Should I stick with 16bit??? Or should I go 24bit???

[twatts]

Can my dinosaur P2-300 handle a DVD burner??? 

twatts, one thing to consider is that 24-bit files are HUGE!  Does the dinosaur have enough HD space to handle this stuff?  Also, on an older machine, I'd imagine dithering/resampling is going to take quite a while.

I can manage the HD space, but yeah, you're right about the dither/resample...  Right now it takes forever to go 16/48 > 16/44...

Maybe I should update my PC before I do anything!  Hahaha, so many new toys to buy!

Terry

[Nick Graham]

agree with everything Michael said...I think it was Boswell who said with 24 bit it was like he had just gotten his first dat...having to learn all the workflow and quirks...but imo, you can get pretty quick on the workflow. 

Agreed, just as I'd gotten totally comfortable with dithering, resampling, burning DVD-A, etc. I bought a new Mac. Talk about completely starting over...

[BC]

But there is a down side - there is more post processing.   With DAT I could get a CD transfer through the CDRW700 in an evening.  With 24-bit, I had to get software and a new machine to run windows.  Also, it took a while to get a workflow I could deal with.   Including tracking, compressing, authoring the 24-bit version, writing multiple backups to different DVD media, processing down to 16-bit, it takes me about 4 hours to get a show ready for the car.   I'm way way behind in tracking shows.  I have stacks of discs and HDs with masters that have never been tracked or played back except through the cassette adapter on the ride home from the show.  If you have time for the post processing, you can make CDs for now and when you upgrade your playback you'll have the 24-bit goodness waiting on you.  I don't know how some people get stuff out so quickly.

I roll at 24/44.1, then no resampling required and I just have to dither the files, which is relatively quick. With this samplling rate I can usually fit raw WAV files of both the 24 bit and 16 bit versions of a show on a single DVD. This is definitely not as sexy as rolling 24/96, but has some practical advantages. But I am still way behind on tracking and backing my stuff too!

Given that Blu-ray and HD-DVD are hitting the market, maybe you can consolidate your optical disk archiving, even for 24/96 files, to a single disk in the near future.

[Scooter]

i may start doing the same.  it seems that the bit depth is more important than the sample rate.  the resampling is a royal PITA fur sure. although i play almost all my shows thru my puter nowadays anyway, so i don't do much conoversion to redbook anymore.  i'll have try the 24/41.1 for a spell...

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I agree about the bit depth.   Wayne sent out those comparison tracks 24/48 vs 24/96 and honestly I never could tell the difference.   But I still can't help myself - I run 96k.

I think it was Boswell who said with 24 bit it was like he had just gotten his first dat...

When I first read that, I thought you wrote "said with 24 bit it was like he had just gotten his first date...: and I thought "yeah, it really was that good". 

[nickgregory]

When I first read that, I thought you wrote "said with 24 bit it was like he had just gotten his first date...: and I thought "yeah, it really was that good". 

you know it is funny how that analogy still works

[BayTaynt3d]

I run 24/44.1. I run 24-bit for three reasons: (1) it gives me added headroom while recording, (2) it reduces the potential for introducing quantization noise during any edits/fades/effects/eq/compression/mixing, and (3) it leaves a higher-quality original source for achival. I record 44.1 for three different reasons: (1) I simply can't hear the difference, (2) it cuts the file size in half (from 96) and that is a big difference when running 24-bit to begin with, which helps lower storage requirements, removes the dreaded split workflow, and increases the speed of any edits/effects rendering, and (3) I don't have to resample when moving down to 16-bit for cd playback. Anyway, that's my take on the topic these days FWIW...