Ric Oliva wrote:

Ok, so I understand that 44.1k is 44,100 samples per second and 48k is
48,000 samples per second. Obviously 48,000 is better. I'm not exactly
sure what bit rate is though? CDs are 16 bit, DVDs are 24. What exactly
does that mean though?

Another question - if I'm recording a project to audio CD, is it better to
just record at 16/44 since that's what the CD will be anyway, and I can save
system resources? or should I do 24/48 and then dither it down, essentially
changing what I originally heard? I read in the ProTools book by Berklee
Press that its best to record on LE using 24/44 since you won't hear much
difference between the 48k and 44.1k. Any insights into this?


The minimum necessary sample rate and bit depth is determined by the
sounds you want to reproduce.

The dynamic range (basically signal-to-noise ratio) of your material
determines the minimum necessary bit depth. In practice, you will
never record a source with a dynamic range greater than can be
represented in 16 bits.

The bandwidth (frequency range) determines the necessary sample rate.
The sample rate is required only to be more than double the highest
frequency you want to reproduce. In practice, almost nobody owns
reproduction equipment that is useful beyond 20kHz.

So in theory you can record at 44.1/16 and your digital audio will hold
all of the audio data necessary to reproduce anything you can put into
and pull out of any equipment.

The need for greater data rates comes when you plan to manipulate the
recording one or more times between the record and reproduce moments.
If you are going to re-sample your data (through sample rate conversion
or a D/A-A/D process), then you might benefit from an increased sample
rate. More importantly, if you plan to manipulate the VALUES of those
existing samples (by DSP processes such as gain changes, EQ, or
anything else), then you might benefit from an increased bit depth.

Both of these considerations serve to push the limitations of the
quantization processes beyond our ability to detect them. The idea is
that stacking these processes can compound their inherent errors and
eventually make them audible. Even this precaution represents a
judicious level of overkill in almost all cases, but data storage is
getting cheap so it doesn't hurt.

In summary: If you're recording live to 2-track and won't be doing any
processing at all, then 44.1/16 is more than adequate. If you will be
doing any processing, then start with 24 bits. If you will be doing
any resampling, then start with 96k. Whatever rate you choose for your
initial recording, you should maintain that rate until the final stage
of processing.