When I export as WAV - how is the downsample done?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sjfoote
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Okay, here's a pic of the bit usage meter that I look at in Peak Pro 5.2. The file is 16 bit.

I think you are right, and I remembered it wrong. The lowest numbered bits are at the top of the display and the higher numbered bits are at the bottom of the display.
 

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SonicAlbert said:
Okay, here's a pic of the bit usage meter that I look at in Peak Pro 5.2.
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Hey "Herb" ;),

Would you be so kind as to describe/explain a bit more just what we're looking at there? I get the numbers on the left (Y axis) as IDing the bit number. But I'm not sure what the X axis or the color shading actually represents, or for that matter, what the meter is actually telling us in general (i.e. what the actual purpose is for the meter.) I've not used one of those before myself, and I admit to being out of the loop on this one.

G.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I think you are absolutely right to record at 44.1 if the project is destined for a CD. If it were a music for video project you'd record at 48.
Click to expand...

This is a good opportunity to ask a question I was going to pose without starting an entirely new thread for it.

I recently recorded a live show for a live album project at 24/44.1. There was a video crew there shooting for a DVD and in the end analysis, the band doesn't like the sound they got on the video (I could have told them that).

Anyway, they want to use the mixes I did for the album on the DVD. Is there a decent plugin available to upsample from 44.1 to 48k for video?

Thanks
 
It was Misterqcue who gave me the "Super-Sonic "Herb" Albert" moniker. He referred to me as that in a post responding to mine and I liked it so much I now use it as the header under my name! The funny part is, I've never once taken part in any "herbs" in my life, other than what you season your food with.

Anyway, the bit usage meter you are looking at is from Peak Pro 5.2, and the horizontal axis represents time. You can select an entire song, or just a small portion and see what the bit usage is for the selection.

Basically, you can see toward the bottom of the graph that there is sort of a "mountainous" terrain, like the outline of the top of a range of mountains. Above that is the bit usage, and below that is the representation of the bits that aren't being used. So you can see how the bits being used is not a static thing at all, but depends on the material itself.

Hope that makes sense.
 
It is a cool tool, but it's hard to read visually in my opinion. It seems like they need to increase the contrast between the different colors. It all kind of washes together.
 
Final update

Okay guys I just got an email from CakeWalk and they tell me that Music Creator 3 does indeed use dithering when converting a file down to 16 bit 44.1 kHz. No truncating, so the files should sound fine when converted.

Thanks to you all, I now know a lot more about this whole process and can make informed decisions based upon my needs.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!

Steve
 
SonicAlbert said:
The funny part is, I've never once taken part in any "herbs" in my life, other than what you season your food with.
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Like I told you elsewhere, Al, there's more to Tiajuana than brass ;) :D. Seriously, though, kudos to you for living clean.
SonicAlbert said:
Basically, you can see toward the bottom of the graph that there is sort of a "mountainous" terrain, like the outline of the top of a range of mountains. Above that is the bit usage, and below that is the representation of the bits that aren't being used. So you can see how the bits being used is not a static thing at all, but depends on the material itself.

Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...
That pretty much what I figured, but what I haven't figured out is the "why". What's the purpose/advantage to looking at that meter? What is that telling you that you need to know that you can't get elsewhere? I'm just not sure why I would need to know about bit usage beyond what my FS metering is telling me.

G.
 
That link I posted gave a couple of diagnostic uses but I don't think a bit meter is the sort of tool for checking for audio levels while working on the audio.
 
gtrman_66 said:
This is a good opportunity to ask a question I was going to pose without starting an entirely new thread for it.

I recently recorded a live show for a live album project at 24/44.1. There was a video crew there shooting for a DVD and in the end analysis, the band doesn't like the sound they got on the video (I could have told them that).

Anyway, they want to use the mixes I did for the album on the DVD. Is there a decent plugin available to upsample from 44.1 to 48k for video?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Are you sure you need to give them 48k files? They may be able to take the 44.1 files and convert them themselves. Many times on DVDs, even with a 2-channel audio track, it will still be encoded to Dolby Digital. Anyway, I would see if you even have to do anything first. I know DVDs want 48 kHz for PCM audio, but can they do 24 or 16 bit? I don't remember. You know video guys, anything they can do to give the majority of the transfer rate to the video. Of course, it's not like audio guys usually care that much about video either.
 
RAK said:
Are you sure you need to give them 48k files? They may be able to take the 44.1 files and convert them themselves. Many times on DVDs, even with a 2-channel audio track, it will still be encoded to Dolby Digital. Anyway, I would see if you even have to do anything first. I know DVDs want 48 kHz for PCM audio, but can they do 24 or 16 bit? I don't remember. You know video guys, anything they can do to give the majority of the transfer rate to the video. Of course, it's not like audio guys usually care that much about video either.
Click to expand...

You know, I think you're right. I'm gonna let them take the cd and I'll give them a copy of the 24 bit wavs too and let them worry about it. I am about worn out with the whole project and there isn't any more money to be made from it on my end

thanks
 
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