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I recorded drums, bass, and guitars for a cliend in 16 bit audio. if I change it to 24 bit for mix, will there be any noticeable change in audio quality?

Hi

If you convert it to 24 bit the quality won't go worse.

It would be naturally better if you originally recorded it in 24 bit.

Mixing in 24 bit can help the general quality of track if you use use plug-ins etc.

jarok

...and your overdubs and mix will sound better as they will be recorded at 24 bits.

spandexstallion wrote:I recorded drums, bass, and guitars for a cliend in 16 bit audio. if I change it to 24 bit for mix, will there be any noticeable change in audio quality?

No, but I'd really advise rerecording those tracks in 24bit. You notice bit-rate difference the most in the highs and lows. So, bass guitar and cymbals are taking a sonic hit at 16bit.

If you cannot take the time to re-record gtr, bass, and drums at 24bit, then I would either...

A) convert up to 24bit and record all other additional instruments and mix at 24 bit.

B) if you have excellent quality A/D D/A conversion, you could play with things and run these instruments through choice analog gear and back in at 24bit, then record all additional instruments and mix at 24bit..

I had a client record basic tracks on an Akai DPS16 at 16bit. 31 songs worth of basic tracks, ranging from ac gtr and vox to mixes with ac gtr, pedal steel, vox, bkgrd vox, etc. I ran out of the Akai via analog (2 tracks at a time using MMC) and ran everything through my Presonus Digimax LT at the time. It sounded much better to my ears to add an extra gain stage before the stock MOTU 828mk2 and in the end those tracks originally recorded at 16bit sound great.

Check here for some unmastered examples from The Slow Transmission: http://www.swivelchairsmusic.com/Swivel ... -News.html. All acoustic guitars, vox, and a bunch of the electric guitars were originally recorded at 16bit before they reached my space.

Jeff

gearboy wrote:If you cannot take the time to re-record gtr, bass, and drums at 24bit, then I would either...

A) convert up to 24bit and record all other additional instruments and mix at 24 bit.

B) if you have excellent quality A/D D/A conversion, you could play with things and run these instruments through choice analog gear and back in at 24bit, then record all additional instruments and mix at 24bit..

I had a client record basic tracks on an Akai DPS16 at 16bit. 31 songs worth of basic tracks, ranging from ac gtr and vox to mixes with ac gtr, pedal steel, vox, bkgrd vox, etc. I ran out of the Akai via analog (2 tracks at a time using MMC) and ran everything through my Presonus Digimax LT at the time. It sounded much better to my ears to add an extra gain stage before the stock MOTU 828mk2 and in the end those tracks originally recorded at 16bit sound great.

Check here for some unmastered examples from The Slow Transmission: http://www.swivelchairsmusic.com/Swivel ... -News.html. All acoustic guitars, vox, and a bunch of the electric guitars were originally recorded at 16bit before they reached my space.

Jeff

I second the send out to analog and re sample method mentioned here, IF you can get your paws on some really nice A/D/A. You may even be able to improve the sound this way, depending on what gear you run the signal through. Try it both ways and choose which sounds best.

If I understand the problem it refers only to bit depth and not sample rate. I would not recommend going through a D/A and then an A/D to increase the bit depth. Simply convert the files to 24 bit and continue adding the remaining files and effects and mix down to 24 bits. As a final step in mastering you will convert back to 16 bit using the proper dither and noise shaping algorithms of your choice.

This advice applies to any 16 bit material, Always convert to 24 bit before working on the material and back to 16 only at the final step.

If you have to sample rate convert the suggestion to go out to analog and resample by rerecording is worth exploring as many sample rate converting algorithms are inferior to adding a generation of hardware D/A A/D.

stephen1212b wrote:If I understand the problem it refers only to bit depth and not sample rate. I would not recommend going through a D/A and then an A/D to increase the bit depth. Simply convert the files to 24 bit and continue adding the remaining files and effects and mix down to 24 bits. As a final step in mastering you will convert back to 16 bit using the proper dither and noise shaping algorithms of your choice.

This advice applies to any 16 bit material, Always convert to 24 bit before working on the material and back to 16 only at the final step.

My case was different, and if those original 16bit files were in DP I would have just up'd them to 24bits. However, this was not the case. The DPS16's digital outs were not clocking correctly, so I had to bring in everything to DP, two tracks at a time, synced via MMC or MTC. And out of the DPS-16 via unbalanced RCA, none-the-less. Sucked, but honestly, the Digimax LT as an extra gain stage breathed new life into those tracks and I get a lot of compliments on acoustic guitar sounds from that project.

(Microtech-Gefell UM70s --> dBx tube preamp (the silver one) --> Akai DPS-16 --> RCA unbalanced --> Presonus Digimax LT --> ADAT optical --> Motu 828mk2 (stock) --> DP4.61)

I highly recommend stephen1212b's advice, though the above worked for me in a pinch. YMMV.

Jeff