Question Concerning Bit Rates & Sampling Rates: Still A Bit Confused

[Mike Freze]

Hello! I still need some clarification on the bit/sampling rates to set while recording, mixing, then mastering.

If one records at 24 bit, 44.1 sampling, it creates a smoother, better quality recording. I understand. To put your final recording to CD format, it has to be converted back down to a 16 bit rate. Understand again.

Where I'm confused is WHEN you change the 24 bit down to 16 bit. Is it during the final mixdown or do you leave it at 24 bit if you intend to master, THEN wait until you master your songs to change to bit rate down to 16 for CDs?? Or does it matter??

Mike Freze

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

24-bit is preferable, yes, but not so much because it's "smoother", but because it gives you more "room" to work with on the digital scale than 16 bit (138dB for 24 bit vs. 90dB for 16 bit), allowing you to run your recording levels lower and giving you more room to mix and master with.

Typically, you want to save the conversion to 16 bit for the end, after you've already mixed and mastered your tracks. The only thing that you want to save until after the 16 bit conversion is dithering (if you even do that at all).

G.

 

[TimOBrien]

Yup.

24bit gives you bigger numbers for the math to be applied....much more accurate.
Keep it at 24bit until you're ready to burn the CD (and if you're going to have someone else master the files, send them a data disk with the 24-bit files on it)