Macc Wrote:I don't want this thread to go off topic, so I'll answer that ^ . Then we can get back to Fruity Loops and discuss bit depth elsewhere.
Quote:aint that better than 24 bit?
- Put simply, 32 bit floating point is 24 bit resolution with 8 bits for information above 0dB. 32 bit has over 1000dB headroom or something stupid (I forget cos I never go over 0 anyway).
- mixing down to 32 bit FP is fine and dandy until you try to play it out of a DA convertor. To my knowledge no convertors handle 32 FP, all convertors are 24-bit resolution. So if you use the 8 bits above 0dB it will all get 'chopped off' when you actually try to play it back anyway, ie clip
- in short, 32-bit FP is very useful in the box, within Cubase and so on. You can drive a channel right into the red and it won't clip, BUT as soon as your signal hits the 'bit bottleneck' of your DA convertor - ie the master out, the extra info is lost and you'll get clipping. So in cubase etc, red light on a channel = no big deal, red light on the master = big deal.
- mixing down to 32 bit FP from Fruity Loops means keeping it under zero anyway, cos when you go down to 24/16 bit (say, 16 bit for CD) the info over 0dB > clipping. So really it's just a waste of hard disk space in the overriding majority of cases.
fantastic info!
Say I wanted to send you a track for mastering mixed in FL, would it be harmfull/destructive to the audio to convert it to 24bit in soundforge, adobe .etc. before sending it your way? ( after turning down the master so it aint clipping
) or would it be better off leaving that bizness to you? 