Re: 24bit headroom
crosstudio said:
don't we always talk about how 24bit recording gives you more headroom than using 16bit? so why are we suprised that we see more headroom when switching from 16bit to 24bit recording?
if 24bit gives us more headroom, and 0db is relative, then -6db using 16bit would be different than -6db using 24bit would it not?
think of it this way. if you record to -.3db in 24bit, then convert the file to 16bit without dithering, won't the signal clip??? yes it would!!! conversely, if you record at -.3db in 16bit and convert to 24bit (without dithering) wouldn't you magically have more headroom??? yes you would!!!
Errrrrr......this is NOT correct JamesHe!!! The last paragraph that is.
Yes, you gain more headroom, but mainly in 24 bits, you have a much lower noise floor, NOT more room on top.
Try recording something at 24 bits then truncating it down to 16 bits. It for all practical purposes is not going to sound a bit different!
RustyK. My experience with the Lynx card had been that it has a TON of headroom on the converters. With a decent quality a/d converter, you will see very different fall and rise times in transients than you would with cheaper converters, which will reflect in your metering the signal. You can be assured that on your Lynx card that what you are looking at is what it is, and you will HEAR it back the same was as you monitored it before recording.
Believe it or not, when you RECORD, you actually DITHER! Since you only have X amount of volume levels that can be respresented from an incoming voltage at the a/d converters, any voltage value that does not exactly coincide with where the different bit settings are at must be "averaged" to either a higher or lower bit setting voltage (this is being very general here, and sort of low tech in what actually happens...but will do....) With 24 bit, you have more minute voltage representation, thus, truer representation of sound without distortion artifacts introduced from the artificial changes in volume from the original voltage at the a/d converters. This will mean that instead of volumes being averaged up in a crude way, the way it is with cheap dithering schemes on cheap 16 bit converters (like on SB Live cards, and most stand alone CD burners, and DAT player, and MD recorders) they will be averaged up in a more gentle way, thus, it may appear that there is more headroom too.
There are other issues at work here that get into the actual transformer, or balanced level circuitry before the a/d converters that will effect the difference you are seeing.
You bought a PROFESSIONAL soundcard. Now you are seeing what ELSE might be wrong in your recording chain....
Nice eh?
Your active electronics may have been hot enough to drive a cheap ol' line in on a SB Live card that was operating at -10 operating levels, but I suspect that you are running the Lynx at +4, which would be, guess what! 14dB LOWER than the SB card was!
If it is of big concern, switch the operating level of the Lynx card to -10 level, and you will see predictable results! But I would rather see you run the bass into a device that will bring the sound into the soundcard at a +4 operating level instead! For a variety of reasons.
Ed
