Shocking discovery/my ineptitude

A

alanfc2

New member
hi-
I just discovered something :eek:

I had always set my audio driver bit depth at 24 for recording

never noticed :( the file depth. I've been reading and have found that file bit depth is important to what is being stored after it records. Mine is at 16 !

does this mean that I've done this work for 1+ yrs. and its all stored and playing back at a lesser quality than i could have ?! ??
 
short answer: yes. long answer: it depends.

if you have good levels, and the 16 bit sounds good, then it is good. the main difference is that the dynamic range with 24 bit is much higher so you can expect less noise and less distortion on quieter pieces.

i recommend switching to 24bit going forward.
 
alanfc2 said:
OK
thanks, will fix from now on..

I figure if Zeppelin did it with less, than heck I'll make do :D

thanks
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hehe zeppelin and digital....
i get what you are saying though. many many great albums were done in 16 bit all the way though (from tracking to mastering). keep in mind though, that if you want your music on CD, you are gonna have to dither your tunes back down to 16 bit. Have you read about sampleing rates as well? if you are really anal about quality, you could bump your sample rate up to 96 khz insted of 44.1 but again you would have to dither it down to 44.1 if you wanted it on CD. I can't notice the difference in sample rates but i can with the bit depth
 
Farview said:
Zepplin didn't use digital anything. They used analog tape.
Click to expand...
I know, I was thinking if they survived without digital, I could make do with less than perfect digital.
 
alanfc2 said:
I know, I was thinking if they survived without digital, I could make do with less than perfect digital.
Click to expand...

Har! I'm going to print this thread and hang it on the wall of my analog studio. :D

But what about 24 bit resolution, 48 khz sample, isn't that an option? :confused:
 
Well I 've always done everything at 24/44.1. Turns out that was just for tracking. All this time it was being stored on my hard drive as 16/44.1.
I don't want to get into 48 m sample rate. My card can do it, but I don't have the gear to bring it back to 44.1 and I've heard thats the kicker.
Everythings good, I'm just going back to what I was doing and will try forget I'm only 2/3 of a man. :rolleyes:
 
if your tracking was done at 24 bit, then you should be able to re-export as 24 bit instead of 16 bit.... although depending on your software the dithering as you translate to 16 bit may be OK whihc is why everything sounds OK.
 
gullfo said:
if your tracking was done at 24 bit, then you should be able to re-export as 24 bit instead of 16 bit.... although depending on your software the dithering as you translate to 16 bit may be OK whihc is why everything sounds OK.
Click to expand...

OK thanks, I think I understand but one thing confuses me after your point-

I tracked in 24 bit due my Cakewalk audio options I had selected properly.

my main question assumed that since I mistakenly left the -file- bit depth at 16, that anything I tracked, regardless of bit depth, would land on my hard drive as 16 bit. To be stored on the hard drive at 16 bit forever. I mean I thought it was sort of translated to 16 once it hit the hard drive, and could not be changed...
:confused:
 
I'm confused, are you talking about the individual tracks being 16 bit or the mixes? If it is the mixes, just remix at 24 bit. If it is the tracks, you can still remix at 24 bit and get some more quality.
 
alanfc2 said:
my main question assumed that since I mistakenly left the -file- bit depth at 16, that anything I tracked, regardless of bit depth, would land on my hard drive as 16 bit.
Click to expand...

ok, gotcha... I didn't realize that the audio settign was called "file bit depth", so yes, if that was set to 16 bit then the audio is stored as 16 bit and so you didn't capture it as 24 bit... so my previous statement is inoperable... :-)
 
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