Sampling Rates & Bit Depth -Sound Forge - PC - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Sampling Rates & Bit Depth Posted by: jmack Date:12/15/2001 8:49:37 AM Hello, I know that a standard CD is 44.1hKz/16bit. My question is this. If one were to record a piece at this setting and then record the same piece at 48kHz/ 24bit, would there be a noticable difference in the quality of the sound. Would the average person hear a difference? I am a home hobbist and was just wondering if it is worth the extra storage space to change to these higher settings given that I would have to dither everything back to 44.1/16bit anyway when burning a CD. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
Subject:RE: Sampling Rates & Bit Depth Reply by: Bernhard_bb Date:12/15/2001 9:07:21 AM Hello, I think that recording and editing should be done in 24 or evnen better 32 bit. Each and every peocessing step does truncate your audio file! Plugs are processing at the samplerate and bit depth you are in! So when you record in 16-bit, you will recieve somewhat 12-bit quality after several processing stages. 32-bit Float is even a greater thing because it is not compressed. Float calculation provides a way of expressing very large and small numbers by using exponential functions. That gives you a lower noisefloor.... Regards!
Subject:RE: Sampling Rates & Bit Depth Reply by: Rednroll Date:12/15/2001 11:37:15 AM Well more is always better in the realm of audio, but I still record at 44.1Khz/16 bit, just because most external hardware supports this format and I can do digital to digital transfers without having to convert to analog. Anytime you are forced to convert to analog, it adds noise in the D/A conversion and then again going back A/D to the next device. So it really defeats the purpose if your recording at higher resolutions like 24/96 if the only resolution your gaining is the resolution of the noise you're adding. I will say that 44.1/16 is very good quality to me and if you can hear the difference between that and 48K/24bit, then you have better ears and monitors than I do. If you're a hobbyist, why don't you try both and then repost your findings on this forum to share with everyone.
Subject:RE: Sampling Rates & Bit Depth Reply by: rjt Date:12/16/2001 11:09:00 AM As stated early, whenever you process audio (with plugins) you reduce the quality. Therefore, if you intend to add effects/EQ etc, try to record in 24 bit. (although some plugs internally process in 32 or more bits) most actual recording tops out around 24. It is a simple matter to go from 24 to 16 bit, your program will simply cut off 8 bits... very quick. Also, the 8 extra bits will give you more volume headroom. Going from 48 K to 44.1K is another matter. That is a time consuming conversion and many argue that it creates artifacts in the data which end up making it worse than recroding in 44.1 to begin with. Also, as stated, you need a program to do it. With a digital recording chain, you are at the mercy of your lowest link. If everything is 24 bit, you are in great shape. If you pass through a digital mixer which is 16 bit, then there is no point to have your recorder set to 24 bit. If you can get 24 bit into your computer, most programs today will process that with no loss. Take care and have fun!

Subject:Sampling Rates & Bit Depth

Posted by: jmack

Date:12/15/2001 8:49:37 AM

Hello,
I know that a standard CD is 44.1hKz/16bit. My question is this. If one were to record a piece at this setting and then record the same piece at 48kHz/ 24bit, would there be a noticable difference in the quality of the sound. Would the average person hear a difference? I am a home hobbist and was just wondering if it is worth the extra storage space to change to these higher settings given that I would have to dither everything back to 44.1/16bit anyway when burning a CD. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

Subject:RE: Sampling Rates & Bit Depth

Reply by: Bernhard_bb

Date:12/15/2001 9:07:21 AM

Hello, I think that recording and editing should be done in 24 or evnen better 32 bit. Each and every peocessing step does truncate your audio file! Plugs are processing at the samplerate and bit depth you are in! So when you record in 16-bit, you will recieve somewhat 12-bit quality after several processing stages. 32-bit Float is even a greater thing because it is not compressed. Float calculation provides a way of expressing very large and small numbers by using exponential functions. That gives you a lower noisefloor.... Regards!

Subject:RE: Sampling Rates & Bit Depth

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:12/15/2001 11:37:15 AM

Well more is always better in the realm of audio, but I still record at 44.1Khz/16 bit, just because most external hardware supports this format and I can do digital to digital transfers without having to convert to analog. Anytime you are forced to convert to analog, it adds noise in the D/A conversion and then again going back A/D to the next device. So it really defeats the purpose if your recording at higher resolutions like 24/96 if the only resolution your gaining is the resolution of the noise you're adding. I will say that 44.1/16 is very good quality to me and if you can hear the difference between that and 48K/24bit, then you have better ears and monitors than I do. If you're a hobbyist, why don't you try both and then repost your findings on this forum to share with everyone.

Subject:RE: Sampling Rates & Bit Depth

Reply by: rjt

Date:12/16/2001 11:09:00 AM

As stated early, whenever you process audio (with plugins) you reduce the quality. Therefore, if you intend to add effects/EQ etc, try to record in 24 bit. (although some plugs internally process in 32 or more bits) most actual recording tops out around 24. It is a simple matter to go from 24 to 16 bit, your program will simply cut off 8 bits... very quick. Also, the 8 extra bits will give you more volume headroom.

Going from 48 K to 44.1K is another matter. That is a time consuming conversion and many argue that it creates artifacts in the data which end up making it worse than recroding in 44.1 to begin with. Also, as stated, you need a program to do it.

With a digital recording chain, you are at the mercy of your lowest link. If everything is 24 bit, you are in great shape. If you pass through a digital mixer which is 16 bit, then there is no point to have your recorder set to 24 bit. If you can get 24 bit into your computer, most programs today will process that with no loss.

Take care and have fun!