I see that on the Rode NT1 user guide, that Audacity (Windows version) doesn’t support recording in 32-bit float.
Is it possible to record in Reaper (DAW) in 32-bit float, export it as a wav file, then upload onto Audacity to do the audio editing? The reason I’m asking this, is that I’m much more comfortable using Audacity for editing purposes.
I think you’re right that Audacity doesn’t support floating-point recording, but by default it uses 32-bit float internally, and yes you can import 32-bit floating-point files.
The NT1 is analog so it doesn’t have “bits”.
The main limitation is your analog-to-digital converter. There are only a few interfaces that support floating point.
Zoom makes some. They also make some 32-bit solid state recorders.
Zoom’s website says;
The only real advantage to recording in floating-point is that you can go over 0dB. (1) The maximum usable resolution you can get from an ADC or DAC is around 20-bits (integer) and it’s limited by noise.
But for DSP (digital signal processing) there are other advantages to floating point and virtually all audio editors & DAWs use floating point internally. (REAPER uses 64-bit float.)
(1) There is still a (unknown to me) limit because, for example, 40dB is a ratio of 100, and since 0dBFS (digital) is usually around 1 Volt out of the preamp and into the ADC, +40dB would be 100V and that’s not going to happen!