Silly Question

This might seem like a silly thing to ask for all you professionals out there, but I would like to know why do professionals record at 24 bit or 32 bit?

I have heard that at a higher bit depth you get more control of the audio wave while proccessing effects and such.

Would I be correct in saying that it's like Resolution for Video. The higher the resolution or pixels the more clearer the picture would be?

Ok, and I want to know why record at these levels when the final output would be at 16 bit which is CD quality right?

Why? I want to know :confused:

Thanks in advance :)

24 and 32 bit give you more dynamics and clarity.
Even after you convert down to 16 bit for CD's, there's still a difference.
Also, if you record at the higher bit rate, in the future when CD's become obsolete and some new technology comes along, you'll have better quality recordings to re-release.

It is also much easier to mix at 24 bit for all the reasons Schmange mentions.

Have you come across one bit recording, it is totally cool !

Korg have just launched 2 stereo 1 bit field recorders.

Basically they sample in the MHz range and instead of recording a 16 or 24 bit measurements they just record louder (1) or quieter (0). Because the sample rate is so fast the cumulative effect is much batter than a KHz @ 16 or 24 bit signal. It also eliminates the problem of aliasing ! Also, because you are only recording one bit of info per sample, sampling in the MHz ranger used the same amount of disk space as recording 24bit in the KHz range.

Cool hu !!

Thanks Schmange and Dr. Simon...

I guess I'll be recording in 24 bit from now on