Sample rate and bit depth survey

Ask questions and get answers about how to make music in any particular way. Hardware or songwriting or whatever.
Post Reply
User avatar
Lunkhead
You're No Good
Posts: 8104
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:14 pm
Instruments: many
Recording Method: cubase/mac/tascam4x4
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene, Merisan, Tiny Robots
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Berkeley, CA
Contact:

Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by Lunkhead »

I'm curious what folks use for their sample rates and bit depths when recording? I use 48kHz and 24-bit.

In case anybody isn't familiar with the terms, sample rate is the frequency with which a digital sample is taken of an analog audio signal when digitizing audio. Sample rate if I understand correctly is related to what range of input audio frequencies can be captured. And bit depths is the number of bits (the smallest unit of information in digital systems) are used to store each sample. Bit depth if I understand correctly is related to the dynamic (quiet/loud) range that can be captured. CD quality is 44.1kHz and 16-bit.
User avatar
ken
Hot for Teacher
Posts: 3869
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 6:10 pm
Instruments: Guitar, bass, drums, keys
Recording Method: MOTU 828x, Cubase 10
Submitting as: Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff
Pronouns: he/him
Location: oakland, ca
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by ken »

24/48

Though I just realize my last couple of tracks were at 96K. I didn't realize the settings on my new interface were off. Totally explains why my system was starting to strain.
Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff - Berkeley Social Scene - Tiny Robots - Seamus Collective - Semolina Pilchards - Cutie Pies - Explino! - Bravo Bros. - 2 from 14 - and more!

i would just like to remind everyone that Ken eats kittens - blue lang
User avatar
jast
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1325
Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:03 pm
Instruments: Vocals, guitar
Recording Method: Cubase, Steinberg UR44
Submitting as: Jan Krueger
Pronouns: .
Location: near Aachen, Germany
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by jast »

24/44.1 for the last 10 years or so.

To explain the terms a bit more: sample rate determines up to which frequency you can capture sounds - and nothing else. The theoretical limit is half the sampling rate, but for technical reasons (to prevent aliasing) a low-pass filter needs to be applied internally, and filters basically don't deliver a "perfect" cut-off, so depending on how "accurate" the filter is, you lose a little or a lot more than the theoretical optimum. Modern analog-digital converters (ADCs) use a trick called oversampling where they internally capture the audio at a much higher sampling rate - and then apply a much rougher filter (that is easier to implement). In other words: today's ADCs can deliver fairly close to the theoretical optimum.

Sample rate of 48 kHz = you can capture up to roughly 24 kHz.
Sample rate of 44.1 kHz = you can capture up to roughly 22.05 kHz.

Humans can perceive sounds at up to 28 kHz under lab conditions but the ears get much less sensitive starting at ~15 kHz, so probably you're good with either sample rate. Higher sample rates don't have much of a practical purpose in real life, though some audiophiles will claim differently.

The bit depth is basically the number of amplitudes that can be encoded - for instance, 16 bits can encode 65536 different amplitudes. This matters mostly for audio at the low end of the volume scale. Most audio system use a linear encoding of amplitudes, meaning that the 16 bits are mathematically evenly spaced over the resulting amplitude. Since human perception of loudness is logarithmic, this means that at the low end, the resolution gets significantly worse. If you process a 16-bit audio file to reduce it by, say, 90 dB, and then scale it back up, you'll find that it will sound quite mangled. This is due to the missing resolution in amplitudes and it's called quantization noise. It can be masked to some extent using dithering.

Bit depth of 16 bit = ratio of (full-scale) signal to quantization noise is roughly 96 dB. If your signal is at RMS -80 dBFS, the SNR is at around 16 dB, etc.
Bit depth of 24 bit = SNR is roughly 144 dB. If your signal is at RMS -80 dBFS, the SNR is at around 64 dB.

