I am bit confused whether 32 bit pcm has better sound quality than 24. I choose the option for videos which I upload to instagram and youtube. Older posts on the internet state that some devices can’t play audio files in 32 bit pcm. Is this now outdated?
Thanks.
Bruce
I don’t think it is possible to hear any difference between 24 & 32 bit.
The purpose of recording beyond 16-bit is to create headroom (a safety margin).
YouTube is going to transcode your uploaded video into their own formats.
My files are 32 bit and audible on youtube. So the 32 just defaults to 24?
YouTube will convert to a lossy format. Most lossy formats don’t have a “bit depth” because they don’t store individual samples.
Nobody has a 32-bit DAC (actually there may be a few) and most 24-bit DACs & ADCs are only accurate to 18-20 bits.
YouTube and all of the popular streaming services also do loudness normalization so the YouTube version may be louder or quieter than what you upload.
Windows also does automatic conversion when necessary so you can play a high-resolution audio on a basic 16-bit soundcard, etc. (It’s the same as printing a high-resolution image in higher resolution than your printer supports… It “just works” and you may not know it’s happening.)
IIRC YouTube just turns loud* audio down, not quiet audio up.
[ YouTube’s loud threshold is -14LUFS].
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