Re: 24 bit vs 16 bit recordings

["Scott Fraser" scottbfraser]

<<Normalize will not change the dynamic range at all. So everything  
becomes louder. This still might be
useful if you have a lower level signal, and you want to apply  
filtering and other 'processing'.>>

Yes, however, since some filter types will actually produce an  
increase in peak signal level even used solely subtractively, adding  
gain judiciously is preferable to normalizing.
Adding digital gain is also rather useful if any editing is to be  
done. With extremely low level signals there's not much useful visual  
information in the waveform rendering. By adding gain you can get a  
useful representation of the waveform with less pixillation.

Scott Fraser