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24 bit vs. 16 bit

Subject: 24 bit vs. 16 bit
From: "Curt Olson" flipov411
Date: Sun May 13, 2007 7:22 am ((PDT))
Raimund,

Thank you for all your work on noise measurements! I have a followup 
question for you and entire wider brain trust here...

On your page

http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm

You state: " Note that a bit-depth of 24 bit would not improve the 
noise level figures at these high gain settings."

And on your page

http://www.avisoft.com/tutorial_mic_recorder.htm

You similarly state: "Besides the fact that there is no reason to worry 
about the Marantz PMD671 preamplifier noise, it turns out that the 
optionally available 24 bit recording format cannot provide any 
significant improvement of the noise performance."

If, as you seem to indicate, there isn't much to loose with 16 bit, and 
definitely something to gain (less consumption of blank media and 
battery power, plus faster transfer times afterward), what compelling 
reasons do we have to prefer 24 bit for capturing our original field 
recordings?

Still conflicted after all these years,

Curt Olson





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