Topic: Cool Edit Pro 2.0 Questions (24bitQ)

[C.Clark]

ive checked out the help for CEP 2 and it says it only records at 16 and 32 bit(float).
would i choose 32 and change the sample rate to 24/48.  just curious, as CEP2 takes
a lot less processing power than SF6 on my toshiba laptop.  if anyone has any experience or insight
on recording at 24 bit in CEP, please let me know.

[dklein]

Hey Chris - I haven't used it in the field but I have played around with CEP recording.  It records in 32 bit fp and when you save the file, you have the option of leaving it like that or saving it as a standard 24 bit file.  When you go to save it, click on the options box that appears in the save dialog.  24 bit packed int, type 1 is the standard 24 bit.  Uncheck the dithering box (no dither).

I know the 'no dither' doesn't sound right at first, but unless you manipulate the file (amplitude change, fades, eq etc) you'll find that the actual bit depth is 24, so dithering is just adding unnecessary noise.  You can verifiy by going Analyze, statistics.  The undithered file is the original 24 bit file (you're not giving anything up here).  This is the rare case where truncating is better.  Note that you still want to dither when bringing it down to 16 bit.

Also noteworthy, when CEP opens up that file, it will always open it up again in 32 bit fp - it's getting ready to do some work and uses 32 bit fp for greatest accuracy.  If you do some manipulations, then you'll want to apply some dither when dropping back to 24 bit (or leave it at 32 and use something else to drop it to 24).

Is that what you were looking for?

[C.Clark]

thanks klein, thats exactly what i needed to hear. +T