24 bit vs. 16 bit audio recording

karimsisi wrote on 7/7/2015, 5:19 AM

Hello

I read the following passage in Audio Cleaning Lab's (not premium) help

A Floating Point Signal only begins to clip at approximately
1500 dB above 0 whereas a 16-bit signal clips as soon as 0 dB is exceeded.

My question is, does the above mean that I should get less clipping when digitizing audio when using Audio Cleaning Lab Premium because it supports 24 bit audio capture, while Audio Cleaning Lab (not premium) supports 16 bit only?

I hope somebody could clarify because it will be one of the factors in deciding whether to buy the premium verision or not.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 7/7/2015, 6:21 AM

Hi

See this article..

. . . . . A Floating Point Signal only begins to clip at approximately 1500 dB above 0 whereas a 16-bit signal clips as soon as 0 dB is exceeded . . . . .

I think that should read:

24 bit offers a dynamic range of 150dB,  ie the noise floor is 150dB below the point at which audio clipping occurs.

Whereas 16 bit has a 93dB range, however getting a computer audio chain to have a noise level below -93dB is virtually impossible !  Similarly in a hifi system the background noise in the room is well above -93dB.

. . . . it will be one of the factors in deciding whether to buy the premium verision or not. . . . .

I always advise users to buy the Premium version of Magix software - wish I was on commission for that  - because it contains features or functions which are not in or are less flexible in the basic versions.

HTH

John EB

Last changed by johnebaker on 7/7/2015, 6:21 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

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karimsisi wrote on 7/9/2015, 1:53 PM

Thanks johnebaker. At first, I found it difficult to follow through your answer because it was too technical for me, but I managed to understand it better after reading the article you attached; it gave me the necessary background information to understand the basics of audio and digital audio. This background information is what I was looking for but did not know how to find it because I didn't know what to search for.

 

I still have 17 days remaining in my ACL (not premium) trial, but I am thinking it is about time to uninstall it and install the trial version of ACL premium. I'll try installing both trials on the same PC and hope they don't conflict.

 

On another note, could you help me with this issue? I've asked this question but I haven't received the answer I am looking for yet. Here it is:

 

Imagine I have a 10 second audio clip, and want to delete from second 5 to 8 and have the audio at seconds 9 and 10 move forward and fill in the gap. How could I do that?

I currently split at second 5 and 8 creating three objects, delete the middle object, and then manually move the latter object to become adjacent to the earlier object. I am using Audio Cleaining Lab 2016 (not premium).

 

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.