Re: 24 bit recording


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Posted by Brian on December 12, 2003 at 02:36:19:

In Reply to: 24 bit recording posted by John on December 12, 2003 at 02:11:38:

As far as the real world differences are concerned, if you are talking about home recording with a $200 or so microphone and other consumer level equiptment, then the difference is minimal. If, on the other hand, you are talking about professional recording, higher bit and sampling rates can greatly improve sound quality, especially when the source tracks are mixed, even if the recording is ultimately dithered down to 16/44.1 in the mastering process. Basically, the higher sampling rate increases the nyquist frequency to well above the audible range (this is the highest frequency that the system can accurately record, about half or a little less of the sampling frequency). What makes an even greater difference is 24 bit recording over the standard 16 bit. When the signal is digitized, this gives the digital system a much finer scale to work with so it can more accurately describe the signal voltage (an analogy would be rounding a number to the thousandths place rather than the hundredths place).
So, what does all of this mean?
Basically it means that the 24/96 recording is much more accurate than the 16/44.1 signal (Another analogy: a 5 megapixel digital image as compared to a 2 megapixel). This accuracy can provide a much smoother and clearer sound, especially in the top end. This also helps to add presence to the sound and a richness much closer to pure analog.
However, just because something is a higher bit rate doesn't mean it will be better quality- it just has the potential to be better. So if the entire recording process is not high quality, then the end product will not always be better (only as strong as weakest link. That is why I said that it doesn't really matter that much for home stuff using cheap microphones. It would be kind of like putting your VHS tapes onto DVD- sure, they are now DVD's, but the quality is not going to be any better than those old VHS tapes.
Well, I hope you got some usefull ideas out of this. I'd better get to bed.
-Brian Thompson


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