Topic: 24bit to 16bit

[creekfreak]

Ok, learning the hard way here. What extra step do I need to take when going from 24bit down to 16bit? I ran my 24bit recording hot, so when I went down to 16bit I was clipping left and right since I had no headroom..what is the best way to fix this?

[F.O.Bean]

hmmm, you mean if you run hot in 24 bit and dither down to 16 bit it is hotter

[creekfreak]

when I dithered it down I got a ton of pops and clicks, levels jumping through the roof. I saw a converation on this board that if you plan to convert to 16bit that not to run the levels too hot,give your self some headroom.

[dklein]

That sounds weird - were you clipping in 24 bit?  The translation from 24 bit to 16 bit shouldn't change the levels, just the accuracy.  The only way it should top out in 16 bit is if it did the same in 24 bit.  Unless you did some post processing that pushed it beyond full scale.  You could drop the levels by 0.2dB in the 24 bit (maybe use something like L2 so you can do that and dither to 16 at the same time).

[caymanreview]

i run mine as hot as possible w/out clipping

dither to 16bit with  wavelab 5 using the uv22hr and have never experienced a problem like this

what are you using to dither?

[creekfreak]

that might be the problem, I am just resampling, not dithering

[caymanreview]

i dont understand how resampling to 44.1 or whatever you are resampling to would cause clipping though

[creekfreak]

I am trying to find the thread, Tim was the one that had a bunch of info on this. I was not clipping in 24bit, the 24bit sounds great, but when I resample to 16bit it just becomes filled with pops and clicks, and watching the wave form, its now clipping....Tim you out there? I think you mentioned that this will happen due to the lack of headroom that 16bit has over 24bit

[caymanreview]

hmmm, ive never heard anything like that

ive always ran my levels fairly aggressive lately in 24/48 and 24/96 and have had zero issues with this

actually just resampled/dithered/tracked umphreys from friday night and ran my levels as hot as possible, and have zero issues like that with the recording

what are you using to dither/resample? wavelab???

[creekfreak]

I an using a program called goldwave, and I think the fact that I am not dithering is the problem. When I do a straight up resample with no dither going from 24--16bit (which I just tested) the wave form before and after looks jacked....need to see if godwave will dither also.

[dmonterisi]

it sounds like the resampling method in that program is jacked...do you have wavelab?

[creekfreak]

No, I do not, but I can get it. I emailed the goldwave people to see if their resampling is just a flat chop, or if it actually uses a dithering method, my guess is not.

[Tim]

it sounds like the resampling method in that program is jacked...do you have wavelab?

what Damon said.

I was talking strictly about recording. Once you've laid it down changing from 24 down to 16 shouldn't be causing you these problems.

Sorry if I confused you!

[MattD]

Vocab time:

Resampling = changing the sample rate (96 kHz to 44.1 kHz)
Dither = changing the bit depth (24-bit to 16-bit)

I'm having a hard time following what you're using to try to accomplish whatever it is you're doing.

[creekfreak]

I am trying to take a 24/96 recording down to 16/44.1, and I think I found out the problem. When going from 24 to 16bit I don't think the program I am using has all that good of a dither, if any that works well.