Help! Duh! Just realised I've been recording everything at 32-bit float...

["Evil" Aidy]

OK, I'm not sure if I'm panicing over nothing here but I just realised I've been tracking everything for my upcoming CD at 32-bit float in Cubase SX-3.

All guitars n' bass are DI via the instrument inputs on my Firepod and then bounced to audio in various amp sims within Cubase.

Would you guys know if this could potentially cause a problem down the line as it seems that 44100khz 24-bit is the most popular for tracking on this board?

If it could cause a problem, is there a way of converting all my takes etc to 24-bit at once?

I'm not sure about the concept of 32-bit float if I'm completely honest!

 

[~BURNY~]

Don't worry. 32bit float is just another form of 24bit. No big deal.

 

["Evil" Aidy]

Cheers Burny!

If I end up sending my projects over to someone else for mixing do you think it would cause problems there?

I'm usually go for to 44100khz 24-bit (most commonly) but have recorded at 48000khz 24-bit in the past.

 

[dcb]

always make sure that you do not truncate if you go from 32 to 24 bit, as you will loose the lower bits. apogee uv22hr is a very good dithering algorhythm.

also if you really need to go for a higher samplerate when recording (which i dont think is necessary),
its much better to use 88,2 Khz because converting to 44,1 for CD use only means dividing the data in half, as opposed to uneven calculations like 48/96 K to 44 khz.

by the way, 32 bit means more headroom >> more depth to your recordings.
i always mix in 32 bit in cubase 5, not to mention that there is no clipping possible with floating point!

 

["Evil" Aidy]

So, would you advise I continue tracking in 32-bit or should I switch my project to 24-bit?

When dithering mixes to 16-bit what settings do you use on uv22hr?

I'm really paranoid about my tracks turning to garbage! Is there any audible difference between tracking at 32-float and 24-bit?

 

[TheDude]

You can keep the 32 bit files, and continue to record in 24 bit if you want to. If you have the HD space, just keep on recording in 32 bit.

 

[colonel kurtz]

are your converters 32-bit?

if not, you're still tracking at 24...and cubase is throwing a bunch of 0's at the end of all the data

 

["Evil" Aidy]

are your converters 32-bit?

if not, you're still tracking at 24...and cubase is throwing a bunch of 0's at the end of all the data

I would presume not - although I'm not 100% sure. Everything i have read in relation to my Firepod indicates that it is 24-bit though.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yup, cuz 32-bit converters don't exist!

 

[if6was9]

yeah proper 24 bit conversion barely exists. the 32 bit thing is for mxing as far as I know

 

[dcb]

if you do destructive editing, its highly recommended to stay in 32 bit.

take the gibb(s) phenomen as an example :

if you normalized to 0 db in 24 bit and do a low cut at lets say 80 Hz,
>> your peaks will exceed 0 dbfs.


but if you stay in 32 bit floating point, this will not happen, because maximum peaks will adjust !

yes, 32 bit is better for mixing / editign etc.

for recording it doesnt really matter, but you save time if you
record in 32 bit, so there is no need to convert all files from 24 to 32.

 

[Metaltastic]

Except you can't record in 32 bit

 

[egan.]

I'm trying to figure out the whole 32bit floating point deal. I've done some searches but if anyone has some links to some docs that explain the benefits I'd be interested. From what I can tell so far the benefit is that it allows you to completely ignore gain structure ITB....but I don't really see the value in that.

 

[gabriel g.]

Cubase and logic are working with 32 bit floating point intern.
So dont panic!!!

32bit floating point dont mean no clipping. You have 24 moving bits thats all.
But when you are tracking with +100dBu (4dBu=-18dbfs) your audio is clipping

 

[Proggm]

Convert to 24 bits. It allows a dynamic range of 144 dB, which is more than enough. 32 bits is overkill.

 

["Evil" Aidy]

Thanks for the help here everyone, I think I'll try sticking with 24-bit from now on.

 

[dcb]

Cubase and logic are working with 32 bit floating point intern.
So dont panic!!!

32bit floating point dont mean no clipping. You have 24 moving bits thats all.
But when you are tracking with +100dBu (4dBu=-18dbfs) your audio is clipping

if someone tracks +100dbu something is terribly wrong

anyways : we are able to hear room information on recordings at - 95 db !!
we perceive them subconsiously, so we miss them, when they are not there.

people tend to make the mistake, only to think about headroom "upwards" (more db, more db!!...),
while actually more bit means more headroom "downwards" - to where the room information and 3d of a recorded signal lies.