24bit - oldie but goodie

T

timothydog

New member
I've searched and read about the whole 16bit vs. 24bit debate. 24bit is obviously the way to go if you can do it. But that is not my whole question here.

I would like to present my setup and maybe get some suggestions on what settings I should record.

I'm tracking guitars direct through an EQ pedal into a Pod 2.0. From the Pod, it's into my Roland 1680 mixer and then out the SP/DIF into my Audiophile 2496 card. It's then tracked to Sonar 2XL where all effects are applied.

So my signal is staying analog obviously until I hit the 1680 mixer. The specs say that the 1680 has 20bit D/A & A/D converters. So is this 20bit conversion a sort of bottleneck for me since I want to record 24bit with my Audiophile? If so, should I bypass my 1680 and go analog from the Pod to the Audiophile card? Or is that going to create too much noise?

Thanks for any help!
Tim
 
I would just go Pod directly into the Audiophile. The 24bit convertors on the Audiophile will have a lower noise floor than the 20bit Roland convertors. That's the whole reason for using higher bitrates, lower noise floor. Although the POD is so noisy it probably won't make much of a difference.

Try it both ways and see what sounds best.
 
Good plan my man!
I was thinking the same thing. I actually have quite a clean sound coming out of my Pod all things considered. I have a super active pickup which seems to help a lot.

Now I'll just have to get some decent rca plugs.
 
sorry to burst your bubble, but if you're using a Pod 2.0, your signal isn't "staying analog" up to the mixer ... the Pod has 24 bit internals at 31kHz, but only 20 bit converters. (the Pod Pro has 24-bit converters.)
 
Oh well. It wasn't a very big bubble.
I can't complain really about the sound I'm getting through the Pod. It is pretty decent. If I can eliminate another 20 bit conversion with the Roland mixer and get a decent sound direct to the card then I should be in good shape.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top