Can anyone explain to me why the size of a saved 24 bit flac file is no larger than a save 16 bit flac file. If I use Accoustica to record, than save the 24 bit flac file is twice the size of the 16 bit flac file. Which logically it should be. This problem ocurred when version 3.4 was upgraded to 3.5 than fixed in a later release.
That will happen if you only have 16-bits of real data.
i.e. If you have a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter or if you rip a CD and you make a 24-bit file, the 8 extra bits will be full of zeros. FLAC is smart enough to take advantage of that. If you have dither enabled, a couple of bits will have dither noise and that could make the file slightly larger.
Any changes (like a volume change) will fill those extra bytes with rounded data and the FLAC will be larger. Similarly, if you decompress an MP3 all 24-bits will be filled.
The sound file generated by Audicity is 48 bit wav which can be saved as an 8bit, 16bit, or 24bit flac file. I save these files off as 24 bit flac which I use for listening in my home, for converting to other formats such as MP3 for my car, or 16 bit flac for my portable stereo player with ear plugs at the gym. I used to use Audicity for this but it no longer generate a complete 24bit Flac file. All of this is done with PC Windows applications. My sound source is scanned sheet music converted to MIDI than passed to either Cakewalk or Cubase for editing or orchestrating. I than playback and record using multiple sources such as plugins. Band In A Box, and hardware synths. I belive that Audicity also generates a 48 bit wav file.
How are you doing that? I’ve never heard of 48-bit WAV… (48kHz, yes.)
Audacity works internally at 32-bit floating-point. (Some other applications work in 64-bit float.)
Some of your virtual instruments might be 16-bits but if you are mixing or processing you’ll be using/creating more bits
it no longer generate a complete 24bit Flac file.
It works for me…
You can check the format with MediaInfoOnline (or you can install MediaInfo on your computer). That doesn’t mean all of the bits are actually used, it just gives you the format.
For uncompressed files (WAV) you can also check file size:
There are 8-bits in a byte so file size per second = (Bit Depth/8) x Sample Rate x Number of channels.
CD audio is (16 bits/8) x 44.1KHz x 2-channels = 176kB per second or about 10MB per minute.
Again, that doesn’t mean all of the bits are being used. WAV isn’t “smart” like FLAC.
There is a plug-in called Bitter that tells you how many bits are being used, in case you have 8-bit audio in a 24-bit file with 16 bits full of zeros, etc.
I run the VST3 version. Click Effects to the left of the waveform, Add Effect → VST3 → Bitter. It should show the bits used when you play the file.
Again, any processing (like a volume change) will likely fill the unused bits and Bitter should show that. Or if you open an MP3, all of the bits will be “used”.
I type in the wrong name in the first sentence, it should have read ”The sound file generated by Acoustica 7 is a 48bit .wav file which can be saved as an 8bit, 16bit,24bit flac file.”
Thanks for the info. I installed Bitter. I than recorded the same song and Exported/ Saved , 16 bit and 24bit for both Audacity and Acoustica 7. The file sizes for Acoustica were the same. For Acoustica 7, the file size for the 24Bit file was approximately twice the size o the 16 bit file. I than played back the 24 bit version of both programs with Bitter and for the Audacity, it registered 16 bits. For Acoustica 7 it displayed 24 Bit. Both programs, Bitter displayed 16 bits for the 16 bit files. I also checked file/properties/ audio, both files 16 and 24 bit displayed 16 bits. For Acoustica I got the correct data 24 bits for the 24 bit file. They all can’t be wrong. Audacity is not saving of 24 bit files correctly.