 bit?

[Zeppe]

First of all, the final file format has no bearing on the recording and mixing process (mono Vs stereo Vs surround aside). Record and mix how you want. The mastering dude will put it in the right format.

Second, what you said makes no sense. Don't use 16 bit because MP3s have replaced CDs?
You do know that MP3s are "less" than CDs in every way, right?

Finally, I don't know what to call todays iPod junkies, but "music lover" doesn't seem to fit. I mean, many of them clearly love to listen to their music. But a "music lover" would surely find something that sounds better than a mp3 on an iPod for any real listening.

I said nothing about actual mp3's nor stereo vs mono vs surround so I'll just ignore that. But, why worry about converting to 16bit if it might never be on a CD. As bandwidth and storage space grows throughout the country, so will the size and quality of audio files. When it's faster to DL and UL high quality audio files I see CD's and even DVDs all but dying when this happens because of the convenience of downloading. Right now I'd rather buy a CD because I want the quality but a couple years down the road I'm not sure that will be the case.

Music Lovers and Audiophiles are two different things. Would you say Dead heads are not music lovers because they collect low quality bootlegs.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

Music Lovers and Audiophiles are two different things. Would you say Dead heads are not music lovers because they collect low quality bootlegs.

Nah. That's why I said it's tricky and I don't really know what to call the current crop of people who love listening to music almost constantly on an iPod.

Audiophile has nothing to do with it. As a dude who was in college in the 90's, I got hit full force with the neo-hippy Phish fulled movement. Crappy bootlegs abound in my collection. But as a music lover, even the roughest bootleg gets played on a nice full range system with all other distractions turned off. When I say "music lover", I mean people like me who give the recording our full attention and buy a capable playback system. But you certainly won't see me agonizing over my interconnect cables and shopping for the best replacement capacitors or whatever. Audiophile is a whole world of weird that to me seems detached from the actual music with way too much focus on the technical.

But still if somebody settles for mp3s on crappy buds/computer speakers (without owning or ever using any quality alternative) while they divide their attention with facebook or the web, I just can't call that person a music lover even though they probably play tunes 8 hours a day. Not that I'm passing judgment or anything. If they're happy, great. I have no urge to convert them or throw my values at them. I just don't have a word for what they are.

 

[tigerflystudio]

So if I were to leave my tracks in the digital domain I should mix them down in 24-bit. But if I'm wanting to burn to CD for others to listen to on their (many and varied) home stereo systems I should go with 16-bit? Have I got that right?

I did a 16-bit Vs 24-bit mix last night, put both on CD, then played them back through my (pretty good) home stereo. Wow - the difference was definitely noticeable. Things like reverb trails and drum decays were much better / fuller sounding on the 24-bit version.

I'm guessing it's not advisable to run off a stack CD's in 24-bit, though, because not all listeners will have equipment capable of playing it back?

 

[Chibi Nappa]

I'm not really sure what you did, but a CD can never be 24 bit. If you throw a 24 bit file on to a CDR, the burning software has to convert it to 16 bit first. Most burning software does the conversion in the background without ever bothering the user with the process.

Unless you burnt it as a data CD and your stereo supports that.


But you mix to 24 bit for several reasons. Maybe the song will some day be put on a DVD or analog medium and you want the best source possible for that transition. Also 24 bit lets you mix with a huge amount of head room. You might feel a bit nervous if your tallest peak hits -12 in a 16 bit mix. So you push it to the red and it sounds worse than it has to. With a 24 bit mix, you can keep the meters nice and low knowing that there is plenty of resolution to bring it all up in mastering.

 

[RAMI]

I'm not really sure what you did, but a CD can never be 24 bit.

Yeah, I think that's been mentioned about 34 times in this thread. Guess it needs to be 35.

He probably burned a 24-bit DATA CD, as opposed to an audio CD.