A/D input levels with 24-bit - need to max out?
What is your opinion about what happens with I dither down to 16? In theory this will increase the noise floor but I expect your data will already have such a high noise floor due to the analog source (as I eplained above there us no way it exploits 24 bits of dynamic range or 144 DB). So in practice the difference between your 24 bit and 16 bit data should be totally inaudible. 16 bit 44.1 KHz was well chosen 30 years ago - it is perhaps one of the reasons SACD has struggled. |
Don't worry. There is NO difference on the digital side. Your 24 bits are way more than enough to capture all the dynamic range from your source. It does not matter if you digitize at lower levels - it changes nothing in the accuracy of what you record (digits in the bottom half of the bit stream or the top half are all just as accurate). What you lose if anything is a slight bit of "potential" dynamic range, however, I honestly doubt you can produce anything from your source that has the full dynamic range of 24 bits....so just forget about it! Far more harm could come from inadvertent clipping by having the signal too high....so you are wise to stay away from the upper limit. Remember Digital is NOT analog. In analog media everyone tried to stay close to the peak levels. This was because analog media has a very narrow or limited dynamic range with a very high noise floor....so it made sense to record peaks close to the maximum of the tape media in order to eek out the most dynamic range from the recording. In digital the rules change....in fact clipping in anlaog media was quite benign and sounded nice....in Digital clipping counds terrrible....so you really need to stay away from the limits in order to ensure no clipping and to preserve good sound. |
You could be using only the lowest 10 bits of your 24 bit hardware, and that would certainly degrade a 16 bit source. It would only degrade if the signal has more dynamic range than can be properly represented by 10 bits. Of if by playing the signal louder from the source it is being rasied further above the noise floor. To me this risk of clipping (flat topping) by trying to position the peaks in the music at too close to the maximum signal of the ADC is a much greater risk. |
I suggest you buy this Digital Audio Explained book. It explains it all clearly. It will cost you very little and it will put your mind at rest. An ordinary 16 bit CD has 96 db of dynamic range. 24 bits give you 144 db dynamic range (this is really only needed by studios, as they mess with signal levels on each track and it gives them a bigger sand box to play in). Since a turntable will give you at most 60 db dynamic range (well known fact) then you have a lot of room to play with even with 16 bits: 96 - 60 db = 36 db of extra dynamic range, which is about 6 Bits that really are never needed to faithfuly reproduce the entire output of a very high quality LP/TT rig. Add to this the fact that recordings with such extreme dynamic range as 60 db are extremely rare to almost non existant. Try Shefield labs drum track and you may get close to 60 db. I have the CD and I can hear the print through of the kick drum from the analog tape very clearly. It sounds like tiny clicks which echo the real recording only a second or so later and it stems from the way the tape is stored on a reel. (analog tape has limted dynamic range of about 60 db too) I really think you are worrying too much. |
