clipping at 1/2 levels... ? (presonus firebox)

[medoomi]

Hi,
I'm not sure what's going on.
I've set up recording through my presonus firebox, but the recorded gain clips at around .5 on the waveform display, and around -5dB on the waveform db display.
When I normalize the file, it normalizes to the extremes, so why would it clip beforehand?
I'm wondering if it's related to the bit depth (the firebox is meant to be 24bits, but changing the bit depth in Audacity does not help),
Thanks,
Bert

[medoomi]

Solved.

Updated the firebox driver plus firmware.

However, as an additional question, how do I confirm that I'm actually recording at 24 bit depth?

thanks.

[steve]

Look in the box on the left side of the track and it tells you the format.

[medoomi]

Thanks for the reply.
Only thing is, how do I know it's not dithering the bits. I can also record at 32 bit, but the box certainly does not support that depth...

[steve]

I can also record at 32 bit, but the box certainly does not support that depth...

If you look in "Help > Audio Device Info" you will see a list of all the devices and formats that Audacity can use with your hardware.
Audio devices may support various recording formats that are in addition to their "native" format - that is, while the hardware is running at one particular rate and bit depth, (the native format), they may be able to output the data in a different format, effectively re-sampling on the fly. Generally you are best to record using the format that is native to your hardware.

If you are doing a lot of editing / processing on a particular file, it is arguably better to work at a higher bit depth so that round-up errors are smaller.

[medoomi]

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I've been recording at 32 bits simply to preserve the audio integrity through the various filters/effects that I apply later.
However, is there a way of checking that I'm actually getting the 24 bits native format?
For example, if I select my onboard card as the input device (which has no 24 bit capability), I still have all the options in Audacity as with the firebox (I can supposedly record at 16 bit, 24 bit, or 32 bit-float)...
I'd like to make sure I'm not inputting a 16 bit signal only to have Audacity dither it into 24 bits...
Thanks.

[steve]

If you set Audacity to record 32 bit, then it will ask your soundcard for 32 bit data. Your hardware will do that in whatever way it does and there is nothing that Audacity can do about it - it;s down to the hardware and its drivers. One would assume that the soundcard, when asked for data in 32 bit, would do the sampling at the highest bit depth it is capable of, and serve it up to Audacity in 32 bit. The big question is not "what is my soundcard doing internally", but "does it sound good enough"?

I doubt that you would actually hear the difference between 32 bit and up-sampled 16 bit.

[medoomi]

I agree I won't be hearing the difference.

However, I am unsettled when an onboard (el cheepo) sound card can do this as easily.

Is there no way of checking what kind of stream the soundcard drivers are serving up to Audacity?

Thanks

[steve]

Very high spec. AD/DA converter chips are available to manufacturers at ridiculously low prices these days, but there is a lot more to a high quality soundcard than just the chip. The analogue circuitry that connects the chip to the world make a huge difference, both in quality, performance and cost.

[medoomi]

From the sounds of it, I just need to trust that I am obtaining the full bit depth when I record with Audacity.

I'd just love to know if there was a way of verifying the bit depth

Thanks.