Using a USB Microphone 16 bit recording?

Special Interest Groups Recording Equipment
1

I am planning on getting a USB Mic that has a 16 bit 48khz ability should I be setting the settings in audacity to match my microphones recording specs?

They have a mic that does 24 bit recording but its more expensive do you think its worth it?

2

The standard bit depth for music CD is 16 bits 44.1kHz. DVDs and some other media formats use 48kHz. So that should be enough for your needs. 16 bits is the standard and gives you enough depth for whatever you’re needs are. You’ll hardly notice any difference to the 24 bit one.

You should be able to use audacity with any usb mic provided it has drivers available for your operating system.

3

Thanks for your reply, I went ahead and got this mic here and plan on using it with Audacity.

MXL USB Studio 24 just because it has a 22mm condenser

http://www.mxlmics.com/products/USB/Studio24USB/Studio24USB.html

4

Please let us know how it worked for you in Audacity. We’re always looking for feedback on hardware that works with audacity.

Just a small note: connect the mic to the computer before opening audacity. Audacity only detects devices upon start up. If you connect it while audacity is already running it won’t be detected.

5

I’ve recently bought the MXL studio 24 microphone and love it, Audacity works fine except if you want to lay down 2 or more tracks. the second track is choppy and heavy low end. any ideas? happens every time. i have version 1.3.13 beta of Audacity, running windows vista 2 gigs of ram

6

There’s a page all about “choppy” recordings (and how to prevent them) here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Managing_Computer_Resources_and_Drivers