Windows 10 64 bit…latest version Audacity 3.2.1 Allen and Heath Zedi 8 mixer Shure 58SM mic
I have been using Audacity a while now mostly recording classical guitar…I am not a computer guy but I have learned how by trial and error to make fairly decent recordings which I export to Wav files and burn to CD which I distribute to my legions of fans…the best sample rate I can get from this mixer is 24 bits which seems to work pretty well…I just recently noticed in the manual that its advised to use the 32 bit sample rate in Audacity when possible..Ive got everything set at 24 and I`m wondering if I should change that…24 bits is the max that I can set the bit rate at in my sound control settings for the computer.
Thanks
24-bits is bit-depth, which is different from the sample-rate.
If your CDs can be played on a standard CD player, (rather than a computer),
then they must be 16-bit depth, 44100Hz sample-rate.
IMO there is no audible difference between 16-bit and 24-bit WAV files.
The extra 8-bits of dynamic-range gives you more headroom when recording, that’s the only advantage.
ok…the manual says it is strongly suggested to set the quality to 32 bit float…is that what I should be doing ?
[u]All[/u] audio within Audacity is automatically converted to “32 bit float”,
but that high-resolution (bit-depth) is only useful when editing.
For the consumers 16-bit is the (CD) standard.
If you gave a customer a 32-bit WAV they may not be able to play it,
and if they did they would not be able to hear any difference from a 16-bit WAV version.
I dont understand..I dont have customers…I make CDs to give to people…I understand now 16 bit is best for exporting Wav files that I burn to Cds..what I dont understand is in the preference edit menu there is a quality option of 16 24 or 32 bits…what should I set that too ?
Leave it on the default “32-bit float”.
(Audacity’s default settings are recommended unless you have a good reason to use different settings. If in doubt, leave them all on their default settings.)
ok thanks…that wont cause any issues exporting to 16 bits for the CD`s ?
No.
Thank you
If your CDs are playable on a CD player, (rather than a computer),
then format-wise your audio is the same quality as store-bought CDs.
If your CDs are not as loud as store-bought CDs that could be due to the dynamic-range-compression applied to professional recordings.
If you want to participate in the loudness war, you need to use a multi-band compression plugin, (before burning to CD).
ToneBoosters “Broadcast” (v3) is good free one … https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/free-v3-toneboosters-plugins/64538/3
it has presets …