Sampling single-shots at 16 bit or 24 bit?

[superddman]

What do you suggest? I've almost came to a conclusion to do it at 16 bit but I just wanted to double check if that is the right way to do this? I am just sampling single-shots.

[The Chase]

Imo definitely 24, and then after you have normalized them all convert them to 16.

[adit_mehta]

24 bit samples are the next generation sounds. though as of now conversions to 16 happen, later they wont.. so why not be future ready?!

[superddman]

Imo definitely 24, and then after you have normalized them all convert them to 16.

That is an interesting approach. Could you explain me what is the advantage of doing it this way?

24 bit samples are the next generation sounds. though as of now conversions to 16 happen, later they wont.. so why not be future ready?!

but I thought there is no audible difference between 16 and 24 bit samples. I am confused hehe

[adit_mehta]

DVD Audio support 24 bit.. Players too... ultimately it will be the complete system of the listener i.e. amp, speakers, etc. that will enhance the sound quality with 24.

for a music producer, compare him to a painter. a painter gets a large canvas to paint on and an A4 sheet of paper. where will (s)he be able to do justice to the painting? similarly, 24 bit provides greater depth for certain sound frequencies, layering, etc. and would sound gr8 only when produced intelligently and the playback system matches the specs.

[pwedza]

Imo definitely 24, and then after you have normalized them all convert them to 16.

Can somebody briefly explain normalization?

Thanks

[The Chase]

Imo definitely 24, and then after you have normalized them all convert them to 16.

Can somebody briefly explain normalization?

Thanks

Normalization is when you bring the peak amplitude of a sample to 0db (as loud as possible without clipping or any type of compression.

[The Chase]

Imo definitely 24, and then after you have normalized them all convert them to 16.

That is an interesting approach. Could you explain me what is the advantage of doing it this way?

To make the most out of your bit depth. Theoretically, if your audio at 16 bits peaks at -6db, it's basically the equivelent of losing around an entire bit of dynamic information. If you are recording you're probably going to make sure you have plenty of headroom so you don't clip and will stay a bit below 0db and you'll lose a good portion of your audio. For an example record something relatively silent at 16 bit and then listen to it after normalizing, and the degredation is often quite clear. Recording at 24 bits give you much more headroom to play with so you don't have to worry about recording too quietly and losing quality that way.

[superddman]

Imo definitely 24, and then after you have normalized them all convert them to 16.

That is an interesting approach. Could you explain me what is the advantage of doing it this way?

To make the most out of your bit depth. Theoretically, if your audio at 16 bits peaks at -6db, it's basically the equivelent of losing around an entire bit of dynamic information. If you are recording you're probably going to make sure you have plenty of headroom so you don't clip and will stay a bit below 0db and you'll lose a good portion of your audio. For an example record something relatively silent at 16 bit and then listen to it after normalizing, and the degredation is often quite clear. Recording at 24 bits give you much more headroom to play with so you don't have to worry about recording too quietly and losing quality that way.

Some good info here. Thanks.

I've done the above test and I was able to hear some degradation.

You've sold me on 24 bit but if my sampler supports 24 bit format then maybe I should just leave the samples at 24 instead of dithering them down to 16 bits?

Is there any advantage of dithering 24 bit samples into 16 bit samples to use in a project?

[The Chase]

not really. Just hard drive space

[goldbaker]

24-bit stuff may sound great, but I usually just buy 16-bit disks. 16-bit will work with anything, and doesn't take up so much disk space. I'm not a heavy-duty professional, though.