A higher bit depth is particularly relevant if you process audio multiple times, and you're not using a floating-point engine (which many modern DAWs do, but possibly not all plugins) - the quantization noise can add up over multiple rounds of processing.
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11028
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by fluffy »

I also use 44.1/24. Recording at 48KHz means there'll be a higher chance of artifacting when downsampling to 44KHz for the actual encoding, and 24 bits is plenty of headroom for the recording/mastering process (and 16 bits is more than enough for the final output, most people can't even hear the difference past 12 bits for most music).
User avatar
ujnhunter
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1804
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:09 pm
Instruments: Bass, Keyboards, Crummy Guitar & Animal Noises (especially Donkeys)
Recording Method: Reaper 5.9x, Tascam FireOne/Behringer UMC202HD/Avid Eleven Rack/Line 6 UX2, Win 7 PC / Win 10 Laptop
Submitting as: Cock, Chth*.*, D.A.H. (Der Alter Hahn)
Pronouns: His Infernal Majesty
Location: CT, USA
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by ujnhunter »

44.1/24 here even if I have gear that goes to some redonkulous 192kHz as both Jan and fluffy point out about the technical details and human hearing. Anything else to me is a waste of precious space for things I can't even hear. ::shrug::
-Ujn Hunter
Photovoltaik - Free 6 Track EP - Song Fight! Liner Notes
Billy's Little Trip wrote:I must have this....in my mouth.....now.
User avatar
irwin
Mean Street
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2007 10:09 pm
Instruments: insecurity
Recording Method: scotch
Submitting as: suckweasel, kasper, nutwalls
Location: Woodland, CA

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by irwin »

48k/20-bit. Only reason was that years ago when I upgraded from ADAT-land to a DAW, I set it to what the ADATs spoke so I could transfer all my old projects into the computer, and I just never changed it. Perhaps it is time to revisit?
"Ouch. I wonder if this guy sounds like this when he speaks." -- Puce
Heatherarita
A New Player
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:22 am
Submitting as: Heatherarita

Мы нашли все таки где купить этот препарат без огромных затрат

Post by Heatherarita »

Хорошие специалисты и прекрасный севрис в этой онко
I was a spambot I have no value to humanity.
Heatherarita
A New Player
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:22 am
Submitting as: Heatherarita

Доктор рекомендовал аптеку с низкими ценами и качественными препаратами

Post by Heatherarita »

Хорошие специалисты и прекрасный севрис в этой онко
I was a spambot I have no value to humanity.
User avatar
sleepysilverdoor
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1087
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:02 pm
Instruments: Drums, Guitars, Keys
Recording Method: Focusrite + FL Studio
Submitting as: Phl*b*
Pronouns: bruh
Location: Not super far from Atlanta but definitely not Atlanta
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by sleepysilverdoor »

Russian pharma spam? Wow!
"There's a lot to be said about a full-on frontal assault on the ear drums" - Pigfarmer Jr.
User avatar
jb
Hot for Teacher
Posts: 4159
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:12 am
Instruments: Guitar, Cello, Keys, Uke, Vox, Perc
Recording Method: Logic X
Submitting as: The John Benjamin Band
Pronouns: he/him
Location: WASHINGTON, DC
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by jb »

Baaaanned.
blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
User avatar
ujnhunter
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1804
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:09 pm
Instruments: Bass, Keyboards, Crummy Guitar & Animal Noises (especially Donkeys)
Recording Method: Reaper 5.9x, Tascam FireOne/Behringer UMC202HD/Avid Eleven Rack/Line 6 UX2, Win 7 PC / Win 10 Laptop
Submitting as: Cock, Chth*.*, D.A.H. (Der Alter Hahn)
Pronouns: His Infernal Majesty
Location: CT, USA
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by ujnhunter »

Glad that Russian Bot reminded me to set my sample rate accordingly on my video camera before I started recording with the wrong sample rate this weekend! Phew!
-Ujn Hunter
Photovoltaik - Free 6 Track EP - Song Fight! Liner Notes
Billy's Little Trip wrote:I must have this....in my mouth.....now.
User avatar
jb
Hot for Teacher
Posts: 4159
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:12 am
Instruments: Guitar, Cello, Keys, Uke, Vox, Perc
Recording Method: Logic X
Submitting as: The John Benjamin Band
Pronouns: he/him
Location: WASHINGTON, DC
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by jb »

Weird thing is that bot registered prior to when I changed the signup form to require pronouns. Which was months ago.

Prior to that I just looked for a reasonable username and email, and “Heatherarita” and “heathertan@gmail” seemed human.

So, my bad I think, but weird that it waited so long to get around to posting it’s shit.
blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11028
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: Sample rate and bit depth survey

Post by fluffy »

Oh yeah stealth spam is a thing. It’s a pretty common tactic for getting around post limits on boards which use a time delay to determine membership validity.

The ongoing spam Cold War is really annoying. Especially considering that the one thing spambots are trying to do (boost page rank) hasn’t been relevant for well over a decade.
Post Reply