16 bit vs 24 bit

[papereater]

Here's a topic that's sure to invite some discussion. I'm moving on to Emagic LogicAudio from Cakewalk after waiting for some of my music buds to get on the same page by pushing a record button. Not a lot of success there. I'm leaning toward recording my future projects in 24 bit after doing some reading. I have the disk space and the interface. I'm going to give it a try and see if my CPU will handle it. Here are a few articles on the debate that I found.
16 vs 24 bit Audio
Resolution Rate
Bit Depth Wars

Papereater

[citystreets14207]

I've been recording 32 bit with sonar. 24 is better than 16, but I'm finding when I mix it down to 16 for CD purposes it sound very different than the 32 bit mix. When I look at the graph of the sound wave freq. from about 6k up it degrades. So I tried adding more hi end and it sounds bad.
If you store your mixes on DVD's or leave them in your computer 24 does sound better. You can get more of an analog sound. If your going to MP3's don't bother everything gained but the high bit rate will be lost anyway.

[papereater]

That's interesting. I just got the latest version of SONAR Producer and I'm itchin' to try it out. I can understand the quality of the sound not being as good going from 24 bit to 16 bit wav, but hardly anything the average person would notice. Same thing going from 16 bit wav to a hi bitrate mp3 file like 320kbps or so. I'll check it out.

[Bounte]

Without factoring in jitter, 32bit is really the threshhold at which humans can tell the difference between digital and analog. And it would take a really skilled person to tell the difference between 32bit and 24bit. I can sometimes tell between 24bit and 16bit, but only on a nice audio setup.

MP3s are all encoded at 16bit, as were CDs when they first came out, which is what gave them the rep of a cold digital sound as opposed to the warmth of vinyl or tape. If you're only ever going to release MP3s, it makes sense to work in 16bit.

When outputting for a lower bit-depth it helps to dither the track. Dithering adds a little noise to smooth out the gaps between the bits. Your DAW probably has a function for that. Note that a dithered audio clip shouldn't be dithered again, or the noise will add up. It's meant for final output.

I work in 24bit/44kHz. Since I can't tell the difference between 24 and 32, or 44kHz and 96kHz, it doesn't make much sense to use up the processing power and disk space on something I can't hear. When I'm experienced enough to tell the difference, or get bionic ears, then I'll ramp it up.

[cashrow5]

thats intersting


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[learnwithern]

I have recorded in both 16 and 24 bit, but I keep going back to 16 bit for the same reasons that have been stated, CD quality and MP3 reality.

I can't tell a difference between 16 and 24 bit, but my ears have been blasted with amplifiers for many years. In sum, my hearing is pretty thrashed. Nonetheless, if I ever get to a point where I am working with a sound studio for movie production and the like, my guess is that 24 and 32 bit will be utilized. Ernie :>)

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