MusicPlayerNetwork.com Forums MPN Archives The Studio Business Forum 24bit or 16bit?

Hello. I am the audio engineer for a show in Branson, Mo and we are getting ready to record a CD. I have a Tascam HD45 DAT which will record in 24bit. I need to know the best way to keep the best sound I can through out the project. I was thinking of recording the DAT in 24bit then going to 30ips analog then into Pro Tools for edit then to CD. Will I gain quality by doing this or would I be better of just to stick with 16bits from the start? Thank you dean billingsley

Personally, I would work with 24 bit word lengths......to my ear, even 24 bit at 48k sampling sounds superior to 16 bit. Obviously, you are going to eventually have to knock it down to 16/44.1 to get it on a standard CD (the UV 22 works well, for example), but why not have the highest resolution while you are working on it.....less ear fatigue and more fun to listen to, and archive it at the highest resolution possible, and, I believe that in the very near future higher resolution CD's and DVD's will be the norm, replacing the lower fidelity of the current standard CD's.

Hi again Ed!
Do you down from 24/48 to 16/44 with the UV22 via analogue?
Thanx.
ARMANDO AVILA

Dean,

These are good questions! I usually ask clients to mix down to 16/44 and 24/48 to get a good perspective of these issues as various people do it.

Lately I have been wondering if I should request 24/44 to have only to go to 16 bit rather than the 48 to 44 process as well.

Like ED said, I would also say to use 24 bit all the way thru to the end. You end up with a more sonically dense full 16 bit signal, and obvious better use of the A/D process.

And like Ed was getting at, if a 24 bit cd format comes out in 6 months, you are ready. I keep 24 bit copies of what I get/do for just these reasons.

Don't go back to analog, and then broadcast this because the broadcast compression process may bring out all the noise. It is not worth the effort.

Try to get it mastered as well to make the best of it.

Jim

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Jim De Salvo
beanstudio@hotmail.com
Beanstudio Mastering
Audio Editing & Sonic Restoration
http://beanstudio.homepage.com
"Nobody Hears It Better"
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