The ability to produce professional quality recordings in a small or home studio is being continually improved. Amazing microphones are available at reasonable prices and the software that turns the computer into a recording studio continues to be improved, although digital recording came of age several years ago.
Finished recordings are actually better than CD quality and are converted to WAV files near the end of the process. WAV files are the same as CD quality. If you listen to mp3s on your computer or iPod, the files been compressed to some degree and the fidelity is worse than CD quality, but they still sound pretty darn good. mp3 compression can be done to varying degrees - the smaller the file, the less the fidelity.
I have just upgraded the analog to digital converter in my system. This improves the conversion of analog signals coming from a microphone or instrument into digital bits and bytes. I went from 16 bit 48 Khz (still better than CD quality) conversion to 24 bit 96 Khz. This means my digital recording is more faithful to the analog signal. After the recording is completed and mixed, it is lowered to CD quality, but should be better overall since the mixing was performed with super high quality tracks.
I am anxious to record a song using this equipment and see if the end result is noticeably better. I have been pleased with the sound quality of my prior recordings, but better is better!
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sBy increasing the file size from 16 bit to 24, you increase the dynamic range of the audio. The lower the noise floor in your studio the greater the dynamic range of what is being recorded through the microphone. The better the specs of the microphone the greater the dynamic range it will capture. Your recordings will sound cleaner.
The bit density of a 16 bit file vs 24 bit is incredible. 24 bit digital audio uses a 24 bit word to describe each sample recorded. 16 bit provides 2 to the 16th power or 65,536 values to record the level of audio of any given sample. On the other hand, 24 bit recording supplies 8 more bits or 2 to the 24th power providing 16,777,216 seperate values to record the level of any given sample. An astronomical difference and it can be heard by even the untrained ear. Audiophiles love to find music recorded at 24 bit rate and will pay $30 for a recording done right and delivered in a playable format. The reason it is not available is the industry is mostly selling the technology and not the quality. Less digital data means less storage capacity needed to collect files and faster download time.
Congradulations on your new AD converter Colin.
Peace on and offshore,
Scotty Lee
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